Former Cricket Secretary rips open Ex-Minister’s conscience

By. Callistus Davy

Mar.18 (Mirror Sports) - Former Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has conveyed to ex-Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake that what he (Minister) did in 2015 by preventing him (Ranatunga) from contesting an election of office bearers of SLC paved the way for the gradual demise of the national team on the international stage.

Ranatunga made the remarks in an open letter to Dissanayake who in a Social media post stated that he (Dissanayake) regretted disallowing Ranatunga from contesting the SLC election as presidential candidate and instead installed an Interim Committee to run the affairs of cricket.

Dissanayake admitted that Ranatunga as SLC secretary from 2009 to 2015 had a fruitful track record as the Sri Lanka team entered five finals that included four World Cups. “Nishantha (Ranatunga) worked silently for Sri Lanka cricket as an administrator and the success of the period 2009 to 2015 were a result of the silent work he did. “In hindsight I should have backed Nishantha, ensured he won the election”, Dissanayake said in a Post on Social media after the Sri Lanka team had a disastrous T20 World Cup last month.

While ripping through the conscience of Dissanayake, Ranatunga has also implied in his letter that ICC match-fixing inquiry dodgers and individuals affiliated with sports betting have been entrusted with moulding the next generation of Sri Lanka players.

“It is no surprise that Sri Lankan cricket has fallen to its lowest depths when it is led by individuals who have not played the game. “When the people at the top have made it clear that money comes before the nation, is it any wonder that you no longer see heart in our cricket. What Sri Lanka cricket needs is a complete and uncompromising transformation from the ground up.

“Those who have demonstrated that personal financial gain takes precedence over national duty must have no place near our young players”, Ranatunga has conveyed in a lengthy eight-page open letter to Dissanayake. Justifying his decision to seek high office at Sri Lanka Cricket after producing positive results during the period when he was secretary, Ranatunga emphasised in the letter that SLC is not a place for people who live in a dream world under cover of political backing.

“Those achievements (period 2009 to 2015) did not happen by accident. They were the product of structured development, genuine investment in our players and a board that put the game before personal gain. “I must ask the question that every Sri Lankan cricketer supporter wants answered.

“What has the current (SLC) administration done to the sport we all love”? Supporters of the Sri Lanka team have in numerous calls and letters to the Daily Mirror say they remain skeptical of change at SLC apart from an occasional bluff from a government that continues to mollycoddle cricket officials contrary to an election pledge to clean up public institutions. In a damning insight into Dissanayake’s tenure as Sports Minister, Ranatunga has in the letter to him asked a pertinent question.

“Ask yourself honestly, who among them came to you with the true interests of Sri Lanka Cricket and who came to protect their position, their own income and their own network of influence”, the letter stated.