What is our real cricket structure and how effective is it?
View(s):Our local cricket is facing a similar crisis at present. Yes, we had a perfect outfit which ran very effectively, may be a score of years ago. It was not rocket science. It had clubs which had their own necessary nitty-gritties such as a ground, a clubhouse and players, along with a well laid out three-tiered tournament structure to back it. Instead of playing happily ever after, they tried to build upon it.
The tournament which began with about 8-12 clubs, has now grown to 24 clubs. The clubs which had their own basic structures, have been burdened by a line of single-owner clubs. If an owner drops dead, his club may go into oblivion.
The result of this unwelcome development is the weak First Class Cricket structure. At the same time, the experts keep talking about a provincial or some other structure, which would improve our system but, since 2003, nobody has been able to arrive at the right formula. Right now, it does not seem that any system of cricket is working for Sri Lanka, locally or internationally.
The Sunday Times spoke to Michael de Zoysa, a live wire of Lankan cricket. He has played the game in a small way but, his work output has come in the manner of being former SLC Secretary and Sri Lanka Team Manager. If anyone wants more, just ask, we can provide it.
In the first Ex Co, on gaining Test status, young Michael de Zoysa was the Assistant Secretary. At the same time, he has even been a member of several tournament committees that came along. He has also been a very vocal advocate of the club cricket system.
De Zoysa opined, “The way you put it, it seems the system is not working but, cricket was really competitive at club level, may be in the ’50s and ’60s. At that time, we only had SSC, NCC, BRC, Colts and the Tamil Union. From there we found Bloomfield coming in, then the outstation clubs – Galle, Panadura, then Kandy had a side, and then Kurunegala had a side, and cricket spread islandwide in this manner. The centres outside Colombo had competitive teams. When it came to the ’60s and the ’70s, we had 8-10 clubs. At that time, the premier tournament was the P. Saravanamuttu (Sara) Trophy, and it was a two-day tournament. Then, by the ’80s, this had transformed into three-day cricket with twelve clubs, and it was very competitive. It is because the structure was three-tiered and, so much so, a club match drew about 5,000-10,000 people to watch the game.
“Just imagine, if the players of yore at that time had the same facilities they have today, in terms of coaches, training and food supplements, we would have got Test status much earlier. People such as Michael Tissera, David Heyn, Illangaratnam, Sonny Yatawara, Vernon Prins and C.I. Gunasekera — what would have they done, if they had the same facilities that cricketers enjoy today?”
He said, at that time, the club cricket structure was so strong that even if a club lost five or six players to national duty, it still won the tournament, because its bench strength was formidable. “There was a Division II tournament called the Donovan Andree tournament, and it too had a solid foundation.” Zoysa added, “Where we went wrong was when those who could not win tournaments, started to promote the 2nd and 3rd placed teams to join Division I. That is how they finally ended up with 24 clubs.
“The moment we grew to 24, the big clubs bench strength got diluted. Division II players left and joined clubs which offered them a place in the Division I tournament. For instance, a player who could not secure a place in the SSC Division I tournament, was sure of a slot in the Division I team of a smaller club. The players joined clubs like Chilaw Marians, Ragama CC, Badureliya, Lankan CC, Saracens and so on. In reality, that denuded Lankan cricket of its strength. Though it gave more opportunities for players to play First Class Cricket, I feel that was not the best move for Lankan cricket.”
From the Musings’ end, we pointed out that a lot of cricketing personalities such as Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Sidath Wettimuny, just to name a few, are of the opinion that the only way out of this gridlock is to adopt the provincial tournament and make it a proper First Class tournament. De Zoysa responded, “In the past, we had the Robert Senanayake Trophy. The composition was of a few Premier Division clubs, Government Services, Mercantile and even a combined schools team, playing in a four-day tournament, which was a First Class tournament. It was replaced by the Maharaja Trophy. I remember, once C.I. Gunasekera, in his 60s, had to come out in Premier Division flannels once again, as SSC lost six of its Premier Division players to Ceylon Tobacco.”
“If you talk about Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara or, the others who have made their mark in world cricket, they came through the club system which was competitive. They did not come through a provincial system. They were good enough to play international cricket straight from school, through the club side to international cricket. Arjuna Ranatunga was 13 years old when he came to the SSC. He played his first Division I match at the age of 15, facing up to Bloomfield, and at 17, he represented the country. People like that, through the years, have prospered through the club cricket system, which was strong. Now the cub cricket system is not strong. Players after their Under (U)-19 school cricket, cannot find a place in the Premier Division side. Fortunately, they had a junior club cricket tournament in the U-23 tournament. By this time, the Division II tournament, which was a great cushion to club cricket, was done away with.
“Then, with the expansion to 24 Premier Division sides, the format began to change. The Division II tournament was played by a completely different set of teams. Then, there is the emerging tournament. Unfortunately, the standard of cricket had to drop, as a result of teams getting weaker.”
However, de Zoysa said the proposals made by Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara made a lot of sense, and he does not disagree with them, if it is done the right way. “There is no point in sending five guys from the SSC and six from the NCC to make up a Provincial team. It is not a provincial tournament. It is a combined XI made out of the whims and fancies of powerful selectors who are in power at that moment,” he said.
“They have to find a way to keep the schoolboy in his own province. Schoolboy cricket has U-15, U-17 and U-19 provincial and district cricket set in motion. The question is, how do you stop these players running to the Western Province in search of jobs. They should be able to operate from their own homes with home comfort. In reality, the provincial tournament should be thought out long term. The problem would not be solved when you put the 75-80 cricketers in a pool and conduct a tournament. That is not the way to go.”
Zoysa’s contention was Lankan cricket is lopsided. He said, “We have provincial cricket which is not run by the provinces. We have clubs which do not have grounds and probably, no proper full membership. There are 140-147 votes to elect the president and the secretary, so the canvassing that goes to harness these votes has encouraged different groups in power to increase the number of clubs, and thus increase the number of persons who can vote, and that has weakened Lankan cricket. Just saying, ‘let’s have a provincial tournament’ will not solve the problem. First, you have to put the whole house in order.
“We need a new constitution. If they consider a club being a controlling club having two votes, it should have a clubhouse, a ground and sufficient members to sustain it. Some so-called controlling Clubs don’t have these facilities. Then, how can they be controlling cubs? Bloomfield, BRC, Moors, CCC, SSC and NCC are the controlling clubs and they have all the facilities, at least the basics. If you talk about provincial system, all the clubs are situated in the Western Province. If you are talking about district cricket, only the Colombo District runs a tournament, and that too is a Division III tournament. Galle did not have a team for several years. Kandy does not have a team. Kurunegala had two teams, but they do not have a team now. They got lost in rushing into Colombo, to be within the 24 clubs somehow.
“First Class Cricket should be first class and competitive. Then a provincial tournament should consist of cricketers who live and play their cricket in those provinces. Now there are means of getting employment for these cricketers in the outstations, with IT companies and banks opening up all over. Then there are garment factories in the outstations.”