The much awaited verdict on the match fixing incident that took place in a Premier Tier B League cricket match between Panadura SC and Kalutara PCC early this year at the Surrey Village grounds, Magonna was reached by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket based on the independent commission report and the recommendations of the tournament committee when they met on Saturday.
But to the astonishment of everyone the real culprits - the two clubs involved were allowed to go scot free with only a slap on the wrist (a fine of Rs. 500,000/-) for each of them and the two captains Chamara Silva of Panadura SC and Manoj Deshapriya of Kalutara PCC suspended from all cricket related activities for two years. In addition the players and coaches involved in the match were also meted a similar punishment for a period of one year.
The question that begs to be asked is why the same punishment as dished out to the two captains was not imposed on the two clubs as well? Was it because the men who form the SLC hierarchy would lose the valuable votes these two clubs would bring at the next AGM which is due to be held in May 2018?
There is also the argument that if a team has wronged it is the captain and the team that takes the rap. For instance when Sri Lanka was found to be well behind the required over rate in the recently concluded ODI series against India, it was the captain Upul Tharanga who was fined and banned for two matches by the ICC and not the Sri Lanka team. Thus decisions taken on the field are the responsibilities of the captain and his players. So in that aspect SLC is right in suspending the captain, players and coaches involved.
But then again this is a case related not to an instance like slow over rate but to match fixing, which is a bigger crime. The SLC has very deceitfully avoided the phrase “match fixing” and said the two teams have been found guilty of “misconduct and not playing to the spirit of the game”.
Fixing of matches needn’t always involve money but in this instance it was done by the two clubs - one for their promotion to a higher Tier and the other to avoid relegation to a lower level of competition. Surely this was done after both teams had weighed the pros and cons of survival and come to a common understanding.
In such circumstances it is not the teams that are directly involved in the decision-making but the officials of the respective clubs under whose instructions the captains would have been asked to carry out the dirty deed.
The hilarious part is that Chamara Silva, the Panadura SC captain who refused to oblige the club officials and did not turn up for the match on the final day has been banned for two years while the officials who connived to fix the game have not received any punishment.
According to reports that appear in the media these are officials from the two clubs holding powerful positions in the SLC executive committee and when a decision regarding their clubs was taken did they refrain from attending the ExCo meeting which should be the normal practice? Or were they present to ensure that their clubs were not banned?
Whichever way you look at it the whole episode stinks and if these officials have some sort of self respect they should resign from their position at SLC. But in this part of the world such acts are few and far between. Don’t be surprised if they carry on regardless of what’s happened. Did someone say that this is a land like no other?
SLC, SPORTS MINISTER GET A MOUTHFUL FROM MALINGA
Sri Lanka Cricket and the Minister of Sports were left ruing why on earth they called for a brainstorming session at Battaramulla on the guise of creating a new direction for SLC and to transform the national team’s flagging fortunes.
The one day session was meant to express views of the players, administrators, officials etc on how to uplift the country’s cricket to the levels it has fallen to and Lasith Malinga one of the few outspoken cricketers of the team seized the opportunity with both hands to let fly a salvo of accusations that left the Sports Minister and the SLC hierarchy ducking and weaving for cover trying to avoid the well directed bouncers that the Slinga let loose at them.
Malinga launched a scathing attack on the type of pitches prepared for the recent series against India which Sri Lanka lost badly blaming SLC for backtracking on the team’s requirements and also not taking measures to protect players when they are at the receiving end of criticism from the mainstream and social media. He also questioned the credentials and the contributions made by the High Performance Manager Simon Willis who was got down from England and paid an exorbitant salary, was critical of the policies adopted by the national selectors that led to a lost generation of players in the last decade or so and has left the country with an inexperienced squad of players unable to cope with the demands of international cricket.
In the eyes of many this brainstorming session was believed to be total eyewash to cover the shortcomings and sins of the present cricket administration to which the Sports Minister has also been accused of being party to. In that aspect the meeting was snubbed by several former players and administrators who have been lobbying hard for a change of guard in the wake of recent defeats. The Sports Minister a staunch ally of the SLC president has time and again stated that he will not heed to the demands of appointing an interim committee which in the past have a good track record of pulling Sri Lanka cricket out of troubled waters.
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