Chaminda Vaas

– A role model par excellence

By Hemaka Amarasuriya

When David Sakar, a professional bowling coach and a state player in Sheffield Shield for Victoria of the past decades, who could not quite make it to his national side, decamped at the 11th hour from Sri Lanka’s tour to West Indies, the team was left high and dry. As the team was without a bowling coach, veteran Chaminda Vaas, who has represtned the country in over 100 Test matches, was co -opted to fill the role hurriedly, sans any negotiations.

Chaminda is the best left-arm pace bowler of our times with 761 internatioanl wickets to his name and easily the most successful fast bowler the country has produced. Having ended his playing career with an exemplary record of achievements and discipline, he is an ideal role model for our youth. Since retirement, his services have been highly sought after as he had worked with the New Zealand cricket team as a Consultant Fast Bowling Coach.

Perhaps his boyhood desire to join the clergy may have served the  community and himself better than  to b e a professional cricketer, vilified in the twilight of an outstanding career for no fault of his own, other than what he stood for. 

I see this as a principled decision to turn down an offer on behalf of all our home born coaches. Just because you are emerging from our own national grid should our coaches monetary value be only 37 percent of those who are employed from overseas? I do not agree with that.

I appeal to our cricket authorities to treat our home grown coaches with the same value proposition and respect as an overseas coach. If they do not see the writing on the wall, strongly emerging countries such as Ireland and USA with the best expertise and investment behind them will soon oust us from the top ten. 

(This writer is a former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket. He was also the Chairman of Singer for several years and generously sponsored the national cricket team in 1990s when support for the game was few and rare.  Singer were sponsors when Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996. It was also during Amarasuriya’s tenure as country’s cricket chief, Sri Lanka successfully conducted their first ever global sports event  – the inaugural ICC Champions  Trophy in 2002.)