Tuesday 25 December 2012

A novel stating the obvious;

The words "Sri Lanka Cricket" brings about a lot of different memories. Specially the 1996 surprise world cup win, Sanath and Kalu's explosive heroics, Murali's Doosra, Arjuna's aggressive captaincy and Sanga's graceful strokes with both bat and words. Sri Lanka Cricket is all that. It is what Sri Lanka Cricket is made of. It is what Sri Lanka Cricket has popularized and is known for around the globe.

But literally, "Sri Lanka Cricket" stands for none of this. Sri Lanka Cricket stands for corruption, inefficient management of resources, bribery and day light robbery. Sri Lanka Cricket portrays neither the Sri Lankan culture and people nor the Sri Lankan brand of cricket. Sri Lanka Cricket is the name given to the pathetic and corrupt institution of organized theft which is otherwise known among the Sri Lankan people as the "Sri Lankan Cricket Board".

From ticket price hikes, to favoured team and squad selection to stealing money which belongs to the board, to taking personal commissions for national projects to even match fixing, the so called "Sri Lanka Cricket" has been accused and also well known for a wide array of corrupt behaviour. Their mistakes and short comings cannot be justified by any means and nor can they be tolerated by anyone who has a love for the game.
The Lion nor the Cricket stands for anything that this institution stands for.
Selection committees to inter-rim committees to the executive committees to the governing body, everything related to Sri Lanka Cricket is corrupted. Players have not been paid properly. Funds allocated to grounds have been pocketed by committee members. Match tickets, specially during the world cup, have been sold to the black market and been hiked for personal commissions. Conversations between captains and higher officials have been leaked to the media. Coaches have been sacked for no reason. And worst of all, the people who are guilty for these causes are freely roaming and going about their business as usual, as if to say "what ever I do, you can only stand and watch, for I am the law and I am the power". Or something along those lines.

And the more I feel angered and saddened by this whole issue, the more I feel sorry for the Sri Lankan cricketers, who actually work for this institution and are under the word of such corrupt people. How the Sri Lankan cricket team shows up day in and day out, dishing out unbelievable performances, despite all this garbage that they have on their plates, is simply amazing. If "Sri Lanka Cricket" repels me from Sri Lanka's cricket by 10 fold, then Sri Lanka's crickets attract me to Sri Lanka's cricket by about a 100 fold. The only thing that saddens me though, is that the name "Sri Lanka Cricket" has been sold out to an institution that barely has the right to use a single small proportion of the prestige that the name carries. Sri Lanka Cricket is Sri Lanka's cricket's cancer. If nothing is done soon enough, death to Sri Lanka's cricket, seems inevitable.

NOTE: The above piece of writing is a critically creative mash-up of ideas and opinions. The credibility of the facts and details cannot be relied up on, although who ever wants to believe in the above can find enough and more proof and evidence to do so.

Adios!

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