By Adolf
Sri Lankan cricket is in very serious trouble. Our cricketers are getting mauled in the UK. The previous board at least kept the cricket spirit alive. The government has appointed a bunch of theorists to run cricket. The question now is not whether something is wrong, but whether those entrusted with fixing it understand the scale and urgency of the problem. The men’s team has endured another deeply disappointing period. In England, Sri Lanka have already suffered two heavy defeats in the opening T20Is, including a 119-run humiliation in Southampton and a six-wicket defeat in Cardiff. England chased down 146 with 47 balls to spare. (Reuters) These results do not, by themselves, prove that the administrators have caused all the team’s problems. But they expose a more fundamental question: what measurable improvement has the transformation process actually produced?
Eran’s Committee
Sri Lanka Cricket’s Transformation Committee, chaired by former politician Eran Wickramaratne, was appointed in April following the resignation of the previous SLC administration. Prakash Schaffter was appointed honorary secretary, alongside former national players including Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny. (News First). The committee has promised structural reform, a new constitution, greater accountability, stronger financial controls and improvements extending from school cricket to the national team. Wickramaratne has repeatedly said that the objective is to restore both governance and performance of the cricket . (Sri Lanka Cricket) Those are worthy objectives. But Sri Lanka cannot survive indefinitely on objectives. So far other than talk nothing has been delivered.
Cricket is ultimately judged on results.
The public has heard promises of transformation for years. What supporters want now is evidence: better selection, stronger player development, improved coaching, professional administration, accountability and, above all, a national team capable of competing consistently against the best.There is also a serious issue of timing. The committee was installed during a period of major administrative upheaval, and its mandate is largely focused on changing the structures governing the game. But structural reform cannot become an excuse for poor cricketing performance.Indeed, the committee itself has acknowledged problems in coaching and player development. At a May briefing, Sidath Wettimuny reportedly said local coaches lacked sufficient knowledge of implementation and needed greater exposure, while the committee also identified player-manager regulation and the need for more Test cricket as areas requiring attention. (Sri Lanka Cricket) That admission is important. It suggests that the crisis goes far beyond the boardroom.Sri Lanka needs to decide whether cricket administration is primarily about constitutional engineering, or whether governance reform must be directly connected to producing better cricketers and better teams.
And there is a larger political question.
The government must be extremely careful about allowing cricket to become another arena for political appointments and political influence. The present committee was appointed under the Sports Law by the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs. That may be legally authorised, but legality and good governance are not necessarily the same thing. (Sri Lanka Cricket) .The President and Government should therefore establish clear boundaries: government should create the framework, enforce the law and demand accountability. It should not become the selector of cricket administrators. Sri Lankan cricket belongs neither to politicians nor to administrators. It belongs to the public.
Failure
The public has already shown extraordinary patience. What it deserves now is not another committee led by Politician Eran, another promise or another constitutional document. It deserves a cricket system in which responsibility is clear and failure has consequences. Eran Wickramaratne and Prakash Schaffter have accepted positions of considerable responsibility. Schaffters have been meddling with cricket for years. Eran certainly is an upright politician. He has however been a total failure as an administrator. He was the minister in charge of SriLankan Airlines. That is another story. The committee should therefore be judged not by their intentions, reputations or statements, but by what changes they can demonstrably deliver. The same standard must apply to everyone who runs Sri Lankan cricket.
The time for excuses is over.
If this transformation is genuinely about restoring Sri Lankan cricket, the country should soon be able to see the transformation on the field. Looks like this is not happening . Better thing is to have elections. President AKD must understand that cricket is not what he has played in his village. This is serious, and the country’s reputation and public money are at stake. All that is left to say is, God bless Sri Lankan cricket.