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Cricket
for rupees and cents Who are these people? Are they promoting cricket and if so what have they done, what are they doing and what are their future plans. Maybe they are behind a laudable plan and project. All we seek and request is please come to press and tell us all about yourselves because what we hear maybe unkind and untidy. You have been labelled as an outrageous group making outrageous claims forgetting that the I.C.C. funds given to the Sri Lankan Board of Cricket is for the specific purpose of developing cricket. The Nurseries of yesteryear were amply funded, nursed, guided and controlled by the Board of Control resulting from which all those who represent Sri Lanka were produced. We require funds for the schools, the nurseries of under 13, 15 & 17. We need more and better turf wickets, a few more indoor nets, heavy and light rollers and support at the Club level and most of all funds for regular tours of India and Pakistan by our Juniour teams. This is what the Cricket development fund is meant for. A few of us feel that as soon as that 20% & $ 50,000/- immoral claim was made, the Interim Committee should have shelved the negotiation and spoken with Jayasuriya, Attapattu and possibly Vaas direct where sanity would have prevailed and the Nurseries would have benefitted. Nurseries these cricketers came from. It's shameful that Rupees and cents came before the noble game and the country causing a bitter drop in our cup of happiness. The whole spirit of adoration and admiration has been shattered. The negotiators should hang their heads in shame for the chaos and bitterness they have caused and it will be interesting to know if the negotiation benefitted financially from the deal approved. We know he had a luxury trip to Australia. Nobody is grudging
the payments approved to the Cricketers as long as such payments
are not at the expense of our Nurseries and other less privileged
levels. Our
cricketers need your support now "For a Few Dollars More", "Holding Blue Cap to Ransom" etc., were some of the nauseating newspaper headlines that greeted us. Most papers had slanted their stories and opinions so as to wittingly or otherwise, create resentment towards our cricketers. Please stop this vituperative campaign, now International sportsmen are paid in international currencies such as US Dollars. We in Sri Lanka do not unfortunately possess International sportsmen, apart from our cricketers and an athlete or two, notably Susanthika. 'As a 'Team-Game', the truth remains that only our cricketers have reached International Status that warrant remuneration in Dollars. They are paid for their talents - what's wrong with that? [Besides 88% of their earnings are ploughed back to the BCCSL for ostensibly, the improvement of infrastructure, training etc. Has Sri Lanka produced a single International Sportsman/Team in any other Team Sport such as Soccer, Rugby or even any other lucrative individual sport, viz Boxing, Golf, Tennis, F 1 Grand Prix Racing etc? Those who have scaled the ladder of stardom of these 'other sports' are today Dollar Billionaires. And they won't be the last, either! Top performers
in the International circuit earn mega-bucks. What's wrong with
that? Come on Sri Lanka's move our 'greeen eyed' vision from our little pond to the great oceans! Let us be proud that we have produced International Sportsmen, at least in cricket. We should be delighted to see that they are paid, as International Sportsmen, in Dollars. If anyone could match their talents, by all means go out there and let your bat and/or ball 'do the talking'.... and secure a place in SL's First XI. Could we produce another Sanath, Aravinda, Murali? Let us savour and appreciate their God-given talent... talent of International Class. This period before the departure of our treasure cricketers for the Greatest Global Cricketing Event is crucial, to make an underestatement. Let us all in one voice support every one in the party, i.e., Cricketers, Coach, Manager etc., due to en-plane to South Africa. God Bless Them All! - Dyan Seneviratne |
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