President Ranil Wickremesinghe has invited former greats Aravinda de Silva and Sidath Wettimuny to spearhead a committee that will take the game of cricket to far off villages. This trust to be established soon will include a member from the Chamber of Commerce as well and will be independent from Sri Lanka Cricket.
A sum of Rs. 1.5 billion had been already allocated from the budget for cricket development in rural areas and this sum is expected to be raised to Rs. 2 billion next year.
Three Provinces – North Central, Eastern, and Uva have been identified as the areas where the funds will go in for development of cricket and it makes sense as well as these three provinces play little cricket.
The committee will be tasked to oversee improvement of infrastructure, providing equipment and encouraging schools to take up the game of cricket. The construction of cricket grounds in these provinces will be handed to the tri-forces.
The President’s attention has been drawn to support women’s cricket in schools as well, an area which has not received much attention even in Colombo.
Going beyond financial contributions, the President had expressed his desire to create a level playing field by ensuring that the sport is accessible to all schools across the country.
During an event organized to celebrate 150th anniversary of Colts Cricket Club on Saturday, the President had reiterated that the game should thrive without political interferences and had underscored the importance of a transparent and accountable cricket administration.
Cricket in Sri Lanka is facing challenging times. The national cricket team has played three ICC Qualifying Round Tournaments in the last three years and managed just two wins from nine games in the recent World Cup, the sport’s showpiece event.
Among Sri Lanka’s seven losses in the tournament were defeats to Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the first time Sri Lanka had lost to these countries in a World Cup.
The ninth-place finish meant that the team will not feature in the Champions Trophy in 2025. It is the first time Sri Lanka had missed out on an ICC event having taken part in every single event since 1975.
Not just Sri Lanka’s national team, but even the back up teams are struggling as showcased by Sri Lanka Under-19s recent defeat to UAE in the Asia Cup and the future looks worrisome.
There has been assurance from the government to address the cricket crisis and there are moves to introduce a new constitution to cricket and amend the sports law.
Article by The Island News Paper
