Editorial Courtesy The Island

July 11, 2017, 8:47 pm

It looks as though Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were hell bent on promoting some other ball game by making the Sri Lankan public fed up with cricket. Else, by now, the SLC would have given itself a radical shake-up and gone hell for leather to arrest the rapid deterioration of the standards of cricket. National cricketers who resemble walking jewellery shops with glittering necks and wrists and indulge in a vulgar display of opulence should share the blame for this situation with the SLC panjandrums. As former World-Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunge has said the rot in Sri Lankan cricket set in, the day cricketers started playing for money. One cannot but agree with him. Today’s comment, however, is not on the poor performance of either the SLC or the national squad.

Disturbing news has come from Suriyawewa that ground boys attached to the Rajapaksa cricket stadium were ordered, the other day, to remove their trousers before being paid. We hasten to elaborate this statement before some of our readers, blessed with fertile minds, rush to the wrong conclusions. The boys were told in no uncertain terms that they had to return their pants given by the SLC with its logo printed thereon if they were to be paid a meagre Rs. 1,000 per day for the recently concluded Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe ODI series. It’s simply not cricket! Newspapers have reported that most of them were without spare trousers, but all of them chose to do as they were told for fear of having to forfeit their hard-earned paltry wages in case of noncompliance. A media report has even claimed that scantily dressed minus trousers, some of the hapless souls had to wait till nightfall to return home! Ironically, the ground workers were stripped of their trousers in this despicable manner after the SLC heavyweights, known for their sartorial elegance and overdressed in expensive three-piece suits in the scorching heat of Hambantota, had left the stadium.

The question is why the SLC officials stooped so low as to remove the trousers of the ground boys who had worn them for six long days continuously. The SLC has earned notoriety for its profligacy and corruption. It also stands accused of lavishing funds on its officials and their cronies. We have written extensively on the SLC’s malpractices and extravagance in these columns and our sports pages, and don’t want to repeat ourselves. The SLC wouldn’t have got the Suriyawewa workers to return the trousers by way of a cost-cutting exercise. We believe those enthusiastic lads who are ever ready to spring into action at the first sign of rain to cover the pitches besides performing other chores deserve the trousers with SLC logos as a token of appreciation besides a considerable wage hike.

One may argue that the SLC makes it a point to collect the trousers given to daily paid workers after matches lest they with its logo on them should be worn elsewhere in such a manner that its image gets sullied. But, no one can damage the SLC’s image; it has long been ruined by those at its helm! On the other hand, garments with the SLC logo are freely available even at village fairs and anyone can buy and wear them wherever he wants. The same goes for the jerseys of renowned sports teams, both local and foreign. Manchester United T-shirts popular among football fans the world over are ubiquitous in this country. There is absolutely no way sports governing bodies can put an end to the practice of garments with their logs being worn in this manner.

Moreover, given the kind of reputation the SLC has it is doubtful whether anyone in his proper senses will ever want to sport trousers with its logo on them. Who wants to be mistaken for a crook?