Turbulence in the Boardroom of Sri Lanka Cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, September 2017 where the title is “SLC looks to get de Silva, Jayawardene on board”

Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Brendon Kuruppu, Graeme Labrooy, perhaps even Mahela Jayawardene – these are the names Sri Lanka Cricket is attempting to align itself with as the board looks to arrest the decline of the national team. Even more crucially for SLC, getting former players with good reputations on board may also help turn around its ailing public reputation. The board is now not only widely believed to be detrimental to the development of cricket, it is also seen as one of the most toxic governing bodies in the country.

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Generational Mix is Sri Lanka’s Present Problem in Malinga’s View

Andrew Fidel Fernando,  courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, August 2017, where the title “Malinga laments ‘lost generation’ after another SL loss to India”

Sri Lanka have “lost a generation” of cricketers from the national fold, and cannot afford to do so again. Fresh from having presided over Sri Lanka’s largest ever runs defeat in ODIs, stand-in captain Lasith Malinga delivered the aforementioned grim diagnosis. Malinga’s argument is this: where for most of his career he has played in teams comprising mostly of experienced players, he now finds himself in a side where very few have more than 50 ODIs on their record. Eight of Thursday’s XI, for example, have played 37 ODIs or fewer. Of those, a stunning five have played fewer than 10 ODIs.

Sampath Perera and Niroshan Dickwella

Sidharth Monga, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 11 August 2017, where the title runs  The rise of the sweep-happy, street-smart Dickwella

Despite all the hype around mystery cricketers, Sri Lankan cricket would not have risen without a more prosaic, solid supply line from the schools. Arjuna Ranatunga’s one big lament has been the decline of schools cricket, otherwise “the best system in the world”. Schools cricket in Sri Lanka has been stuff of legend. There are about 30 Big Matches, traditional annual matches played between two certain schools. The Royal-Thomian is the biggest Big Match, a phenomenon in itself with a festival-like atmosphere over the three days of the match and on days leading up to it. Up in the hill country, the Big Match of Kandy, the battle of the blues, between St Anthony and Trinity, was a one-sided affair when Sampath Perera took over in September 2008.

Niroshan Dickwella counterattacked with inventive shots AFP

Sidath vs Sanath: Selectors Castigated by Sunday Times

S. R. Pathiravithana, Sunday Times, 6 August 2017, where the title reads “No Plan”

As I was saying before; keeping my ear to the ground, I presume it is a part of my job. It gives you vibes without prejudice or even second thoughts; it just surfaces from the ground within – where it began. The other day I was chatting to my grocery man Seneviratne, an ardent cricket fan. You must see how his face lights up when Sri Lanka wins. It’s so pleasing to see a face so bright. The vibes that emanate from his even make our daily drudges look good. Yet, just before the second Test against the Indians, Seneviratne was down, way below his usual self. When I asked him why, he just mumbled “Oka Hariyanne nehe, Mama cricket balana eka athheriya. (Things will not come right for us, so I quit watching cricket)”.

Angelo Mathews: Highs and Lows … but still Potent

Andrew Fidel Fernando, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title reads “Can Mathews arrest batting slump?”

Angelo Mathews, 30 years old, former captain, once the owner of a fearsome average, now merely a very good one, potentially a great batsman still, but man, the last 18 months have not been kind. For a player of such indisputable quality, it has been a strange decline.Remember how he had been in 2014 – that last great year of Sri Lankan cricket – when out of nowhere, he hit a harvest so golden, so irrepressible, that he bludgeoned attacks into pulp, nurdled without relent, left no advertising board unstung by his boundary hits, and even when off the field, probably coughed up, sneezed and exhaled runs.

Ford’s Thoughts on Departure

ONE “Sri Lanka will always have a little piece of my heart- Ford,” in Rex Clementine, Sunday Island, 24 June 2017

Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Graham Ford, who parted ways with Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday has said that the country will always be a special place for him. Ford (57) was Sri Lanka’s Head Coach from 2012 to 2014 and rejoined the SLC last January. He was contracted with SLC until the 2019 World Cup. However, deviation of the Head Coach’s duties to the newly created position of Cricket Manager is believed to have left a bad taste in the much respected coach’s mouth. He quit the Sri Lankan coaching job after the recent Champions Trophy. SLC made the announcement yesterday.

Interference prompts Graham Ford to Resign

Rex Clementine, from the Sunday Island, 24 June 2017, with the title “Shame on Sri Lanka Cricket” ... with the highlighting being the intervention of The Editor, Cricketique

On Saturday, exactly at 1:00pm, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed what we all feared. They had parted ways with one of the best coaches in the world – Graham Xavier Ford. Given the national cricket team’s poor run in recent times, that has seen Sri Lanka slip down to number eight in ODI and T-20 cricket and number seven in Test cricket, SLC has faced intense criticism and the easiest thing in any sporting environment under such circumstances is to get rid of the coach. However, for cricket’s present debacles, placing the blame on Ford’s doorstep is as good as changing pillows for headaches.