Cheers for Maxwell and Roshan

Thursday 9th November, 2023

Glenn Maxwell made the impossible possible in Mumbai on Tuesday. He scored a stunning double century in just 128 balls, enabling Australia to make an unbelievable comeback and clinch victory against Afghanistan. Writhing in pain and struggling to run, he lit up the limited-overs formats virtually ‘on no legs’, as Ricky Ponting said. Maxwell saved his side and has become a hero to all cricket lovers. Equally stellar was Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s performance in Parliament yesterday; he made a stunning statement, which is an indictment of not only the present SLC administration but also the politicians and others backing them; he has been struggling to save cricket from the corrupt and their political masters against tremendous odds. Maxwell had only cramps to contend with on Tuesday, but Roshan is facing political and legal tackles, as it were, in a country where all systems are geared to protect the corrupt.

Some government grandees have made a mockery of their much-avowed commitment to combating corruption; they are unashamedly shielding a bunch of crooks who have ruined cricket in Sri Lanka and enriched themselves. Their shameful action has demonstrated that they do not consider the new anti-corruption laws they themselves have made recently at the behest of the IMF are not worth the paper they are written on. The power of the corrupt is such that they have brought the three branches of government on a collision course to all intents and purposes if what the members of both sides of Parliament have been saying for the past several days is anything to go by. Only the much-maligned legislature has taken on the corrupt responsible for ruining cricket.

In a rare moment of unity, all MPs, save a few, have joined forces to save cricket. If Parliament acts similarly in respect of all other crucial issues to protect the country’s interests, it will be able to win back public trust, which has severely eroded over the years and even make the savages who torched the houses of some of its members, last year, regret having done so. Let the MPs be praised for having sunk their differences and circled the wagons around beleaguered Sports Minister.

Chief Opposition Whip and former Minister of Sports Lakshman Kiriella, who is also a senior lawyer, pointed out in Parliament on Tuesday that the national legislature, which exercises the people’s judicial powers through courts, etc., had unequivocally condemned the incumbent cricket administration, and therefore action taken on that basis should not be obstructed by any other institution. The Opposition has called for a parliamentary resolution against the SLC administration. This is the best way to prevent the corrupt from taking cover behind other branches of government, we reckon. One can only hope that the political parties represented in Parliament will back the proposed move unanimously.

Cricket is much more than a bat-and-ball game for Sri Lankans. Having taken on the characteristics of an alternative religion, it is a great unifying force transcending all socio-political barriers; given its current predicament, it is sure to bring all Sri Lankans together to cleanse SLC, which reeks of corruption.

By defending the corrupt responsible for ruining cricket, government leaders have opened another front unnecessary at a time when they should remain intensely focused on ways and means of sorting out the economy. They had better bear in mind that even President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former battle-hardened frontline combat officer, was no match for People Power; he had to run away. They are provoking the public and creating conditions for another popular uprising. If a mega tsunami of public anger barrels across the country, the military and the police will not be able to protect anyone. It is advisable for the powers that be to leave the corrupt in the garb of cricket administrators to stew in their own juice.

Three hearty cheers for Maxwell and Roshan!