Dayasiri Jayasekara, in true sense, a Ultra-Glamours Sports Minister of Sri Lanka. Cricket followers outside Sri Lanka can also recognize him easily : as he often attends almost all the non cricketing exercises of Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) President Thilanga Sumathipala. The general public notion in Sri Lanka is that he is very close with Sumathipala, and together they are committed to do ‘Certain’ Things for Sri Lanka cricket!
Sumathipala, on the other hand, knows very well when to unleash what! Whenever he finds himself or SLC in disarray, he does something out of the box and tries to bring Sri Lanka Legends to his side : Simply to convince Sri Lanka cricket fans that he is committed for the betterment of Sri Lanka cricket. Few years ago when he was in disarray, he brought Graham Ford, then Sanath Jayasuriya, then Aravinda De Silva, then Asanka Gurusinha, then Hashan Tillakaratne, then Thilan Samaraweera and now he has brought back Chandika Hathurusingha as a ‘Messiah’.
In this scenario, Dayasiri appointed a too much high profile committee – headed by former SLC President Hemaka Amarasuriya – In October. The five-Members Committee featuring legends like Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda De Silva. A committee by Dayasiri and presence of Aravinda is a norm! However, the presence of Mahela and Sangakkara gave the impression to millions of Sri Lankans that something ‘Better in true sense (unlike Sumathipala ‘betterment’) on cards! The entire nation was thrilled and exited, as they first time saw a unique photograph : Dayasiri and Mahela-Sangakkara in one frame! How many of us, after all, have seen Sumathipala and Mahela-Sangakkara in one frame? It was a miracle. The Legends have their full support and spent hours to finalize yet another report for the betterment of Sri Lanka cricket.
Three months on, we heard nothing on that report, after they submitted it to Sports ministry. There are only two updates. One is that The Minister has instructed to Mahela, Sanga and other Committee members to withhold their recommendations from the public. This is fine. The other one is Dayasiri has insisted that before imposing any changes, he must first “chat with the cricket Board”. You can read like this : before imposing any changes, he must talk to his close friend Sumathipala, if you want to be precise!
And, this is scary. Everyone knows in Sri Lanka how good a rapport Sanga-Mahela shares with Sumathipala. Moreover, everyone knows how poorly Sumathipala led SLC treated Mahela’s previous recommendations for the restructure of Sri Lanka domestic cricket. It was a master plan, could have changed Sri Lanka Cricket forever, but as soon as Sumathipala came to the SLC, yet another time, the report has been thrown into the dustbin.
Forget about the past. Is it possible that Sumathipala can implement Mahela and Sangakkara in Sri Lanka cricket right now? The circumstances says a clear no.
The next election at SLC are scheduled for May 26. In last two years, during his yet another tenure, the most notable thing Sumathipala has done is to increase the number of clubs from 14 to 24. It was a disasterous move, and killed already struggling system with perfection. However, more importantly for Sumathipala, it has strengthen his vote base.
That’s how, He thinks about the betterment of the game!
That’s why, The appointment of the Mahela-Sanga committee at that time was nothing more than a show off!
