TWENTY20 World Cups come and go but Sri Lanka Cricket’s fight against corruption continues. Even before millions of fans could get over their crippling disappointment over the loss of the final, reporters were rushing to get the latest on the alleged match fixing by a group of umpires including, three from Sri Lanka.
SLC has preferred to remain cautious of the revelations made by India TV by insisting that it is the prerogative of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to order a probe. It has stressed that investigations have been launched against allegations made at the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) tournament that preceded the T20 World Cup in August and that as far as it is concerned SLC has clean hands.
Yet, SLC cannot afford to be complacent about this by shifting the responsibility of action to the ICC. On the one hand, there is the conventional wisdom that SLC is corrupt, bankrupt and a bastion of bureaucratic mismanagement; quite symptomatic, in fact, of the general malaise that ails typical Sri Lankan State institutions.
On the other, there is a resurgent sentiment which holds that the spirit of cricket as embodied by the National Team is still a bulwark against the rising tide of the institutional failure and moral decrepitude that characterises Sri Lankan politics.
That hype and hoopla apart, the reality is that Sri Lanka Cricket continues to be conflated with amoral misdemeanours of the monetary sort in the minds of the general public – an impression that is readily confirmed even by State watchdog – the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE). The latest round of allegations is simply another layer on this existing hill of shadows and SLC has a responsibility to manage its own affairs and keep its nose clean without having to be ordered to do so by the ICC.
Many optimists in the cricket-loving nation continue to put their faith in its cricketers, especially the likes of outgoing Captain Mahela Jayawardene who despite the loss of his team was named the Captain of the ICC World T20 team along with two other Sri Lankans. Even though Sri Lanka did not lift the cup it did manage to get more players in the ICC team than any other major cricket playing nation. In fact it left countries such as South Africa in the dust after the proteas bombed out without even a single inclusion.
The emergence of new talent during the T20 World Cup from the likes of 19-year old Akila Dananjaya has boosted the future of the game yet there remain massive concerns over management. The West Indies is also another team that fell apart due to bad management but began its painful rebuilding process, even managing to woo back the volatile Chris Gayle, to finally win a World Cup after the lapse of 33 years. SLC has to be careful that it avoids such a deep decline in terms of its governance.
The fans are also hoping that the cricketers will provide a counterpoint to the corruption juggernaut that is Sri Lankan politics, for otherwise the greatest passion of the nation will die out.
In that context, it is critical that SLC sincerely and effectively incorporates and implements anti-corruption codes for domestic cricket in line with the ICC’s international code. This will give greater credence for the new administration if it wants to walk the talk in terms of fighting the ills of system.
ft.lk