There is no argument that the Club Cricket system has put in the hard yards and developed the game in the country, thus bringing it to become one of the most competitive sides in the World today. So much so the system provided the base players who won the Cricket World Cup in 1996 – a feat that cricket’s inventor – England is yet to achieve.
Still the game in Sri Lanka is successfully run through the club system, but since of late we hear about prominent clubs struggling for survival and if not for the grant from the SLC would be wiped off the face of earth. For a cricket playing country like Sri Lanka this is not good news.
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At the same time we hear of plans from the administrative hub – Sri Lanka cricket planning to broad base the game and develop it into a provincial based system.
How could both systems co-exist? We took the horse to water. The Musings confronted the SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga with the question. He replied, “I do not think any board or any administrator would do anything to downgrade Club Cricket. That is one of the most important feeder points to the game in Sri Lanka. From the very inception that cricket formed in this country it was a club based game. Yet we see a need to change if we have to develop the game from here, we have to take the game into every nook and cranny in the island. It has to be played alike in all nine provinces.”
The SLC secretary explained that at present the majority of the cricketers to the national grid come from the outstations. “Their parents were born out of Colombo. Their initial Schooling was done out of Colombo”.
Ranatunga said that at present we are speaking of the players who have got the opportunity to transfer to Colombo even from the outstations, but there could be a greater number of players who have not got the opportunity. “We may have missed many Muralitharans, Sangakkaras and Arjuna Ranatungas in the process. What we are striving to do is reach the village and go to the very base in a bid to capture those players, who may be missed by the system otherwise”.
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| A Premier League Club tournament match in progress. (Pic Ranjith Perera) |
Coming back to Club Cricket the SLC secretary emphasized that at present the local administration spends most of their resources in sustaining the club cricket system. He said at present the board spends around 5 million rupees per club per season for grade ‘A’, 3.2 million rupees for ‘B’ grade and around 2.5 million for those clubs that take part in the Sara Trophy and added, “This shows that we are not trying to downgrade the club system. Our plan is to try and develop the cricketing structure in all provinces and districts.”
Explaining further Nishantha Ranatunga said that in the bigger picture since the opening up of the economy in the post war period, the whole system is getting decentralized in the island. There were banks and other allied businesses moving their tentacles to the outstations and cricket being the most established game and doing well in the international platform it also should try and develop its existing structure so that it could cater to the future demands that may crop up. “At present we do have a good provincial system that is working from the junior levels from under 13 to 19. We have provincial coaches and district coaches and we are planning to recruit a provincial manager to each base who will work along with the respective District Associations and clubs.”
He said that holding the administrative reins from Colombo would be a difficult task. He added that it was a strategic task; each province will have to be developed so that it would become an individual administrative hub that would be responsible to develop and market the game in that respective area. At the end of it the Colombo Office can become the central office. “Khettarama is going to be our main centre where the national level coaching and training will be handled, while the Provinces will become the feeder points. However this cannot be done overnight, but, it has to start at some point and grow. Right now we have the coaching structure placed in the provinces. Now we have to build the administrative and marketing structures in the provinces so that they would grow to be separate cricketing hubs like in Australia.”
He very strongly stressed the point that each province should have its ownership and belonging and find sponsors to develop the game at various levels. He said that this thought runs across the minds of the original Provincial Cricket Committee that comprised Sidath Wettimuny, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Guruge and himself”.
One drawback that Ranatunga saw in the club cricket system was the numbers. He said that one could not get quality cricket that is played on even keel when there are about 10-14 clubs in contention. The provincial system most probably would have only 9 teams in the fray.
Each province would have their own administration, affiliated clubs and its own ground. For instance he said the Central Province will have the Pallekelle Stadium as their home ground. Those centres will have the allied support from the central office like an academy and hostel facility and added “We have a blueprint where we are going to get these facilities put on road during a six year period”.
Coming back to the Clubs, Ranatunga said that while the Provincial system takes its course, club cricket will continue to play its perennial role in the Lankan cricket structure and added that it is the most established form of cricket that is played in the island. Ranatunga then added “What we now like to see in the Club structure is also development. They must develop into a very professional set up. None of the clubs today have got their own infrastructure. We know that there are problems - it is not easy.
ricket is a very expensive game to indulge in. About a decade ago there were individuals who used to take the burden on their shoulders and run the clubs. Now another problem that I see is some of the present administrators look to keep the reins of power within the given structure for various reasons, if that culture could be changed at the same time the club should also look to develop their own fan base and membership activities and make it vibrant so that they finally begin to sustain themselves.”
Speaking about helping the clubs, Ranatunga said that when SLC wanted to find sponsors to the clubs, it took the SLC nearly three weeks to gather the information. Out of the eleven clubs, only two have sponsors at the moment in SSC and NCC. “To find sponsors for the balance nine clubs was a task. That culture has not got into our system as yet.
Clubs depend on the Board for their sustenance, but we feel the whole structure should take a more professional outlook. However barring one, we have found sponsors for the balance clubs and we are hoping to find a sponsor for Kalutara within the next few days. When that happens a Club with its own ground we got them a sponsor for Rs.1.5 Million per annum and for the others Rs.750,000 per annum. It is besides the grants that the club gets from the board. Yet, we also like to see the clubs helping themselves develop into viable entities”. |
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