SLC and ICC

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since the height of the Muttiah Muralitharan throwing controversy and later his new delivery 'the doosra', two issues which distanced the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for a period of time.

However times have changed so much that the ICC is now more and more getting the assistance of Sri Lanka to host most of their international cricket tournaments.

In the past six years Sri Lanka had hosted three successfully - two under 19 World Cups in 2000 and 2006 and the Champions trophy in 2002.

The ICC has found Sri Lanka a suitable venue to host its tournaments cost wise as well as otherwise. For no other country would allow them the luxury of tax free concessions and the use of international grounds and hotels at knockdown prices as Sri Lanka does.

From Sri Lanka's point of view it is also a boost for its tourist industry which has suffered immensely by the ongoing ethnic war.

These factors coupled with Sri Lanka's ability to successfully host international tournaments of such magnitude in the past convinced the hierarchy of the ICC at the executives meeting in Dubai last week to give them the opportunity to co-host the 2011 World Cup with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and single-handedly host the 2012 Champions trophy.

Regardless of what people say of interim committees it is pertinent to note that all three ICC tournaments held in Sri Lanka took place when the country's cricket was run under interim administration.

Time for change

The role interim committee chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa played at the Dubai meeting should be appreciated. One has to give the devil his due.

For long the cricketing fraternity in Sri Lanka has become so obsessed that no one other than Thilanga Sumathipala, the former president of SLC could convince the ICC hierarchy and get things moving.

But Dharmadasa, a man of few words has in his own inimitable way achieved for Sri Lanka which some thought only a Sumathipala could accomplish.

Sumathipala certainly had clout and was a go getter no matter how people looked at him and how they assessed him. He had been instrumental in getting so many issues sorted out especially the Muralitharan chucking controversy in 1996 and then again in 1999. He also played a big role in Sri Lanka getting to co-host the 1996 World Cup with India and Pakistan.

The saddest chapter in Sumathipala's ambitious career was that he was never allowed a full term of office to fulfil what he intended to achieve for Sri Lanka cricket. Three times he was elected president and on all three occasions there was someone to throw a spoke in the wheel.

Although Sumathipala kept coming back like a beaten boxer each time he was floored the time it seems has arrived for him to step aside and allow someone else to run Sri Lanka cricket.

The damage done to the game with the cricket politics that has taken place in the past seven years is irreparable and if this trend continues further it will mean the end of Sri Lanka cricket.

We don't want to end up like the West Indies or Zimbabwe, whose cricket boards are at loggerheads with the players and as a result are struggling to maintain their international status.

Sri Lanka cricket must move on and for a change why not let the other side do its little bit for the game?

The best thing that can happen to Sri Lanka cricket is for both factions to get together and work as one unit. That way Sri Lanka cricket will benefit immensely. We all in it because of cricket after all. Aren't we?