Jayantha Dharmadasa will quit Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) paving the way for Arjuna Ranatunga to take over. Read more here. Now, I’ve been a strong advocate of Ranatunga heading SLC ever since he quit international cricket, but it’s taken six years for this to come to fruition.
I came across this article concerning the SLC elections four years back. Back then, the only two candidates were Ranatunga and Thilanga Sumathipala, with the latter supported, interestingly, by Aravinda de Silva of all people. Aravinda’s reasoning: “Arjuna Ranatunga is a good cricketer, but Thilanga Sumathipala is a better administrator.”
That’s pretty close to airing some dirty laundry right there.
Personally, my reasons for wanting Arjuna are simple. Our team is doing well, and has been doing well for the past decade, despite our domestic structure not because of it. The domestic infrastructure of Sri Lankan cricket needs radical overhaul and fast. It’s not competitive and only a tiny fraction of those who graduate from the system are truly ready for international cricket.
That we found the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharanga is nothing less than a miracle. But sitting back and expecting future Sanaths, Muralis, Kumars and Malings is just plain naive. Last thing I want is to witness a dramatic plummet a la West Indies.
Talk of overhaul has been doing the rounds in the papers since the late 90s when cricket administration became lucrative. Administration after administration has promised to look into, but talk has remained just that until recently. Arjuna’s promotion couldn’t be more timely with plans afoot to restructure the domestic competition from a club-based system to a provincial based system. Good news, but a lot more needs to be done especially in terms of widening the catchment area for talented cricketers, raising standards, education and fitness. If ever a man is needed to bring about that change, it is Arjuna Ranatunga.
I’ll place my trust in a past captain who brought us World Cup glory before some glorified number cruncher.
Here’s wishing Arjuna the very best of luck in his new post.
Oh and Happy New Year, Thilanga. *waves*
2 Comments
January 3, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I’m glad Arjuna Ranatunga has become the head. Since Gamini Dissanayaka there have not been any SLC heads who seems to know what he does.
Atleast now we can hope to see progress. There is so much untapped talent and opportunities in Sri Lanka when it comes to cricket.
January 8, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Ranatunga promises alot but as we all know he is also corrupt but I think the man has his heart in the right place I hope we unearth those talented outskirts guys soon. And that SLC moves forward.