{"id":129108,"date":"2014-08-17T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T18:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=129108"},"modified":"2014-08-25T11:38:45","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T06:08:45","slug":"the-miracle-of-cricket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-miracle-of-cricket\/","title":{"rendered":"The Miracle Of Cricket"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

It has been an incredible run.\u00a0 The word can be used considering how quickly Sri Lanka became a force to reckon with after achieving test status.\u00a0 The word \u2018incredible\u2019 is apt for many other reasons.\u00a0 Just check the records chalked up by Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans over the past few years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka is not one of the so-called \u2018Big Three\u2019, but there\u2019s only so much bigness and clout in the cricketing market can purchase.\u00a0 Sri Lanka is not the No 1 test-playing nation, but it\u2019s been No 1 in ODIs and in T-20 versions.\u00a0 There are other feats.\u00a0 Highest totals in tests, ODIs and T-20s.\u00a0 There\u2019s Murali\u2019s 800 wickets.\u00a0 Partnership records.\u00a0 Second-only-to-the-Don records set by Kumar Sangakkara.<\/p>\n

More than all this, there\u2019s heart. \u00a0Few would deny that Sri Lanka has as much heart as mind, technique and cricketing sense.\u00a0 That\u2019s something.<\/p>\n

What is miraculous, however, has nothing to do with bat, ball, what happens in the middle, \u2018Spirit of Cricket\u2019 speeches, records, match-winning or match-saving performances etc. It is about all this happening in a sport which has been administered by egotists, crooks and morons, sometimes all rolled together.<\/p>\n

Sure, there have been exceptional individuals at the helm of Sri Lanka Cricket<\/span><\/a> and the Cricket Board.\u00a0 Their commitment, ability and vision went a long way in setting up a strong foundation. Indeed if the players and teams have not been tripped too much it has a lot to do with intelligent and giving individuals putting certain things in place.<\/p>\n

Times have changed though.<\/p>\n

Financial mismanagement, scandals and non-payment of salaries are so common that a smoothly functioning cricket establishment has become a utopian concept.\u00a0 If we were just saying \u2018the sport\u2019s administrative body is a mess\u2019 it would not be worrisome.\u00a0 What is disturbing is that we have reached a point where people are openly saying \u2018it will always be a mess\u2019.<\/p>\n

What is sad is that when the President of Sri Lanka Cricket and his Secretary have a spat and it comes out in the open, few are bothered.\u00a0 Scandal and Cricket go together, the general public has come to understand and even expect.\u00a0 Catty comments, contradictions, retractions, denials, accusations and counter-accusations are \u2018par for the course\u2019 as far as Cricket Sri Lanka goes.\u00a0 Indeed, considering the corruption and mismanagement are frequently tagged to that body, such things seem quite mild.<\/p>\n

No one will say that cricketers are saints.\u00a0 No one will say that \u2018the 11 men out there\u2019 and only \u2018the 11 men out there\u2019 have brought glory to the country.\u00a0 There is a thing called \u2018supporting cast\u2019.\u00a0 There are nuts and bolts that have to be put in place by \u2018officials\u2019, elected ones and employees.\u00a0 Should not be downplayed.\u00a0 But then again, considering the interminable hiccups that plague this particular sporting body, it is incredible that Sri Lanka manages to actually field 11 individuals in all international encounters.\u00a0 It is a miracle, then, that they\u2019ve done what they\u2019ve done on an impressively regular basis.<\/p>\n

While we can step back in awe at this miracle, it must be understood that there\u2019s only so much miracle-fuel that heart and skill can conjure.\u00a0 That fuel will run out someday.\u00a0 There is reason, after all, why the word \u2018patch\u2019 goes with \u2018purple\u2019 when one refers to an incredible run by an individual or a team.\u00a0 \u2018Patches\u2019 by definition speak of highs preceded and followed by lows.<\/p>\n

It was a tough ask for Sri Lanka to beat the rain and reach a target back in Galle, but that\u2019s still kids\u2019 stuff compared to asking someone, anyone, to set Sri Lanka Cricket right.\u00a0 It has to be done, though.\u00a0 Those in the know would probably say \u2018too far gone\u2019.\u00a0 Well that would amount to making a case for sweeping the garbage out, cleaning house and setting things back in place from scratch. \u00a0If that\u2019s what has to happen, then there\u2019s no way around it.<\/p>\n

We shall of course savor the miracle(s) produced by Angelo Matthews and his men.\u00a0 The future asks for more. A bigger miracle, perhaps, but one that has to be conjured if we are to get more Mahela-moments, Sanga-moments, Murali-moments, Matthews-moments, team-moments \u00a0and of course more Mahelas, Sangas, Muralis and Angelos.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Miracle Of Cricket - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-miracle-of-cricket\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Miracle Of Cricket - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-miracle-of-cricket\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T18:30:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-25T06:08:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-miracle-of-cricket\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-miracle-of-cricket\/\",\"name\":\"The Miracle Of Cricket - 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