More skeletons than bats or balls
When former Sports Minister C.B. Ratnayake branded the current Interim Committee running Sri Lanka Cricket as the most corrupt public institution in the country, he got on to a bad wicket with the powers that be. He became a laughing stock when a few days later he retained the same officials he publicly pledged to throw out. Ultimately his bouncer was hurled back at him.
Most politicians today work largely for personal gain or glory. But Mr. Ratnayake, wherever he is, can be satisfied though he lost the vital toss, he won the match or what he said was proved largely right. Not that celebrating the downfall of someone or some organization is an accepted norm of decency, but what else can right thinking people do other than cheer when the rot is exposed in a country where hypocrisy and bluff holds sway.
With captain Kumar Sangakkara and vice captain Mahela Jayawardena stepping down from their posts in the Sri Lanka team, the selectors resigning for reasons best known to them and a report highlighting that the game’s administration has gone bankrupt, Mr. Ratnayake must be in a most comfortable situation to realise he is no longer the head of a so-called Sports Ministry that is supposed to uphold the norms of fair play.
We believe that whatever has happened, little or nothing will change in cricket administration because when one set of questionable administrators leave, another set of the same breed, or may be worse, enter the fray for their turn. The government politicians themselves have been the biggest threat to the progress of cricket ever since they stepped in ten years ago and got a taste of cricket with interim committees and their stooges to run the administration instead of an elected body.
It seems now that some officials are shedding crocodile tears for the thousands of people who were cheated without tickets to witness the World Cup at their doorstep. When millions of rupees were ripped off in the name of the World Cup, these opportunists were apparently asleep and should ask themselves what wisdom is there left in crying ‘no ball’ after the match is over.
At least the lilywhites or purists will have just one man in the whole world to thank for the string of resignations. If not for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s innings of 91 Sri Lanka would have won the World Cup and the maggots and leeches would have been buried under the pitch.
The question must now be asked whether the selectors headed by Aravinda de Silva resigned for the reasons they have stated or to save face over a disastrous selection blunder for the final. Will their resignations be seen as hoodwinking the public to stave off any impending inquiry, the outcome of which will probably not be made public.
Kumar Sangakkara may have had his reasons to resign, but we take our caps off to him for he had the wisdom and courage to tell the truth in an establishment where most officials have skeletons instead of bats or balls in their cupboards.
0 comments:
Post a Comment