Tuesday, 8 April 2014 00:01
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For the first time since 1996 Sri Lanka has managed to lift a World Cup, giving jubilant fans bragging rights and the rare chance to celebrate something truly worthwhile. That is the magic of cricket in this tiny island nation, it is the glue that will always bring complete strangers together and give hope that, at least this time, the authorities will clean up the game.
As millions of fans leaped about in joy, lit firecrackers, clambered on spontaneous truck and three-wheeler parades and frenziedly waved flags about, there was a true moment of happiness. These same people will no doubt squeeze away from work, gather their families and stand under the blazing sun to welcome their heroes home today. For that is how much cricket and cricketers are beloved in this country, even when they lose, as they did, just two years ago. There is no throwing of stones at their houses. In many ways, cricket brings out the best in Sri Lankans.
Yet, this hard won victory has come as a thin veneer to ongoing problems. Players contracts are yet to be signed and many are the tales of conflict within Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). On the one hand, there is the conventional wisdom that SLC is corrupt, bankrupt and a bastion of bureaucratic mismanagement; quite symptomatic, in fact, of the general malaise that ails typical Sri Lankan State institutions.
The reality is that SLC continues to be conflated with amoral misdemeanours of the monetary sort in the minds of the general public – an impression that is readily confirmed even by State watchdog – the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE).
On the other, there is an enduring sentiment which holds that the spirit of cricket as embodied by the National Team is still a bulwark against the rising tide of the institutional failure and moral decrepitude that characterises Sri Lankan politics. It is this overriding belief that has made a team led by Lasith Malinga, a player who has been repeatedly and some would say unfairly criticised as being more loyal to the Indian Premier League, the celebrated captain of a World Cup squad.
Many optimists in this cricket-loving nation also continue to put their faith in its cricketers, especially the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who will remain as part of the larger team, contributing their experience behind the scenes. Having dedicated years to the game, they are now making way for youngsters who have proved their mettle during the latest tournament and hold the future of this passion in their hands. This unshakable faith in the players is what withstands questionable TV deals, failed Sri Lanka Premier Leagues (SLPL) and magnificent financial losses in building new stadiums. Over many decades this the relationship between fans and players has become a sacred bond.
Fans with the glint of fresh silverware in their eyes are hoping the relatively fresh faces on the team will continue to provide a counterpoint to the corruption juggernaut that is Sri Lankan politics, for otherwise the greatest passion of the nation will die out. A second World Cup is a second chance, but will the powers that be take it?
