Musthapha’s golden opportunity to save our cricket
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Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha with the ICC hierarchy
Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha made an unusual move and did a trip to the Mecca of Cricket in Dubai to feel the real pulse of the cricket situation of the country and to learn for himself how the ICC works and how it works. Along with him, SLC Competent Authority Kamal Pathmasiri, ICC CEO Dave Richardson and SLC CEO Ashley de Silva, were also present at the meeting.
Among the things that he learned was that there were no discussions or appeals made by anyone not to set up interim committees or any other authority similar till the current legal impasse is over.
That same morning, we at the Musings, observed so. The most intriguing news I heard in sports related matters, in recent times, is the statement made by the newly appointed Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha, claiming he did not know much about cricket. That honest statement rode deep into the minds of a lot of cricket enthusiasts because, right now on stage, we need a person with such credentials.
Mohamed Faiszer Musthapha P.C. is a Sri Lankan Attorney-at-Law. He is the present Minister of Provincial Councils, Local Government and Sports, and a Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Yet, when he confessed about his limited knowledge about cricket, I was happy, because a person with that background and a Royal College education, really may not have played the game, besides in his backyard but, in hindsight a man with that background is not going to act a goat for long, and that is what is seemingly taking place, since he assumed duties behind the stumps.
We are not holding cudgels even with what he has done with just deposed SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala or, his team of office bearers. We are happy with the news that Musthapha has been driven by the guidelines laid down by the incumbent office. But, in the same breath, we must reiterate that Musthapha has a golden opportunity of getting into the history books of cricket, as the second most influential politician that served the country and saved the game of cricket.
Why did we say so – one may ask? Undeniably, it was the late Gamini Dissanayake, as an influential government minister and a true lover of the game (he too played very little cricket during his halcyon days), who almost single-handedly battled it out to take Lanka’s cricket to ICC status. There, he played the right cards and stood by his convictions, while engaging in the right battles, and never lost. The end result was that, through that effort, we created a great image that is indelible, and it would last in our minds as long as cricket stays alive in this tiny island.
Can Musthapha be the cricketing martyr of Sri Lanka? Yet, in one way, it is harder than Dissanayake’s challenge at hand. There are debates and infighting within the confines of cricket involving gentlemen who do not understand the game, but, what is at hand for Musthapha is a cricketing muddle tainted by cricket’s sweat and political poop.
We are aware that Musthapha is embroiled in a political tangle where Thilanga Sumathipala is a powerful politician, and still, President Maithripala Sirisena has a soft corner for the beleaguered, deposed Deputy Speaker of Parliament. But, just imagine the damage done to the game of cricket, during the tenure of former Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera, and how he tailored even the Sports Law of this country, to wear Sumathipala’s coat, sans any creases. Yet, by making such unwise moves, that Sports Minister only managed to achieve some minus votes for the incumbent government which they are running as an unyielding joint venture with the UNP. Yet, from this point onwards, the Government is also running into more tentative situations, yet, Musthapha is no mug in this sphere of activity.
Musthapha is no mug with the bat, we hope. While talking to Sumathipala and his team, he was also talking to other cricketing figures such as prominent cricket administrator C.T.A. Schaffter, Kumar Sangakkara, Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Wettimuny, and has got a detailed picture of the other side of the coin and what they see in store for cricket. From what we learn through the grapevine – those who have spoken to him spoke almost the same language, though they met separately. There, they had discussed about the parlous state that the game of cricket is gradually slipping into and what steps should be taken to remedy the situation. They had discussed the formulation of a new Constitution for Sri Lanka Cricket.
However, all parties who shared their opinion with the new Minister, had made it clear that, whatever decisions they arrive at, with regard to their suggestions, should be taken with the consent of both, the President and the Prime Minister of the country, because they were not desirous of getting caught in the crossfire between the two parties who, at present, are hastily agreeing to disagree in everything that they do.
People such as Ana Punchihewa became almost immortal, though they held office for a short period, because they infused changes into the administration and made cricket look bigger than the pedestal it was on at that time. Yet, since then, every elected body had more political flavour in it than those who pockmarked for short periods in the form of Interim Committees (IC). Were those who were invited into ICs allowed to do a job? I do not think so. Recently, former National Captain Michael Tissera retorted, “Even if I am invited to be a member of an IC this time, I am going to decline. I was in more than one IC and every time they appointed me to one, they said we would be there for a period of two years or so. But, every time we begain to put things into order and getting them shipshape, they call for fresh elections, and the same old creatures get back to business, to reverse the process of cricket development.”
Another former national player had a salient point. He said, “They are talking of stakeholders but, in reality, what happens? Halfway through the period, every stakeholder is given a grant of millions of rupees on some pretext or the other. However, the catch-line is that, when you are given that grant, the incumbent president reminds you as to whom you should vote for at the next SLC AGM. At that moment, all ethics are thrown out of the window. Yet, the biggest joke is that, the man who is asking for the vote, spends monies belonging to the cricketers. Money that is earned by cricketers who spend hours on end with the vagaries of weather and cricket bouncers. Do you think it is a just cause? As for the administrator, he becomes king through someone else’s wiles.”
It must be said that, among the stakeholders, there are many who hail the stand taken by Nishantha Ranatunga who became a lone ranger in a pointblank gunfight. Stakeholders know very well what happens to clubs that oppose Sumathipala’s moves. There are a few good cricket playing clubs which went through some unsavoury experiences. Thus when it came to the just blocked AGM, at least one club was a seconder to Thilanga Sumathipala’s presidential nomination.
We at this little corner of Musings only want the minister to listen to the greater community of cricket lovers who do not air their opinion unless it comes in this fashion. Yet, that category of former cricketers are really concerned about the current state of affairs in cricket in this tear drop island of ours.