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Former World Cup winning captain and current National Sports Council Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has called for a new national Cricket Selection Committee to be appointed following Sri Lanka’s failure to qualify for a semi-final place in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
He has also suggested to the Sports Minister to appoint an independent committee to probe into the alleged incidents that had taken place during the tour.
Stating that the selection committee must take responsibility to take their best players for the tournament, Ranatunga said Danushka Gunathilaka was an injured player and questioned if a fitness test was conducted prior to his participation in the tournament.
“We can’t understand several decisions that were taken, so as the first step a new Cricket Selection Committee should be appointed,” Ranatunga told reporters yesterday after a meeting with the Sports Minister.
“Apart from Danuskha’s issue what I saw is that several players got injured, so the question that needs to be asked is whether these players underwent a fitness test before going to Australia, and what has Sri Lanka Cricket done about it.”
“Our main concern is how to help Danushka Gunathilaka, who is a cricketer who has represented Sri Lanka to return to the country. My view is that if a cricketer gets into some kind of trouble, we must help him out. I am not endorsing his wrong doings.”
“We’ve had discussions with regard to this with Sri Lanka Cricket and also the incidents that have taken place during the tour. The Sports Minister called for a meeting with the captain, coach and manager.”
Ranatunga charged that the discipline of the cricketers cannot be fixed if the cricket administration has no discipline. “There are instances of some players having visited casinos during their stay in Australia. Do you give permission for such acts?
“Some cricketers are engaged in endorsement activities and are opening up stores or putting their properties up for sale. I am quite surprised that such things are happening. The question that needs to be asked is whether the team had gone to take part in a World Cup or for some other reason.”
“We suggested to the Minister to appoint an independent committee with people who understand cricket and know the laws to make an inquiry and give a proper report about what took place in Australia.”
