{"id":116555,"date":"2021-07-28T15:37:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T22:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=116555"},"modified":"2021-07-28T16:06:01","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T23:06:01","slug":"whats-happening-to-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/07\/28\/whats-happening-to-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Happening to Cricket?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\nin Sri Lanka, from children to grown-ups, know about cricket. Though volleyball\nis known as Sri Lanka’s national game, cricket took its place due to its\npopularity. There was a time when even Kussi Ammas<\/em> were engrossed in the\ngame whenever cricket matches appeared on TV screens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nplayers such as Duleep Mendis, Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama, Bandula\nWarnapura, Sanath Jayasuriya, Brenden Kuruppu or Arjuna Ranatunge batted,\ncrowds were enthusiastic. The game’s enthusiasm peaked when Arjuna Ranatunge\nwon the world cup in 1996. Cricket is a pitch and tosses game, where one team\nwins today and the rivals win tomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrule book says that players must act on numerous regulations and disciplinary\ncodes vested upon the umpires, captains, and the Governing bodies. The game\nneeds to be played according to the game’s rules and within the spirit of the\ngame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Initial stages of Decline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nDecline of Cricket took place in Sri Lanka ever since she managed to win the\nworld cup in 1996. According to some news items, officials in the cricket board\nwith some players, coaches, groundskeepers and selectors turned the game into\ndisrepute and did a business out of it to earn money. The result was cricket\nenthusiasts, not only in Sri Lanka, but throughout the world, lost interest in\nSri Lankan Cricket. The deceits, such as ‘match fixing’ even the ICC\n(Intentional Cricket Council in the UK) becoming involved, is purely due to\nobnoxious activities by some players and groundsmen. This kind of corruption made\nCricket unpopular, which once managed to gain respect and admiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misdemeanour <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nlatest incident was when ViceCaptain Kusal Mendis, Nirosha Dickwella and opener\nDanushka Gunathilake were flown back home from the England tour immediately\nafter following the breach of bio secure-bubble in Durham UK, on 27 June 2021.\nThe Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket suspended the three players\nimmediately from all forms of cricket. It is hoped that the committee appointed\nto investigate this horrendous and despicable incident will take drastic\naction, mainly because the whole world at present is down with COVID-19,\nparticularly in the UK. Moreover, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board chartered a\nseparate aircraft to transport the players safely to England for the\ntour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite\nall these the three players had to bring dispute to the game and the country\nwholesale. Following this dreadful incident of getting defeated to England, Sri\nLankan Cricket made history by being the worst side to get defeated 424 times\nout of 860 in oneday international matches As far as the three players are\nconcerned, many expect them to receive severe penalties. Dhanuka Gunatilleka\nwas in the national team since 2015. His behaviour has been erratic towards\ntraining from 2017, and he has violated curfew regulations in the middle of a\nTest series in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncricket enthusiasts have no hope of winning a match with the new lot. The\npublic opinion suggests that thanks to the late Gamini Dissanayake, during his\ntenure as President of the Board of Cricket in Sri Lanka, Lankan cricketers\nearned professionalism . Their earnings in millions have overnight gone to some\nof the players\u2019 heads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npresent scenario is that these players only concentrate on money , and it was\ndemonstrated when cricketers protested to renew their contracts recently. The\nSri Lanka Cricket Board wanted to bring back the game to its glorious era again\nbecause of the deteriorating trend at present . The new young Minister of\nSports, who himself is a sportsman, needs to work extremely hard because if he\nfails this time, it would be the doomsday of Cricket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of Cricket<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nfirst national cricket team in Ceylon was formed by the Colombo Cricket Club in\n1832. A \u2018gentlemen’s team\u2019 idea, exclusively for the British folk in Ceylon,\nwas first suggested by the Patrons of the Colombo Social Club for the British\nUpper Class. It was located initially at the Galle Face Green, and the Ceylon\nNational cricket team was founded in 1920. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngame of Cricket originated in England towards the mid-16th century. It spread\nglobally with the expansion of the British Empire. Cricket’s Governing Body is\nthe International Cricket Council (ICC), which comprises over one hundred\nmembers; full members are engaged in Test Matches. The Laws of Cricket are\nmaintained by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London, founded in\n1787. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nLBW ( leg before wicket ) regulation was introduced towards the latter part of\nthe 18th century. Dr. W.G. Grace, a right-arm pace bowler in England, developed\nthe game in England, while playing Cricket in the field as well, during the\n19th century. The first England Vs Australian team took place at the Oval in\n1876 in S.E. London. The competition between England and Australia gave birth\nto what is known as ‘The Ashes’ in 1882. This tradition is carried forward\nup to this day. Cricket entered a new epoch in 1963 when County cricket\nintroduced the ‘limited over’ match concept. It enabled the first limited over\nCricket played in 1971, and the ICC recognising its potential and held the\nfirst limited-over match, the World Cup, in 1975. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan Cricket <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\ncricket activities were controlled and executed formerly by the Board of\nCricket, but now it is known as the Sri Lanka Cricket. Cricket needs excellent\nand efficient Management to improve the game to bring it back into its\nsplendour again. When effective Management is in place, it naturally boosts the\nplayers’ morale to perform better. What recently happened was that influential\nindividuals with good standing, through their political or financial influence\ngot into Sri Lanka Cricket, which did more harm than good to the game.\nPoliticians such as the late Dr. N.M. Perera took the lead to improve Cricket,\nfollowed by the late Minister Gamini Dissanayake, who followed it up. The two\ngentlemen contributed to the game of Cricket immensely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nGamini Dissanayake became the President of the Board of Control of Cricket, he\ntook a special trip to London, especially to have face-toface discussions with\nthe ICC officials. ICC initially refused to grant membership to Sri Lanka\nstating that ‘Sri Lankan Cricket ” did not pull spectators to test\nmatches; as such, the ICC was unwilling to take a gamble.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\n22 July 1981, at the MCC Grounds, Gamini Dissanayake appealed to the ICC thus:\n“Give us the Full Membership, and we will look after the rest.”\nFinally, he returned to Sri Lanka with the good news of ICC enrolling Sri Lanka\nalso as a member of the ICC. The late Gamini Dissanayake also made improvements\nto various other cricket grounds across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nimproved The Singhalese Sports Club in Colombo (SSC), Galle Esplanade, Moratuwa\nGrounds, and the Grounds at Radella. The late Gamini Dissanayake opened doors\nto every schoolboy, wide across the country, who shone in the field of Cricket\nat a time when it was conclusively selected from Colombo schools. It was Gamini\nDassanayke’s dream to see Sri Lankan cricketers to become professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However,\nstill in some players minds the word professionalism has gone into their heads!\nThey deem to think only about what they get as professional salaries and money\ncan do wonders! These players tend to believe that being professional, they can\neven supersede the law, discipline, or the spirit of the game while they\ntarnish the country\u2019s image by losing almost all the international cricket\nmatches! The recent dispute on cricketers\u2019 refusal to sign their annual\ncontracts that offer lower basic salaries and more performance-based incentives\nis a clear sign of this endeavour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nAngelo Mathews, an allrounder, has decided to withdraw from National Duties. In\ncontrast, 29 members of the cricket pool have signed tour contracts before they\nproceeded for the limited-over series against India , played recently and lost\nhopelessly. It is why Cricket has gone from bad to worse and enthusiastic\nspectators who were glued once to TVs do not care a damn about watching Cricket\nanymore, because the word ‘cricket’ itself has become despicable to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

tilakfernndo@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

published in Ceylon Today\non 27 July 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Everyone in Sri Lanka, from children to grown-ups, know about cricket. Though volleyball is known as Sri Lanka’s national game, cricket took its place due to its popularity. There was a time when even Kussi Ammas were engrossed in the game whenever cricket matches appeared on TV screens.  When players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-drtilak-s-fernando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}