There is a new pharse in Sri Lanka domestic circuit : if you are a player and want to represent your country, you must walk 31 Maitland Crescent, Colombo 7 and join the CCC!
Colombo Cricket Club, one of the oldest club in Sri Lanka has frequently been producing young players for the national team in recent times.
In past 18 months, players like Kusal Mendis, Vishwa Fernando, Dilshan Munaveera, Lahiru Madushanka, Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan and Wanindu Hasaranga played for the Sri Lanka team. Surprisingly, all these players belongs to CCC.
Amongst all these players, Kusal Mendis and Lakshan Sandakan are world class talent, no one can deny it. But, all others can be considered ‘Lucky’ as they got selected on the basis of one or two good performances in domestic cricket, while players like Rumesh Buddhika and Roshane Silva are still grinding themselves in FC arena.
Now, there is another hidden aspect of this interesting theory! His name is Shammi Silva, and he is the treasure of SLC. popular belief, and fear, is that he runs the show in Sri Lanka cricket. It’s another matter of investigation, whether he has the qualification for this post or not, but the truth is he is the number two in SLC, after Thilanga Sumathipala, the controversial President of the board.
During the Zimbabwe series, Angelo Mathews had resisted the inclusion of one CCC player in the ODI team. Mathews insisted that though that player is a great test prospect for Sri Lanka, but it is too early to include him in the shorter formats. Now, Angelo Mathews is a former captain!
There were reports in Sri Lanka media during the Indian series, as how Shammi Silva calls the shots in team selection.
http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=170040
So, one can easily find the connection between CCC players continuesly selection in the national team and Shammi Silva being the President of CCC.
That’s how, Sri Lanka team is gradually becoming a team of CCC.
