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The countdown has begun
Less than six months ago Sri Lanka were sitting pretty in the world ranking. They were in the top half of both the test and ODI ladders. Now they have slipped down with only West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe trailing behind.
Off the filed the administrators are having more than their share of problems.

It began with Arjuna Ranatunge and Sidath Wettimuny resigning from the high powered cricket committee. Obviously, that committee is not in operation.
Then the selectors have been under fire. That is always the case when the team is not doing well. Rarely are the selectors talked about when the team is doing well! But then there are evident shortcomings.

It was only a few days ago that Ashantha de Mel was named as Chairman of selectors. Then it was reported that de Mel had wanted changes in the members, if he were to take on the job. This has added to the chaos!
Back to the rankings – Sri Lanka play Bangladesh, Pakistan, England and South Africa this year. Pakistan and South Africa are home series. They have to win those two and perform well against England. That will be a tough call as Sri Lanka play in the early half of the season. A time when seam bowlers often call the tune. It will be a hard task to climb back in the test rankings.

There is a bigger assortment of teams when it comes to the ODI’s. The task will be as difficult to climb up from the present position.

Where do the answers lie?
There must be a plan of which players are capable of stepping into the national team at short notice. The manner in which Ruchira Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Michael Van Dort together with youngster Chamara Kapugedara have been shoved into the side indicates the fact that there has not been sufficient planning.

These players have hardly been playing in the ‘A’ side which has had much cricket in recent months. The reasons could be form, fitness or disciplinary issues. They may have success or not, but it is more like a lottery.

There must be a far better monitoring of players who are capable of taking that step upto the top level. Their overall game must be carefully followed, so that the development continues as long as they are in contention. Then, the infra structure, facilities, conditions, which are mentioned so often is absolutely necessary. Those playing cannot remain competitive with the rest of the world and those aspiring cannot progress and be prepared to answer the call when required.

It’s coming upto twenty five years since Sri Lanka attained test status. Yet the major tournaments are conducted haphazardly. There is no competition and standard required for players to prepare to play against international cricketers whom they have to compete against.

Outside the Western Province, turf grounds, turf practice facilities, indoor nets, gymnasiums are inadequate or even non-existent. Unless all these issues are addressed immediately the problems will continue to mount and mount and mount!

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