When heroes shiver

Monday 20th November, 2023

The so-called cricket crisis has led to the postponement of the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) meetings, with some members of the parliamentary watchdog committee accusing their chairman of partiality to the SLC officials.

The executive presidency is generally thought to be the most powerful institution in Sri Lanka. But the cricket administration, we believe, dwarfs all other institutions. The UNP preens itself on having saved the country from the JVP’s reign of terror in the late 1980s. The SLPP leaders boast of having defeated the LTTE. But the members of the SLPP-UNP government, save a few, grovel before cricket administrators! Wijeweera and Prabhakran would turn green with envy if they knew the power of the cricket board.

When a motion was moved in Parliament, recently, calling for the removal of the SLC Executive Committee, the government made a virtue of necessity. It knew it would incur public opprobrium if it sided with the SLC office-bearers, and therefore supported the non-binding motion. But some ministers craftily made use of the debate on the motion to queer the pitch for Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe on the pretext of helping him.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said something to the effect that Minister Ranasinghe had not followed proper procedure in dissolving the SLC Executive Committee and appointing an interim committee, and his statement is likely to be used by the SLC officials and their lawyers against Ranasinghe. Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, taking part in the debate, warned of a possible ICC (International Cricket Council) ban and claimed that all 225 MPs would be held responsible in such an eventuality. The ICC suspended Sri Lanka’s membership much to the glee of the cricket officials and their defenders in the government. On Friday, Wijesekera urged all MPs to work unitedly towards having the suspension of ICC membership reversed!

ICC’s monopoly over international cricket is a fact of life, and Sri Lanka cannot do without the membership of the international cricket governing body. In fact, there is no reason why Sri Lanka should antagonise ICC. The government should negotiate with it but without pleading or begging on bended knees.

ICC has obviously been misled, and its principled policy that cricket governing bodies must be free from political interference is being abused. A group of seasoned negotiators devoid of vested interests should be handpicked to convince ICC that action being taken to rid SLC of corruption is for the benefit of cricket and should not be construed as political interference.

If the government undertakes to have allegations against SLC probed impartially and transparently, ICC will have to soften its stand. No cricket-loving Sri Lankan wants politicians to meddle with the administration of cricket or anything else for that matter. Such is the people’s antipathy towards politicians in this country, but Minister Ranasinghe’s action has gone down well with cricket lovers, and ICC should realise that something is rotten in Sri Lanka’s cricket administration.

In a previous editorial comment on cricket, we discussed the power of the corrupt in this country, and how they had placed themselves above the law. Today, they have humbled the Executive and the Legislature.

It may be recalled that when the Supreme Court issued an order on 03 March 2023, preventing the Finance Ministry Secretary from withholding funds allocated from Budget 2023 for elections, SLPP MP. Premnath Dolawatte raised a privilege issue in Parliament. He called upon the Speaker to take action against the breach of privilege, and the government tried to summon the judges concerned before the Ethics and Privileges Committee of Parliament, but it got cold feet due to protests. Curiously, the government, which has taken on the judiciary to protect its interests, has chosen to remain silent on indignities the legislature is suffering at the hands of a bunch of cricket administrators.

Curiously, even President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who does a Muhammad Ali when he deals with the Opposition, the Elections Commission, trade unions and anti-government protesters, floats like a bee and stings like a butterfly vis-a-vis the cricket nabobs, who are running a parallel government to all intents and purposes.