MJ told to take up more responsibility

by Rex Clementine

Former captain Mahela Jayawardene has been urged to take up more responsibility after Sri Lanka failed to qualify automatically for this year’s showpiece event of the sport the – ICC Cricket World Cup. MJ has been on the Sri Lanka Cricket payroll since last year as a consultant coach and his job description requires putting up a structure for cricket. But it is all too evident that he runs the show from behind the scenes be it selecting the coaches or players.

Both SLC and the national selection panel have been more than happy to tap into MJ’s vast knowledge and carry out his instructions but there has been not much accountability on his part, it has been felt. He has been requested to take over as Chairman of Selectors with the national team in a crisis. MJ though on previous instances has turned down to commit himself full-time.

Recently, the Sports Ministry appointed a Technical Committee headed by former captain Sanath Jayasuriya. Ashantha de Mel, Kapil Wijegunawardene, Charith Senanayake and Farveez Maharof are other members of the committee. The committee told the Minister of Sports Roshan Ranasinghe that all stakeholders of the sport need to work together to ensure that the national cricket team had a smooth World Cup qualifier in June in Zimbabwe.

The Technical Committee has categorically said that they do not have a bone to pick with anyone but were keen to work towards ensuring the team came out of the current slump.

Of their last 15 matches, Sri Lanka have won only three and lost 12 games across all three formats. Batting collapses have been all too frequent in that period and things went from bad to worse in New Zealand during the recent series despite the team having two batting coaches Naveed Nawaz and Thilina Kandamby.

A plan will be put in place to ensure that Sri Lanka has a smooth qualifying round in Zimbabwe. Questions have been also asked about benching half a dozen seniors from the 50-over format. Although some of the young players have impressed in the 50-over format, the team’s inability to bat out 50 overs has been exposed all too often.

The role of Dasun Shanaka as captain of the ODI team has also been questioned. Shanaka’s performance in the 50-over format has been patchy.