Top Spin By Suni
July 6th 2011

He’s shown the fine mettle he’s made of and has not held back what many have been aware of yet no one as high profile as Kumar Sangakkara himself daring thus far until now to speak up and an act of courage and assertion displayed in his speech which needs to be applauded inasmuch as the standing ovation he recieved when he delivered it initially at the Mecca of Cricket, the Marylebourne Cricket Club ( MCC ) at Lords, England last Monday at the MCC Cricketer’s Speech..

There have been rumbles that there could beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ reprisals for his bravado but that would further expose the transparencies of the SLCB ifƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ such reprisalsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ever transpired where the Cricket Board needs to be contrite and admit guilt to all the accusations Sangakkara has made as they are based on fact and tangible proof which the Cricket Board cannot sweep under the carpet and has gone on for long enough.

It seems strangely coincidentalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the ICC has introduced legislation preventing Government involvement in the activities of any cricket board and perhapsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ comes at a fortuitous time to coincide with the substance of what Sangakkara has lashed out about, which he believes, not only cost him his captaincy but also seems to have had harmful effects on the outcome of the last World Cup which many believe Sri Lanka could have walked away with had there not been intrinsic meddling by sources affiliated to the Government as well as individuals within the Cricket Board who used their positions to make deplorable team selection choices and quit when their number came up in the aftermath!
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ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While thusƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ addressing the MCC At Lords his reference to the “partisan cronies” at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) who have blighted the sport in his country and who led him to resign the captaincy after only two years in charge, following the World Cup final in April Sangakkara was probably refering to the previous Cricket Board which has since been reshuffled and dramatic changes have taken place where manipulations were very apparent in some of the decisions made, the sacking of highly credible officials to be replaced by a few namby pambys,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ another visible attrocity where jingoism and cronyism quite definitely seemed to be the order of the day and eventually the price paid for all these perhaps the World Cup Final loss which many believe should have been a victory as Sri lanka had previously beaten their opponents. InƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ his scathing attack on some of the departed officials of the previous Board in all probabilities Sangakkara has not minced his words in alluding to what went on behind the scenes in the SLCB and all kudos to him!

The present Cricket Board, it has to be noted is a new look organization with some of the old faithful of high integrity and decorum taking up vacated posts and the progress made in recent times quite admirable and a reflection on what good management can do even in a short space of time depite many hurdles to overcome as the corruption and pillage of funds by the some culprits in the previous Board is said to have left behind unsurmountable debts as some officials apparently lined their pockets and went their merry way helping themselves to the coffers of what once was a vastly rich organization and leaving it all but bankrupt not giving a damn about the outcome and how it would affect Sri Lanka Cricket.

It seemed quite admirable that in his hour-long speech that earned him a standing ovation, Sangakkara charted the unique history of cricket in his country, and called on theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ SLCB to root out its corrupt practices and recognise the huge role the sport now needs to play in promoting reconciliation at the end of a 30-year civil war, a message wich will strike deep into Sri Lankan hearts as there are so many dissentions related to the issue at the present time and perhaps a tonic for what is needed even in some small measure for starters.

There may be sources within the Cricket Board taking umbrage at the openness of Sangakkara’s disclosures in his speech but there has to be greater emphasis made to the reality that as a result of his address there will surely be radical changes made for the betterment of Sri Lanka Cricket where no bipartisan or authoritative decision making, unwarranred patronage or disordely conduct will ever surface if the principles of what he was trying to emphasize are held up!
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Bravo Sanga!