Avishka’s resignation and decay of Sri Lanka Cricket

The state of the most popular sport on the island seems to be going from bad to worse in the aftermath of the dismal performance of the men’s national side during the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup. Adding to the woes of the game, the resignation of Avishka Gunawardena from the coaching setup of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) represents a serious setback to men’s cricket in the country.

Having become dejected and disappointed by his demotion from Coach of the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side to Coach of the Under-19 team, Gunawardena tendered his resignation from the SLC’s High-Performance Centre. The former Sri Lankan left-handed batsman was acknowledged for his contribution in successfully managing Sri Lanka ‘A’ in recent assignments, with several emerging players developing under his guidance and progressing to national selection. Pavan Ratnayake, a highly promising young cricketer, progressed to the national team from the ‘A’ team during Gunawardena’s stint. Eshan Malinga too came into the national team under the guidance and mentorship of the former SSC cricketer, and the latter even went on to feature in the highly sought-after and financially lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

Since his retirement from international cricket in 2007, the former ‘A’ team coach has been involved in full-time coaching. The Level-2 qualified coach began his coaching career with the SSC and has not looked back since. In his stint with the SSC, the former Ananda College old boy played a pivotal role in the development and progression of cricketers of the calibre of Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Dasun Shanaka, and Danushka Gunathilaka. It was Gunawardena who identified the potential of the aforementioned cricketers when they were school cricketers and brought them to the premier cricket club of Sri Lanka to ensure their advancement to the international level.

Apart from coaching the ‘A’ team on several occasions, Gunawardena had coached the Under-19 side on a number of occasions and guided young cricketers towards noteworthy achievements. The ‘A’ team represents a critical pillar in the development of talent within the men’s cricket framework, and hence the presence of a coach like Gunawardena, who appears as a father figure to emerging cricketers who could lose direction due to various distractions associated with modern-day lifestyles, would have been immensely helpful. Importantly, the former Sri Lankan opening batsman was an advocate of nurturing cricketers to become better overall individuals in addition to improving their cricket-related skills.

The decision by the SLC to demote Gunawardena raises serious question marks about the administrative body’s thinking pattern and its commitment towards the advancement of the sport, which is loved and admired by islanders with enormous passion. While a coach with proven credentials like Gunawardena was demoted, the SLC was willing to continue with Sanath Jayasuriya as the coach of the national side, in spite of his lack of coaching credentials and the absence of any meaningful coaching achievements. Ill-treatment and victimisation of top-quality coaches has been a longstanding bane within the cricketing establishment of the country. Nuwan Seneviratne, a throw-down specialist coach of the Indian cricket team, was not properly utilised by Sri Lanka Cricket during his association with the national team, and it was alleged that he faced discrimination at the hands of powerful elements of the SLC who resented his talent and skills.

Meanwhile, Gunawardena has been replaced by Ashan Priyanjan, who retired from first-class cricket only last year. Ashan played for the Colombo Cricket Club, the President of which is none other than the under-fire SLC Chief Shammi Silva. Thus, his selection insinuates favouritism and partiality.

Calls have grown to dismantle the Shammi-led administration after the T20 World Cup, and some have asked the Government to appoint an interim committee. Shammi has been at the helm of the SLC for seven years now, and the game has gone downhill under his watch. Unless the present cricket governing regime is replaced by a progressive-minded set of administrators, the decay of the game cannot be reversed.