Hashan’s catch
Cricket is in the news again. After a much debated ICC World Cup just behind us, former Sri Lankan Cricket Captain and a fine batsman that he was Hashan Thilakaratne has-or seems to have raised a hornet’s nest.
Now, Hashan has given a statement to CID and says would take the matter to the ICC after about a decade. Ironically he had said that “that matches were fixed during his career.” Note his career.
But he did not reveal any evidence as he said due to legal advice and now has said he would reveal the names of those involved in fixing matches “at the appropriate time.”
Tilakaratne told a television programme earlier this month that match fixing has been rampant …, then on Tuesday made a statement reaffirming his allegations to the Western Provincial Council, where he is elected to office.
He says he stands by his statements.
The humorous aspect of the whole thing is that almost everybody in the cricketing world knows that many matches are fixed and betting cartels are very strong.
And it is not an issue to go gaga anyway. What he has said is a non-event, non-incident.
Cricket, in fact zoomed into fame in the 1990s after advent of television and after Sri Lanka won the ICC World Cup in 1996.
Before that, only diehard cricket fans listened to cricket matches amidst crackling shortwave “Running Commentaries”, radios to their ears.
Why media and rest of the country suddenly went into a spin over his non-statement remains as perplexing as Murali’s spins.
Sri Lanka Cricket expressed concern over the allegations and called for “concrete evidence” to substantiate them.
“We also wish to state that we find it extremely strange that these so called ‘revelations’ are being made so many years after the alleged misdeeds,” the national Sri Lanka Cricket Board said in a statement. He cites personal security as reason.
The punch line is that the Police had been asked to look into it after the Sports Minister has ordered a ‘police inquiry’ into the allegations.
Shouldn’t why a country has law enforcement anyway?
Hashan went on further on his stunt and charged “there was a conspiracy to silence his exposure.”
In the first place he has not exposed anything so far.
"I can tell this in agreement with my conscience. Match fixing is not something that started happening yesterday or today. According to my knowledge, it happened since 1992. I say this with great responsibility" said Tillekaratne. He had played 83 Tests and 200 ODIs for Sri Lanka between 1986 and 2004.A true gentleman, former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has said that Hashan should work with the ACSU unit of the ICC and other authorities in Sri Lanka if he had "anything more than allegations, as it's dangerous to throw names around."
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