As Mahela Jayawardene joined the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is known not to be happy with the decision of their maestro.
Jayawardene has joined ECB as the batting consultant for the upcoming ICC World T20 2016 and SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has questioned this action of the former Lankan player.
Jayawardene was previously appointed to work with the England team during their tour to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2015 for two Test matches and the experience he shared with the players proved to be highly beneficial, which has made the board recall the legendary player before the big event.
However, Sumanthipala feels the player must not share the information he has while working with England and did not seem happy with Jayawardene’s agreement. In an interview given to espncricinfo.com, Sumathipala said, “I had a lot of respect and gratitude for Mahela’s knowledge, but now he’s advisor to a competing team of ours. I’m very disappointed that a national captain, within a few months of retirement, has been retained by another team at a World Cup.You could go to a club, a province, an IPL kind of team, or a county. But this is a World Cup. You can’t have a player who has just left your country’s team joining a competitive nation. All the contracted players who are playing, once they retire from the game, should have at least 24 months before joining another team for giving advice or coaching.”
Pointing out the fact that Jayawardene was recently one of the members of the Sri Lanka side, he added, “You need that minimum cooling-off period, because you were recently in the team. You know the team’s strengths and its weaknesses because you’re inside the team. You know your team planning ahead of the World Cup. I think I’ve been very sad and disappointed by this.”
“I don’t think this is just a matter of contract. You captained Sri Lanka, you played for your country, and after a few months you go and represent another country and advise against your own nation? I’m talking here about ethics of cricket,” Sumanthipala concluded.
He added that in this newly devised contract any retiring national cricketer will not be able to advice or be involved in any other competing team’s administration or coaching staff within a period of 1 year post retirement, “Ideally I would say 24 months which would mean that the seniors and key players in the current team would have left by then” he added. The Hon. President was quite clear when he lashed out at the former Sri Lankan captain saying that even though his actions aren’t legally binding, it’s a matter of principle. He justified his statement saying it is a crucial juncture in international cricket ahead of the world cup and it is most disadvantageous for the Sri Lankan team when all its strengths and weaknesses could be utilized against them at the upcoming world cup.
The discussion of Kusal Janith’s verdict was also discussed during the press conference. Mr. Ashley De Silva, the CEO of SLC stated that a few other meetings will be held with the International Cricket Council and that a legal approach would be taken on the matter. However, as Perera is under a ban of the ICC for the use of banned substances, “he is not permitted to take part in any SLC training but he is currently training on his own”.
Another topic which was highly ridiculed in the past few days was discussed too – A statement made by the Minister of Sports Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara saying that the Sooriyawewa stadium would be used for wedding receptions. On this Hon. Sumathipala said “there is an issue of accommodation for players who play at Sooriyawewa as most hotels are located at least one and a half hours away”, this does not sound practical and it is most evident that it is a waste of resources by the previous regime. “It is an asset of ours and we should only try to utilize it without letting it go to waste” he added”, discussions have been made with the prime minister as well who has, according to the Hon. President, promised land within a 30 min radius to the stadium where the government would invite investors to set up hotels.
With a promise to the media that discussions of this nature would take place on a monthly basis the committee invited all stakeholders to come forth with their ideas and suggestions in taking forward the game of cricket.
, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is known not to be happy with the decision of their maestro. Jayawardene has joined ECB as the batting consultant for the upcoming ICC World T20 2016 and SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has questioned this action of the former Lankan player. ){kind=link}