Politics to Become the New
Exciting Version of Cricket?
Dilrook Kannangara
It was only Test cricket that was known a century ago; then came ODIs,
Twenty-twenties and Six-a-side matches that spiced up the game. However,
the latest addition to Lankan cricket is politics; actually it is the
re-entry of politics into cricket. After a mammoth struggle that involved
a meeting even with the Opposition Leader, a politician has landed at
the helm of the Sri Lanka Cricket administration. He had to first abstain
from voting for his own party’s budget to make certain that his
demands would be met. After he was promised the Chairmanship of SLC,
he agreed to vote for the budget. However, the budget didn’t change
from the second reading to the third reading! His attempts to get elected
to this post failed miserably five years ago and without a single vote,
he made it this time.
Although politicians had a desire to land on SL Cricket, they must understand
that cricketers are much more popular than politicians. This is a fact
even Arjuna made clear when he resigned from his ministerial post in
early 2006. Gamini Dissanayake and Tyrone Fernando are few other politicians
who were greatly involved in cricket previously. However, the general
public is highly sceptical about politicians interfering in their favourite
sport. They somehow seem to have a soft corner for the cricketer turned
politician. It is the wish of all cricket lovers that Arjuna will not
introduce national politics, regional politics or personal politics
into cricket.
There were no noteworthy welcoming gestures by the cricket team for
their old team mate. It is also no secret that Mahela and Arjuna have
completely different leadership styles and completely different game
plans and strategies. The present Sri Lankan cricket team is doing very
well in Test cricket and in One Day Internationals. It also has the
right balance of young and old cricketers; there have not been any hiccups
lately in introducing young blood to the team (when the single Ministerial
intervention is discounted) and there seem no personality clashes within
the team. Arjuna must maintain this good work done by the previous Chairman
whose fantastic piece of silent work went mostly unnoticed. A cricket
lover falling out with the team stating that his suggestions were not
taken up is not cricket; it is politics. Therefore we all expect a more
consensual, consistent and matured approach in handling our world champions.
It should also be emphasised that the only difference between the 1996
team and the 2007 team is that the former won the single important match
while the latter couldn’t. Consequently imposing 1996 strategies
to ‘correct’ the present team is not going to help. We all
adored Arjuna’s confrontational cricket in Australia and against
Australia, but we also adore Mahela’s gentle approach equally well.
Trying out many young cricketers at the regional and the national level
enriches the game. One complaint against the former administration was
although the team had enough young blood, the introduction of new players
was slow. They point out that cricketers like Ridigammanagedara, Paranavithana,
Kandambi, Kottehewa, etc. must be introduced to the national team methodically.
Especially Ridi (shortened) has shown tremendous performance with the
bat and the ball in domestic cricket. He can be the vital spinner and
the all-rounder we are after. Kottehewa also is a very promising bowler
who took a double hat-trick (6 wickets) in a domestic tournament.
Another issue that will face the selectors who are in turn guided by
the new administrators is the conflict between specialisation and all-rounders.
Owing to the enrichment of Sri Lankan cricket following the World Cup
win in 1996, we now have a team of mostly specialised batsmen and bowlers.
A direct casualty of this is the lack of all-rounders. All-rounders
are a vital asset especially in shorter versions of the game. During
Arjuna’s time there were many all-rounders who could turn around
a match in both batting and bowling including Arjuna, Aravinda, Sanath
and even Gurusinghe. In today’s team it is only Dilshan and Sanath
who can come somewhat close to match-winning all-rounders. However,
some favour specialisation that has helped Australia, India and Pakistan.
The South African team traditionally had a number of fine all-rounders.
We must have a scientific approach to decide where we should be between
these two extremes.
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