Mahindananda’s faux pas

by Rex Clementine

Senior politician Mahindananda Aluthgamage has told parliament how good our cricket was at the time he was the Sports Minister. Aluthgamage was Sports Minister ten years ago and let us go back in years to find out whether it was a rosy period as he mentions.

The MP says that Sri Lanka during his tenure as Sports Minister were ranked number one in T-20s, number two in ODIs and third in Tests. His crooked policies and his buddies running cricket at that time were one main reason why the national cricket team could not go onto achieve the number one rank in other formats as well.

One of the first things that Mahindananda did after assuming office as Minister of Sports was to pack the Cricket Board with his Royal College buddies.

The International cricket ground that was constructed at Hambantota under his watch not only became a white elephant, but SLC was bankrupt given the colossal amount of expenses in building the new stadium. With SLC insolvent and unable to pay Ports Authority and State Engineering Corporation that constructed the stadium, the government was left with Hobson’s Choice and the debts were written off costing the treasury billions and the taxpayer an arm and a leg.

Worse, players, coaches and board employees had to forgo salaries for months for the board was left penniless by Mahindananda’s friends who were running cricket.

There were also allegations of mass corruption during construction of the grounds and there was a police investigation. But mysteriously the computer disks that contained sensitive information went missing overnight.

Although Aluthgamage is harping on the need for the democratic process being followed in cricket governance, let us remind him that during his tenure, Interim Committees ran the affairs at the cricket board. Even when elections were conducted, they were very much staged dramas with individuals capable of winning elections being not allowed to contest. Leave alone SLC elections, Aluthgamage and his clan didn’t even spare club elections at that time. The AGM of Colts Cricket Club is a case in point.

The players were given a torrid time during Mahindananda’s time. Kumar Sangakkara’s Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s that earned him a standing ovation was hailed by all and sundry, but our Sports Minister wanted the player probed.

Mitchell Johnson had left Sanga with a broken arm during the Boxing Day Test of 2012. A man who gives extreme importance for preparation, Sanga before his comeback against Bangladesh at home wanted to play a warm-up game. World’s number one ranked batsman was told to drive all the way to Matara for the game and upon reaching Uyanwatta Stadium was told that he was ineligible to play the game for he had not signed national contracts. Small minds at big places.

Mahindananda also has claimed that he introduced anti-doping regulations during his tenure as Sports Minister. Let him be reminded that during the same time, national cricketers were encouraged to visit Dr. Eliantha White, a controversial figure, for medication for ailments. The end result was poor Upul Tharanga being handed a suspension by ICC for using a banned substance.

Time to time Mahindananda by claiming that the 2011 World Cup final was fixed has brought disrepute to the game and our brilliant ambassadors. The 2011 World Cup final was a bitter pill to swallow, but no way that you can claim that there was foul play. Dropped catches are part and parcel of the game and Royal College needs to educate their future politicians about the glorious uncertainties of  the game of cricket. We do not need anymore Mahindanandas bringing discredit to the game.

Following Mahindananda’s latest claims about match fixing the ICC issued a statement giving the 2011 World Cup final a clean bill of health. According to legislation passed in Parliament in 2019, making false corruption allegations in sports is a punishable offence and it must be probed whether Mahindananda has committed an offence.

The national cricket team achieved the unimaginable     by beating South Africa in Durban in the Boxing Day Test match in 2011. Three weeks later, much to everyone’s dismay, Head Coach Geoff Marsh, captain T.M. Dilshan, Chairman of Selectors Duleep Mendis and Team Manager Anura Tennakoon were all unceremoniously sacked. Dilshan, Tennakoon and Mendis took the blow on the chin and moved on. But Marsh, the tough nosed Aussie, didn’t suffer fools gladly. He sued the board for improper termination of contract.

To this date, it has been a well-kept secret how much it cost SLC for wrongful termination of the coach’s contract. There should be another Parliament probe to find this out!

Moreover, it needs to be found out whether there was any deal to sack Dilshan and co even before the team left for South Africa that December? Did some big shots meet up at Perera Gardens in a bid to take the captaincy of the national cricket team back to the unofficial headquarters of the game? Was there a coup; a bloodless coup?