Isuru Samarasinghe provided this interview, completed on the 2nd of June with agreement of Mr. Nishantha Ranathunga to publish on Circklytics.com. Isuru asked about a few points relating to Sri Lanka cricket including the current status of the team performance and the performance of Sri Lanka’s opening game in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup against New Zealand.
Q: First of all let’s discuss about yesterday’s (1st June) game, there was a lot of hope , confidence and trust in the new look Sri Lanka team with a few new faces by fans, commentators, experts and cricket enthusiasts. What is your view on yesterday’s performances against New Zealand ?
A : It was an unfortunate game we witnessed. There are a few reasons for this. Specially this series, the wickets we had to play in, normally in ICC tournaments they don’t usually provide wickets with that much grass. We faced a similar situation in the past in an ICC tournament. At that time I was the secretary of SLC and our team manager was Mr. Michael de Soyza, we collectively as administrators notified ICC immediately that it was an unfair wicket conditions. We inspected the wicket 20 days before and the day before and on the day of the game and worked with ICC to reduce the amount of grass to create fair playing conditions.
If you look at the wicket we played and compared with England v South Africa game there was a big difference. This is an area management and officials has to pay attention to.
Also we saw the way they played as a team and the performances of the players was not very satisfying. Team selections and the paying methods aren’t satisfying. As an example Dinesh Chandimal is one of the best players we have and he was not selected for this tournament. I think with the way the team played and administratively, we are in a very low position in world cricket.
One thing I can say is that I was there in the administration for about six years. During that time we made it to the final rounds, we won a T20 world cup .
Q: You mentioned previously about the state of the wickets comparing our game and other games, and also mentioned the administrators and management of team should be more vigilant and aware to sort out these issues. Why aren’t they paying attention on these issues ? Do you think it is because of lack of knowledge or lack of interest ?
A: I cannot say for sure if it is lack of knowledge or lack of interest. But as an administrative board, we have to think that we are responsible for managing cricket on behalf of the whole country and its citizens. Regardless of the means they are elected and they don’t perform their duty properly it is very unfortunate. And that is what has happened here and is the current situation. Specially it affects the manager, coach and the captain of the team.
They should inform the organizers of the tournament. We know that the president, former president and the minister is currently in England and they have not taken any action on this is very unfortunate.
Q: You have worked a long time in SLC administration and during that tenure we have participated in ICC tournaments and made it to finals. Do you see there is no coordination between administrators, selectors, coaching staff & new captain & there is no collective agreements in their views ?
A : I cannot say anything about that for certain as I have not been involved with them or administration and not aware of the situation. One thing I can say is that I was there in the administration for about six years. During that time we made it to the final rounds, we won a T20 world cup . We were number one in T20, number two in Tests & number three in ODIs . That was because our aim was to win in cricket. The way I see the current administration is acting with no aim for that but to secure their positions in administration. I may be wrong but that is what I see from outside.
Q: With the losses in recent past we have seen that there has been a lot of new players that have been injected into the side. But they were not given a consistent long run in the team for them to gain confidence and cement their places. During your tenure at the board we did not see that sort of pattern with new players. Isn’t this situation unfair to new players ?
A: I think the main reason is that the board keeps changing the team frequently. Administrators should organize more games for the new players and give them a chance for match practice. I cannot see that is happening now. Players are changed frequently and favouritism is shown in selections. In that sort of a situation there is a less chance for players to get selected on merit. Administration has gone to chaos and as a country we are very sad to see the current state of the team. Upul Tharanga & Dinesh Chandimal are the two players that has played most of the ODI games but they both are not in the team today. If selectors are thinking that they are not good enough then we have to question the selection committee.
“To serve cricket I don’t need to be in the board. We can serve via clubs and school cricket by giving them the facilities but if a chance is given we will come and develop cricket. “
Q: Also Jeevan Mendis is given another chance after a long time. In a country like England where conditions favour fast bowlers one can question why a player like Jeevan is selected ?
A: Jeevan is a good player but I think he should have been given a few games before the world cup rather than selecting him for the world cup straight. At the moment they are either new players or players that have not been playing for a while and select them straight in the team. This is the world cup and are playing against the best teams and players are under pressure. This is not a good situation to be in
Q: There is a notion that there are too many clubs in the domestic arena and some say that come clubs are existing just for the voting rights for elections of Sri Lanka Cricket , is this true ?
A: Yes that is true to some extent. There are some clubs are there just have the voting right but does not play and some clubs don’t even have a ground. But cannot blame those clubs.If the government or sports minister is not taking action under the Sports Law then that means minister is not interested in taking action. Every year, accounts of SLC shall be audited and passed by 31st of May but this year it still has not been completed. Under the sports law of the country and SLC constitution it is against the law.
Q: Former captain Mahela Jayawardena has commented to Cricinfo recently that Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal were manipulated by external third parties. And when Mahla was captain he also had these issues but he did not give into these forces. There were discussions about irregularities by player managers in the past also. Are there any laws or can those forces be stopped by the board or the minister ?
A: There are laws. They were created in the 1950s by the past ministers like Mr. K.B Rathnayaka who loved the sport. But the issue is there isn’t any action taken by the current ministers.
Q: Mahela Jayawardena was invited to be the batting coach recently but he refused the offer. Why don’t we use these past players involved in developing players now so we can at least look forward positively to the next world cup in four years ?
A: If we are to go forward we need to get them involved. But if you look at the current administration there are 21 members, not even 4 to 5 of them have played first class cricket and there is none that have represented the country. It is not that we don’t have players that want to help but the issue is that administrators do not want to get them involved. An unfortunate situation. Only the sports minister can intervene and take action but we don’t see that he is interested in fixing these issues.
Q: As a person who loves cricket, have played cricket and a past administrator how do you see Sri Lanka team will be able to go forward without any political intervention ?
A: I see there is more intervention by people who are in the betting industry than political intervention. These people want to manipulate and earn millions of dollars. First of all sports minister should take a decision to remove these people under the sections of the sports law. If that does not happen things will not improve.
Secondly there is an issue with the structure of the administration board. There have been discussion among the authorities including minister Harin regarding this and attention should be paid towards this.
Next thing is the domestic tournament. We need to look at a tournament that helps developing the game.
And finally the handling of funds should be done properly and funds should be used towards the benefit of the players rather than things unnecessary.
Q: Final question , do you have any plans to come back into cricket administration in the future ?
A: To serve cricket I don’t need to be in the board. We can serve via clubs and school cricket by giving them the facilities but if a chance is given we will come and develop cricket.
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