Thilanga Sumathipala and Company venture on another International Venue at a time the National Team requires focus to arrest the slide.
In one of the most bizarre decision of recent times, Sri Lanka Cricket Board is planning to make a stadium in Jaffna. The SLC has even begun the process and planning to spend millions of rupees, at a time when cricket in Sri Lanka has hit an all-time low and when the finances are dwindling faster than when they received money from ICC, TV sponsorships, Team sponsorships and other Commercial entities.
Under the incorrigible administration of President Thilanga Sumathipala, Sri Lanka Cricket has become a laughing stock in the world cricket. Despite having some of the best young and exciting players of world cricket like Kusal Mendis, Kushal Janith Perera, Niroshan Dickwela, Danushka Gunatillake, A Dananjaya, MD Shanaka the team has continually suffering heavy defeats, even against lower ranked sides, due to the mismanagement of the players and wretched selections due to interferences from the SLC’s 2 Ronnie’s know as the Thilanga & Shammi show. It is plummeting even further without a permanent coach for the Team, proper Selection Committee and succession of player injuries, at the moment which has become a case study! To add to it further the fast dwindling finances to say the least with the last set of Selectors that resigned last week, not paid by SLC for the last 6 months.
The discussion by renowned past national cricketers and administrators in the cricketing circle is that a very poor domestic structure and little cricket played at domestic level due to the various other issues, such as no proper match payments to domestic players, match fixing scandals and diluting of teams at the first class level due to the enhancement of 1st Class teams from the prevailing 14 teams to 24 teams and the spate of injuries have taken place are the points, SLC should have focused immiedietly.
Considering all these prime factors, even then, there is no stopping for Thilanga Sumathipala and his Colleagues to rip the finances even further with such futile projects and more projects of this nature envisaged and will be announced within a few months’ time.
Surprisingly, there is not much cricket being played in Jaffna and to say the least, it does not have a First Class Club Team or Provincial Team at First Class level to deserve such an International Stadium. If one is to consider the costal belt on the outskirts of the South of Colombo, that area deserves much more investment towards infrastructure, in terms of the cricketers produced that have gone on to play for Ceylon and Sri Lanka. Even the School Cricket Competition in Jaffna is also very truncated.
Even though, if they pretend to be thinking about spreading the game in the all parts of the country, the need in Jaffna initially is of a First Class venue and not an International stadium, for players in the North to do proper training and play the game.
In 2011, just before the World Cup, where Sri Lanka was also the Co-host, SLC made an International Stadium in Hambantota with of course funds provided by ICC and the Government. Thilanga when he came into office was very critical of the International Stadium in Hambantota that he did not play a single International game until the Zimbabwe series. Even when they had to play a few matches, not surprisingly, within a short span of time, it had to spend quite a lot of funds to upgrade Hambantota under extreme criticism from the local media.
Now, the stadium has been called as a ‘White Elephant’ of SLC, an only a meager amount of matches being held there, considering the extreme costs of maintenance.
Now, Sumathipala and his ravenous and avaricious colleagues are planning to create yet another “White Elephant” by construction of an International Cricket Stadium in an isolated area like Jaffna, and not giving emphasis and priority to the immediate needs of the National Team and First Class structure.
It is also beyond logic; When the SLC has abandoned the Indoor Cricket Stadium and Swimming Pool project at R. Premadasa International Stadium that was planned by visionary administrator Sidath Wettimuny, how come such a facility is going to be built in the North?
There is no refuting that the Northern Province need support and facilities to play cricket and uplift the standard, but instead of providing basic infrastructure, Thilanga and his avaricious colleagues are scheming and planning for an International stadium is nothing more than a ‘Money Looting’ Exercise.
This is a classic example of how Sumathipala and his avaricious colleagues are using Mathivanan for their work to plunder the SLC on one hand and use Mathivanan to endorse all the vacillating projects to squeeze the funds. Considering that the cricket in Sri Lanka need to elevate quickly to International level, once again, they are planning to spend money on unnecessary ventures.
But then, No one can expect accountability from Sumathipala and his avaricious colleagues for their fraudulent acts, as they have always been notorious for such things!
