Conspiracy and fixing ‘whistle blower’ returns

 Pramodya Wickremasinghe: Failed to live up to his own integrity, now back in the saddle

By Callistus Davy

Pramodya Wickremasinghe, the man who went on record claiming there was fixing, power struggles, corruption and political jockeying for places in the Sri Lanka team two years ago, has been brought back as the perfect lilywhite chairman of team Selectors to clean up an apparent mess among the players.

The retired fast bowler Wickremasinghe who was part of Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning squad of 1996 raised eyebrows and turned heads when as chairman of a player Selection Committee, he created a media frenzy that infuriated the players who petitioned their keepers at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to conduct an inquiry over his public outcry.

Sri Lanka Cricket declared Wickremasinghe’s utterances as “baseless” while a then Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe called for an inquiry from his Ministry drawing reference to its Special Investigation Unit for the Prevention of Sports Offences.

But two years later Wickremasinghe is back in the saddle raising more questions about a man who tried to be politically correct or shot his mouth while paying scant respect to integrity and responsibility and even taking the media for a ride to save face after his charges returned disgraced from World Cup.

He went on record telling reporters on his return at the airport that a conspiracy contributed to Sri Lanka losing seven of the nine matches and that he would reveal it all in two days.

Unable to get the media off his back, Wickremasinghe then denied he made allegations against the players raising questions about his own credentials and now made the new chairman of the team Selection Committee by people he once accused of wrong doing and responsible for the team’s undoing.

It was reported at the time that the Sports Ministry noted that Wickremasinghe told journalists that he was privy to information on fixing, illegal activities and betting related to Sri Lanka cricket which are considered as offences under the Prevention of the Sports Offences Act 2019 and hence the need for a Probe.

Wickremasinghe was neither proved right or wrong nor taken to task for making his public utterances and could not substantiate his claims.

Many cricket followers told the Daily Mirror they are baffled by the return of Wickremasinghe who lost respect in the eyes of the players while an establishment has brought him back unable to clean up its own act.