Is 2023 World Cup a pipe dream?

West Indies dominated Sri Lanka in the T20I and ODI series

• Following 3-0 whitewash of WI ODI series

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

 The Sri Lanka-West Indies two-Test series commenced yesterday and we will closely follow the fortunes of our cricketers in the longer version, but for the time being, let’s concentrate on what has already taken place on the tour so far.

The West Indies have been gifted with 30 league points due to the folly of the officials and the Technical Committee of cricket experts by advising the Sports Minister to permit a dysfunctional selection committee to pick the side. It is beyond comprehension that Pramodya Wickramasinghe, who was a member of that failed committee, was dispatched to the Caribbean as a tour selector by the Cricket Technical Committee, and the National Sports Council headed by Mahela Jayawardene.

The damage this ill-thought decision has done to Sri Lanka cricket is known to all, with the team having suffered series defeats in the two white ball formats, and facing an uphill task in the Test series when one looks at the composition of the squads picked by this dysfunctional selection committee at the behest of these cricket pundits. 

Of course, Sri Lanka will be playing the Test series purely for pride, and to save face of the people in charge as the finalists for the Test championship to be held in Southampton, England later this year is already determined. 

The three West Indies ODIs were the first Cricket World Cup Super League (CWCSL) series for Sri Lanka. Not surprisingly, we have earned the embarrassment of being minus two points going into the Bangladesh series in May. What is more daunting where Sri Lanka is concerned is that Bangladesh beat this very same West Indies side 3-0 and are happily sitting on 30 points along with Afghanistan (30) and West Indies now having the luxury of being gifted 30 points due to our folly.

The CWCSL series comprises the 12 ICC Full Members and the Netherlands by virtue of winning the ICC WC League Championships. Teams have the opportunity to collect 10 points for a win, five for an abandonment/tie/no-result and zero points for a loss. Points shall be subtracted for slow over rates in matches, with Sri Lanka having already conceded two points, placing them in deficit territory moving on to the other upcoming home and away series leading up to automatic qualification. 

The uphill task confronting Sri Lanka is not lost on anybody who understands these stark realities. It is against this backdrop that information is filtering out that there are backroom manoeuvres and disturbing moves afoot by the National Sports Council and the Cricket Technical Committee to appoint Pramodya Wickramasinghe to the new Cricket Selection Committee. 

If these stories are true, every citizen in this country should be questioning the basis on which these moves are being made by the National Sports Council and the Cricket Technical Committee particularly given the individual’s performance during the current West Indies tour and the irrational selections that were made leading to series losses’ that were well documented in these columns.

It is also rumoured that the National Selection Committee has already submitted a list of recommendations, which are been held up due to the back room subversions at play. The natural questions that come to mind and raise more than a few eye brows are: Why these boorish agenda is being pursued and for whose benefit? 

It surely cannot be on “cricketing” credentials given the well-documented catalogue of selection failures. If not cricket, then what is the million-dollar question! The mischiefs that were routine during the 90s era is well documented and known to most and may fool some but not all.

The Minister should open his eyes and take every precaution to distance himself from elements that are facing serious aspersions of impropriety in the public domain. The Minister’s aspiration no doubt is to win a World Cup during his term in office and in order to do this he needs to have a team of sincere persons who will serve him with sincerity towards propelling him towards his goals. 

In the absence of doing so will see Sri Lanka celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the 1996 WC in 25 years hence with naught to show in terms of victories in the interim. The Sports Minister will be served well by reading the revealing book written by Ed Hawkins, ‘Bookie, Gambler, Fixer Spy’ which gives credence to serious allegations levelled against persons advising him on cricket by his senior Cabinet colleague and former Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage.