ICL players heave a sigh of relief

The Sri Lankan cricketers who were involved in the Indian Cricket League will heave a sigh of relief now that the Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket have decided to lift the ban slapped on them for figuring in that tournament.

The question often asked is: Why was the ban slapped in the first place? The sin the players committed was that they agreed to play in the ICL which was organized before the Board of Control for Cricket India put their circus, the Indian Premier League on show.

The players who threw in their lot with the ICL were only doing so to pocket a few dollars more, like do their colleagues in the IPL. The International Cricket Council which governs the game, had no other alternative but to please the all powerful BCCI and slap a ban on all players, not only Sri Lankans, but all other cricketers from representing their countries or having anything to do with any form of that game. That to say the least was cruel.

As for the Sri Lankan cricketers who were banned, the national team did not feel the pinch because most of those cricketers had retired or were on the verge of retiring. But now that they have been given a new lease of life, they could play in the domestic game, after being in the cooler for three months.

Players of most other countries playing the game will soon have their Boards lifting the ban. Cricketers especially from Bangladesh which had almost their entire national team in the ICL will also be relieved, because they can now vie for national representation again.

Where goes ICL?

Now that most of the cricketers who signed to play in the ICL being given a reprieve and showing their willingness to play in the national team now that the controlling bodies are agreeable to lift the ban, where or what is the future of the ICL?

The ICL did not expect to be screwed in all fronts. But now with the ICC stubbornly refusing to approve their league, signs are that the ICL will die a natural death. That would be sad, but that is how the cookie crumbles.

The ICL threatened legal action. The ICL is certainly not going to take it on the bump, as it were. They must be devastated by the knockout punch administered by the respective cricket boards, and the ICC. But though they are down, they are certainly not out and the future would be worth watching how the ICL will go.

Tendulkar boobs

With the Indian Premier League in South Africa now in full swing, many interesting games are being played that has kept spectators glued to their seats on the ground and others taking in the action on TV.

As for the Sri Lankans, Chaminda Vaas and Farveez Maharoof finally made it to their playing elevens, and Vaas hit back with a vengeance at his detractors by showing what they missed with a fine allround performance in his first outing.

Dilhara Fernando Sri Lanka’s fastest bowler has yet to make his appearance. A pertinent question to ask is: Where is Astralia’s Glen McGrath who was the Most Valuable Players in the previous World Cup in the Caribbean? It must be galling to the great fast bowler.

Warne proving to be best captain

Shane Warne the former Australian master leg spin/googly bowler is proving to be the best captain on show in the T20 tourney in South Africa. It is amazing to watch his clever and excellent marshalling of his troops and getting the best out of them by example.

If Warne is the best captain, then former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar must be the worst. If this is not so how can one explain his panic by tinkering with his accepted batting line up and dropping down the order of Sanath Jayasuriya and himself in the previous game. When a captain plays with his set batting line up, it is a sure sign that he has panicked.

That is not all, in the previous game he dropped Sanath Jayasuriya which was unacceptable and inexplicable and unforgiving. No wonder then that Tendulkar led his country twice, but was found wanting and removed.

Brian Thomas will be missed

Popularly known as Brian “Johnston” Thomas, the great man will be missed by his several colleagues in the media box.

Thomas from the time he took over the MTV Cricket show, was par excellence with his superb presentation and he was showered praise not only by his local colleagues, but all international cricketers and journalists, because like in the motto of his company, he had the courage to be different.

This writer also had the good fortune of being interviewed by Thomas on his programme and the writer was put at ease the manner in which he conducted the programme.

At press briefings, Thomas always stole the show opening the innings for the media and his questions were to the point and at times had the head table beaten and bowled with superbly thought out questions. While he was at the wicket, he batted superbly scoring for MTV and everyone had nothing but praise and showered encomiums on him and his cleverly edited program.

While the batsmen in the middle were hitting sixes,Thomas had a style of his own hitting his own brand of sixes in the media box and had the mediamen in stitches of laughter. There was never a dull moment with Thomas there.

He had an equally good batsman in “Daily News” journalist Richard Dwight. Together they were a scream.

It is said that all good things must come to an end,and so it was with Thomas who retired on reaching the age of 55 after an innings faithfully, honestly, devotedly and dedicatedly played for his team - the Maharaja Organisation.