All Sri Lankans are aware that Sri Lankan Cricket is tottering, and the team could be on the verge of relegation from the Top Tier countries if continue in this vein. In recent months team lost to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe recently, and India, the world’s number one team is touring at the moment, and wait is on with trepidation for the outcome of the series. Its time to bring this to the attention of the Government in the interests of the public, in order that justice, fair-play and good governance prevails, and accountability and responsibility restored. Here are a few examples of what has led to this calamity. There’s no need to name names.
1. International Cricket
• Teams selections. Forty players have been rotated over the past few months.
• Team compositions
• Team Management appointments. The recent appointment of a controversial former player who has been living abroad all these years as the Cricket Manager, has resulted in the departure of the Head Coach and the Captain (although this has not been spelt out by the people concerned)
• Team contracts
• Match itineraries
• Venue selections on a whim – not on suitability based on match-preparedness
• Tampering of wickets
• Appointment of High Performance Manager
• Changing the Selectors, by influencing the Minister of Sports
• Appointment of Women’s Coordinator
• Appointment of Women’s selectors
• Appointment of Women’s Coaches
2. Domestic Cricket
• Under 23 Club Tournament rejected
• Club Premier tournament fiddled
• Club Premier One Day Tournament diluted
• Club Premier 1st Class Tournament toyed
• Provincial Tournaments that was chalked out by the last Interim Committee spurned
• Under 19 Tournament not played with purpose
• Finances to the Clubs cut drastically
• Club players payments slashed -Rs 4,000 per playing day day to Rs 2,500. In many cases, this is the only income the players get
• Rocked by match- fixing allegations – the results of the investigation into the Panadura vs Kalutara are still not known, probably because one of the top officials in SLC is involved in one of the clubs
3. Finances
• Funds utilised for Board Members travelling abroad willy-nilly
• Expenditure on vehicles been used
• Unwanted purchases
• Excessive domestic travel to Districts by way of vehicles, food, accommodation and helicopters
• Expenditure on “Brain Center”
• Expenditure on Air conditioners
• Funds spent on last AGM in order to present the SLC’s financial status – colossal sum spent.
• SLC funds doled out to Districts and Provinces with no purpose.
• Providing mobile phones to all EXCO Members and subcommittee members of the Board at an extravagant sum
• SLC funds of Rs 3,947,000/- to a Premier Club connected to the SLC hierarchy to play a match during the Australian tour [not played].
• Funds received from overseas for development not accounted
4. Corporate Communications
• Spent on tamashas. Funds spent on ICC T-20 send off – song
• Funds spent on Domestic awards –song
• Extravagant events
• CORPORATE COMMUNICATION – aimless campaigns carried out, expensive advertising campaigns took place without following proper procedures.
• SLC funds spent on unknown advertising agencies, owned by relatives of top government officials.
5. Administration
• New recruitments – creating positions without following the proper HR recruitment policy.
• Appointment of Coordinators, Secretaries, Team Management staff and additional remunerations
• No proper evaluation of tenders carried out as required by SLC’s Procurement Policy. In many cases, construction contracts have been awarded without due process.
• Terminating long-standing, effective employees for no particular reason
6. Development
• Ordering of cricket equipment channelled to District representatives
• Obnoxious treatment towards Schools cricket development
• Appointment of architects on various projects
• Over-expenditure through estimation of various upgrading of venues
• Ordering of seating at exorbitant prices
• Asian Cricket Council Office established out of SLC funds and no revenue from ACC
• Indoor nets at Pallekela – not suitable
• Terminating of Indoor netsand swimming pool at R. Premadasa Stadium
• Release of funds to Clubs for development – questionable
As far as we, the Cricket Lovers of this country, are concerned, this is a gross abuse of resources and an appalling departure from the principles of Good Governance espoused by the Sri Lankan Government. Its high time that the President and Prime Minister go into this horrendous mess and direct the Sports Minister that this cannot go on. There has to be a complete overhaul of the Leadership and Administration of Sri Lanka Cricket. It is imperative that this happens before the next SLC Election, which happens in January 2018.
If, with the ICC’s concurrence, an Interim Committee comprised of honest, dedicated, professional individuals be appointed to run SLC, change the Constitution along the lines of Justice Prasanna Jayawardena’s re-structuring document, Sri Lanka would have the best form of governance possible, and more importantly, Sri Lanka will have a cricket team that performs at its optimum!! Isn’t that what we all want at the end of the day??
