SLC Secy. Nishantha on success of maiden Mahindra SLPL

In an exclusive interaction with the Gamechanger Team on the sidelines of the SLPL match between Basnahira Cricket Dundee and Uva Next, the Secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket Nishantha Ranatunga opened up with his thoughts on the Mahindra Sri Lanka Premier League, its future in the Sri Lankan cricket system and what it would do to careers of young cricketers in Sri Lanka, apart from enriching Sri Lanka Cricket itself

Q: Your first thoughts on the SLPL and where it would fit in, within the overall structure of Sri Lankan Cricket

A: We at Sri Lanka Cricket are very happy to see the launch of our own T20 Cricket League. We believe that the SLPL will offer several benefits to young Sri Lankan cricketers. For starters, it will enable young Sri Lankan cricketers to compete, rub shoulders, and share dressing rooms with experienced Sri Lankan and International cricketers and help broaden our talent pool.

It would immediately provide competitive opportunities for 70-80 domestic players, who all have the potential to be in the running for Sri Lanka’s national cricket team, as opposed to only 15-20 current international cricketers, who are predominantly, the products of the traditional club system in Sri Lanka.

Young cricketers can only gain from the invaluable technical support that will be offered by experienced international cricketers and coaches. Accordingly, for those dynamic and enthusiastic youngsters who are willing to train hard, compete hard and grab the opportunities that come their way, the time that they will take to make the step-up to the international level will be compressed significantly.

Q: What do you make of the argument that excessive exposure to T20 Cricket stunts the abilities of young players to play the longer forms of the game?

A: I will provide you with a parallel in life. When an individual learns how to drive a car, he is required to adapt to different driving conditions such as being able to go slow when there is heavy traffic and being able to speed up if required, in the event of an emergency. The modern cricketer is required to acquire similar skills. He needs to learn how to play the faster forms of the game such as T20 and ODIs, and learn how to building an innings while playing Test Cricket. Multi-Skilled Cricketers will obviously be more successful than cricketers with limited kills.

Q: What can the SLPL do to provincial cricket in Sri Lanka?

A: We at SLC are strongly of the belief that with the creation of seven province-based SLPL Franchises, cricket will make significant strides in all provinces within Sri Lanka. It will create a level playing field for players from the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka who hitherto did not have the same level of exposure that players in major cities such as Colombo, Kandy and Galle had. Over a medium to long term, the SLPL will also ensure the creation of sustainable infrastructure in all provinces.

Q: Recently, the SLC has had to encounter a financial crisis in the aftermath of the 2011 World Cup. Can the SLPL alleviate the financial crisis in any manner?

A: I would not term the recent issues as a “crisis”. Rather these are “challenges” that we have had to encounter so as to build a long-term growth story for cricket in Sri Lanka. The investments that we made in developing the new stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele were decisions that were made in the larger interests of Sri Lankan Cricket.

You must remember that Sri Lanka had lost out on hosting the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy to South Africa due to the lack of high quality infrastructure. We also knew that we had to provide world class facilities for the ICC World Cup 2011 and for the ICC World T20, which will be held next month.

Therefore one cannot be so focused on the short-term pains so as to completely overlook what we believe will be significant financial and non-financial gains over the medium to long term. The investment made by the SLC in developing these stadiums has already started to yield invaluable gains for the larger brand that is Sri Lanka, by attracting higher footfalls at these stadiums from within and outside Sri Lanka on account of these global cricketing events. These gains are invaluable and cannot be quantified purely in financial terms alone.

The SLPL, with its current commercial model, also eases SLC’s operational pressures in the short term.

Q: Can you shed some light on SLC’s relationship with the SLPL Franchisees?

A:  We are pleased to have seven Franchisees who have committed their resources to help develop Sri Lankan Cricket. We have envisaged this to be a win-win relationship, which would benefit SLC, Somerset Entertainment Ventures (our marketing partners) and each of the seven Franchisees.

We at SLC will provide all necessary cricketing expertise and experience to ensure that the SLPL is a world-class tournament. At the same time, we will work with SEV and provide them all necessary support to ensure that the SLPL’s commercial partners, whether they are Franchisees, Sponsors, Broadcasters or SEV all succeed in this endeavour.

Q: What are the challenges that are currently confronting the SLPL?

A: We recognise that the SLPL has to be credible in all aspects and are therefore working closely with the ICC’s Anti-Doping and Anti-Corruption Units to ensure that nothing is left to chance on both the doping as well as corruption fronts. We have a team of the ICC Anti Corruption and Security Unit who are present at all matches of the SLPL to maintain a strict vigil. We are all firm about ensuring that the game is played in the correct way.

Q: How do you see the SLPL developing over the next 4-5 years, in comparison to other T20 Cricket Leagues across the world?

A: The SLPL has been designed not to compete with other T20 Cricket Leagues, but to provide Sri Lankan and global cricket audiences with a flavour of cricket that is unique to Sri Lanka. We believe that there is space for all T20 Leagues to co-exist without affecting the viability of other T20 Leagues.

From a Sri Lankan perspective, this tournament gives a wonderful opportunity for youngsters across Sri Lanka to play cricket and sport rather than taking up arms. All we hope to achieve through this tournament is to provide a fantastic cricket tournament that is viewed by spectators from all over the world.