{"id":67750,"date":"2017-07-11T16:12:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T23:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=67750"},"modified":"2017-07-11T16:12:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T23:12:51","slug":"arjuna-reveals-cricket-mafia-responsible-for-cricket-calamity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/07\/11\/arjuna-reveals-cricket-mafia-responsible-for-cricket-calamity\/","title":{"rendered":"Arjuna Reveals Cricket Mafia Responsible for Cricket Calamity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Dilrook Kannangara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

All world beaters in the nation are bold, unconventional and at times controversial. They don\u2019t mince words though at times they make no sense. But when they talk sense, it is best to listen to them. Field Marshal Fonseka, Arjuna, Malinga and Susanthika are no one\u2019s friend but they achieved the unachievable. Arjuna\u2019s recent revelations must be considered by the President, the Sport Minister and all those who love cricket.<\/p>\n

Cricket Mafia<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Arjuna, there is a cricket mafia in the country parasiting on players and at times even influencing selection. With a near monopoly, these money-minded agents push their own agenda. Selectors are hapless and are at the mercy of this mafia. Head of the mafia has the support of some legendary players too. According to Arjuna, getting into the good books of the mafia is a sure way to get into the team for a short stint. If well performing, they can stay. However, given the very large number of players contracted to the mafia, it decides who plays and who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Therefore it is not the fault of the selection alone to have tried out over 45 players since WC2015 until now. Selectors and players have been manipulated by the cricket agency mafia. The mysterious disappearance of some players may be the work of the mafia. If it remains, there is no future for Sri Lanka\u2019s cricket.<\/p>\n

Selfish Senior Players<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arjuna also blamed selfish senior players who wanted to remain at the very top for an easy batting position. These players were never interested in shielding\u201d, grooming and training youngsters to take it from them. By remaining at the top order, they could bat without pressure, face more balls and have a higher probability to make big scores which will fetch them a high price in IPL auctions. As a result, bowlers had to face batting pressure when it came to accelerate the run rate!<\/p>\n

Arjuna and his teammates didn\u2019t do it. They shielded young players at the lower order and then promoted them to the top order where they could bat without pressure. Sanath, Romesh, Dilshan, Mahela and Marvan are the products of this approach. Sadly it didn\u2019t happen since 2002. Even nearing their retirement, some senior players remained planted in the top order!<\/p>\n

Selectors and the coach should have imposed it on players but they failed. Some senior players were a law unto themselves.<\/p>\n

Captaincy Woes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Angelo Matthews is the most disastrous captain in this century. His field placing, bowling selection and lack of encouragement of players is shocking. He is a good batsman and he is needed in the team but not as captain. The only excuse is there is no one else to take over from him. That is not true. Instead of recycling old players, a youngster must be given the reigns of the captain. Changing the captain frequently is acceptable in place of sporadic captaincy of Matthews. Angelo\u2019s presence is sporadic and stand in captains have been many. Instead, a permanent replacement for him in the captain role must be found.<\/p>\n

Minnows?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is already too late for the 2019 World Cup. With no set team in place, it is very unlikely Sri Lanka will have any chance of performing well. At the moment Sri Lanka hangs in there in the last place of serious teams in ODI ranking. Upcoming India tour will ruin Sri Lanka\u2019s chances of staying there especially if West Indies does well against England.<\/p>\n

How did Team Sri Lanka become near minnows in 2017 in just 6 years. They were giants in 2011. Arjuna\u2019s explanations make sense. He is willing to advise. But sadly, there are no takers. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Dilrook Kannangara All world beaters in the nation are bold, unconventional and at times controversial. They don\u2019t mince words though at times they make no sense. But when they talk sense, it is best to listen to them. Field Marshal Fonseka, Arjuna, Malinga and Susanthika are no one\u2019s friend but they achieved the unachievable. Arjuna\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dilrook-kannangara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67750","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=67750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}