SLC Transformation Committee Secretary Prakash Schaffter (right) speaks to the media in the presence of Committee Member Kumar Sangakkara and Chairman Eran Wickramaratne
- Despite ICC Women’s Champions Trophy setback
- Still hopeful Sri Lanka will be able to host it
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka have not given up hopes of staging the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy tournament in February despite the fact that the ICC has intimated to them that they are considering alternate venues.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Transformation Committee Secretary Prakash Schaffter detailing what has so far taken place said, “The ICC had originally indicated to us that they want us to host it and we have commenced making the arrangements. Thereafter they wrote to us some 2½ months ago telling us that they are considering alternate venues which indicates that they are moving it out of Sri Lanka. But they have not categorically told us that they are in fact moving it.”
“We have spoken to the ICC and we will continue talking to them whether they can hold the Champions Trophy here for it would certainly bring us a lot of pride and prestige, in addition to the tourism income that would follow. The decision to move it away I believe is linked to the governance issues that prevail in Sri Lanka Cricket.”
“The ICC has been very supportive of us from the moment we took office. We have been in constant dialogue with them, communicating with them the steps that are being taken to return to a normal body. I am hopeful that we would be able to demonstrate to them over the next month or two the steps that are being taken and that they may even be persuaded to play the Champions Trophy here as of now I believe that no other venue has been agreed upon as yet.”
The next board meeting of the ICC is in October where a decision is to be taken on the host country.
SLC Transformation Committee Chairman Eran Wickramaratne said that “some of the things that will happen and decisions that are taken have nothing to do with the present Transformation Committee and therefore we are very committed to really correcting it from the foundation itself.”
“There can be certain disruptions in the process because the ICC also has its rules and it is governing cricket in 112 countries with full members and associate members. They have a constitution and therefore they also have things that they need to fulfil. At the same time there are things that we have to do to put it right. There can be problems like this occurring while we move ahead with our agenda but I must confess that we will not take a single step backwards. The ICC is fully aware of all the steps that we are taking.”
Wickramaratne said that the Transformation Committee had done their part of the job by drawing up a new constitution and it is left to the government to proceed with it and that it is out of their control when it will become law. He said hopefully by November.
For the first time since the Transformation Committee was appointed, one of its members Kumar Sangakkara appeared on the forum for the first time and on the subject of Sri Lanka playing less Test matches in comparison to the two white ball formats said, that it was a question that is troubling all of world cricket not only Sri Lanka.
“How do we encourage Test cricket? It’s a forum that is being talked about. They came up with the WTC but then again the FTP doesn’t support an equal number of Test matches or a minimum number of Test matches. The bottom line is, in the current context of world cricket except for the top 3 or 4 countries the revenue generated by Test cricket is very low. Hosting a lot of Test cricket sometimes brings cricket down to bankruptcy,” said Sangakkara.
“From a Test players point of view we have a lot of work to do to give him as many matches as possible for him to make a career out of it. It starts with dialogue and how do we use the other formats to actually supplement Test cricket to keep it strong and to keep it as a format for as long as the public and the spectators really want it. If you watch Test cricket in other countries, only a few of them have full grounds.”
Speaking further Sangakkara said, “We have to market Test cricket and Test players and build stories around them. Have to make sure the Test series is marketed well in advance so that people are made to feel proud to play this game. A Test cricketer has to be held up higher than a T20 or One-day performer. We, as an administration have been very keen to play Test cricket but it’s not an easy problem to solve. You have to ensure you play good enough Test cricket. If you play good enough Test cricket you can play any format.”
“In the modern world and in generations to come, how do we keep Test cricket relevant and viable? That’s a long term solution. Right now if we can influence the FTP to be a lot fairer and negotiate with countries for us to play a lot more Test cricket I think Sri Lanka cricket will get stronger. We have to be a strong Test side to be a strong T20 and ODI side as well.”
