Cricket clubs and officials have expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which players have been selected to four teams for the inter province cricket tournament scheduled to be held at the end of this month.
The selections are being done by a committee headed by Graeme Labrooy, while he had not been in the country while the final selections were being done. He is currently serving as a referee at the world cup semi-finals in Harare.
Although he is the Chairman of the selection committee, he dedicates more time as an ICC referee instead of viewing domestic games to make the selections. Previously, Labrooy had gone to New Zealand as a selection committee member and referee for the under 19 world cup, but due to the wrong selections he made, Sri Lanka lost the opportunity to qualify for the finals.
Many are shocked at his selections for the domestic teams where he has overlooked many promising young players and included ageing players instead.
He has come under severe criticism from cricket fans for failing to give Lasith Malinga a chance at the Twenty20 despite the continued failure of the fast bowlers in the team.
The Sports Minister too has maintained silence over Labrooys blatant disregard for the country’s cricketing future despite obtaining payment from the Cricket Board while dedicating his time to the ICC referee position. The Minister ignoring this situation, instead blamed the captain of the team for the recent failures without reprimanding these errant officials.
