Sri Lankan cricket enthusiasts, sponsors of the national cricket team and fans are in for a rude shock, as it has emerged that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has appointed a shoplifter to the prestigious position of national selector.
While SLC’s reputation has taken a severe beating over the years due to the politicization and questionable characters running the game, the latest development comes as a crying shame, to an institution that once stood for good governance, fair play and a clean image. What is taking place currently at SLC is simply not cricket.
A bowler was caught shoplifting during a Sri Lanka Under-19 tour of England that featured several cricketers who went onto represent and even captain the country. While SLC had ensured the bowler had nothing to do with the game over the years, this time around this bowler has been brought in as a member of the selection panel of the Sri Lanka women’s cricket team.
While this person had a brief but turbulent career, his sudden rise comes due to his connections to a prominent official at SLC, during whose tenure the board has suffered severe setbacks. ‘The Island’ learns that while the shoplifter has no expertise in women’s cricket, the reason why he was brought in as a selector was to grant him a favour. The top official and the shoplifter attended the same school.
Sri Lankan cricketers being caught for shoplifting is nothing new. During Sri Lanka’s tour of England in 1998, a young spinner was caught for stealing. The captain at that time, Arjuna Ranatunga, gave an assurance that as long as he was the captain the cricketer was never going to play for Sri Lanka again.
The fact that today cricket administrators are encouraging and promoting thieves is an insult to that great name in Sri Lankan cricket annals called Arjuna Ranatunga.
