Former national player and prestigious Colts Cricket Club’s Head Coach Muthumudalige Pushpakumara has taken a scathing attack on Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC), before leaving for Kuwait to take the role of desert country’s Head Coach from October 15.
One of the most successful coach in domestic cricket for last several years, Pushpkumara accused that mechanism of SLC has highly been biased and only politically influenced people gets job in the national team setup.
“The SLC wants to recruit their loyalists for the vacancies without considering the experience and qualifications,” a disappointed Pushpakumara said on Sunday.
Pushpakumara, 38, has been the Head Coach of the Colts for the past six years and has helped produce top class cricketers to the national side, Sri Lanka ‘A’ and the Emerging Team. However, as it has always been a case with SLC, it never bothered to recognize Pushpkumara’s achievements as a Coach.
“In Sri Lanka, you have to go behind cricket board officials and politicians to get a posting at the cricket board. But I’m not a person like that. I want to do my job as a professional but that will not take you anywhere,” added Pushpakumara.
An International Cricket Council (ICC) Level 3 qualified coach, Pushpakumara has contributed immensely to the Colts CC–home for many top class cricketers such as former captain Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Kusal Janith Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Akila Dananjaya, promising wicket-keeper batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama and ODI opener Avishka Fernando.
In last two years, Pushpkumara applied for the women’s team spin bowling coach, National team’s assistant spin bowling coach, but SLC always discarded him and hired their favourites instead.
In past, Thilanga Sumathipala was notorious for bringing politics at Maitland Place. However, present president Shammi Silva has shifted the entire cricket board at Sports Ministry, as since his arrival at Maitland place on February 21st, every decision and directive has been coming from Sports Ministry.
The incompetence of Shammi Silva in running the SLC has completely paralyzed Sri Lanka Cricket. Suspended head coach Chandika Hathurasingha is still drawing a salary of 40,000 USD per month by just sitting at Khetterama, as there is no permanent head coach, spin bowling coach for the national team. In addition, at so called High Performance centre, there is no successor of Asanka Gurusinha. Everything in Sri Lanka cricket right now, is unsolved. Instead of resolving these burning issues, Shammi Silva is busy in overseas trips, obliging CCC members (Kuvera De Zoysa, Tanesh Dias), employees (Kamalika Jayasekara, Chinthaka Jayanath, Jude Fernando) and players (Ashan Priyanjan, Lahiru Madushanka Lakshan Sandakan and Angelo Perera).
