Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa rightly reserved judgement when discussions were held between him and former cricketers and administrators about the feasibility of building an International Cricket Stadium in Homagama, most opined that improving and developing school cricket was the need of the hour and not another stadium.
One cannot fault the arguments but not at the expense of decrying the great amount of development that has taken place at the school level. Especially in the provincial schools and the hinterland.
While we reserve our opinion now that the building of the Homagama International Stadium has been put on hold, we who have come through the ranks of school cricket wish to make our comments.
Let’s not forget that it was the breeding ground of school cricket that produced the best of our cricketers, in fact those who now say it’s orphaned!
Initially it must be stated in favour of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by the hard working former Nalanda and Colombo Cricket Club cricketer Shammi Silva that they have not neglected school cricket, but played every stroke possible to help school cricket.
One must remember that unlike in the past where schools played the maximum of seven to eight inter-school matches per season, today schools play something like 15 to 20 matches during the season which includes third term matches too with over a 100 schools taking to the game.
It would be of interest to recall and explain how so many schools came to playing the game. This increase in games came after Sri Lanka attained Test Status in 1982. Speaking of attaining Test Status one cannot but forget the master stroke played by that genial President of Sri Lanka Cricket and Minister Gamini Dissanayake to take Sri Lanka into the hallowed portals of Test cricket.
Several past Presidents like Colonel Saravanamuttu and Robert Senanayake two brilliant cricketers stretched their sinew, nerves and muscles to the maximum to get the country the elusive Test status.
The lords at Lord’s at that time would turn their backs on every attempt made citing flimsy excuses and entering the ICC was blocked at every turn by the snobbish Englishmen who ran the game at that time.
Having played the game at the highest level and after his playing days were over watching from the boundary lines the stubborn stance by the lords at Lord’s, the man who put into motion and bowled the ‘doosra’ that stumped the lords and made them come down from their ivory towers and admit Sri Lanka a full member was the country’s off spinning all-round sensation Abu Fuard who later earned the tag ‘power behind the throne’.
As his first and master stroke Fuard brought into the administration of the game an individual who had a proven record in politics and one who would not take no for an answer and who was, as later events proved, going to rewrite Sri Lanka’s cricket history. He was that cricketing messiah Gamini Dissanayake.
Dissanayake who batted resolutely to see that the country earned its rightful place and took on the rest of the Test playing countries had with him two other forceful batsmen in R. Rajamahendren and Daham Wimalasena who worked from out of their skins and gave Dissanayake all the inspiration and support.
With President JR Jayewardene and Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa propping this team, Dissanayake hurdled all barriers and in a stirring speech stunned and stumped the lords at Lord’s who were helpless and had to succumb and allow Sri Lanka entry into the hitherto elusive portal of Test cricket. And there was great rejoicing at home when the news broke out.
From that moment cricket became a craze in the country and spread like the Corona virus with schools in every nook and corner in the country being attracted like moths to a flame and padding up.
Before the country attained Test status a few schools played cricket and the cricket was of a very high standard. The game was played hard with some top class school cricketers in action and sprouted cricketers of the caliber of Brian Classen, (Wesley), Stanley Jayasinghe and Carl Obeysekera (Nalanda) who were good enough to play for the country.
At that time school cricket attracted a great following of the present, old boys and supporters and games began at 12 noon and by 11.30 the grounds were packed with wildly cheering supporters and the occasional fisticuffs adding fun to the proceedings.
But of late other than for the traditional ‘big matches’, none of the other school games attract a crowd. In those days masters of the schools were ordered to be present and watch the game. Parents of the players too flocked to take in the action that was a thrill every minute.
But sadly today most inter-school matches are played to empty houses, at times hardly 10 spectators watching a game. Why this is so is inexplicable.
The other day when Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa met former Sri Lanka cricketers and other sports people to get their views on building of a new cricket stadium at Homagama, the lament was that school cricket has been neglected and priority should be given to improving school cricket.
That allegation that school cricket has been neglected was hit for six by former Thomian, CCC cricketer and former Vice President in the Interim Committee of SLC Asanga Seneviratne who detailed what was done for the improvement and development of the school game.
We do not want to detail what Seneviratne said. But if those who made assertions about the poor state of school cricket , unfairly one may add, will do well to read Seneviratne’s well rehearsed article which appeared in the ‘Daily News’ of May 26, and commented on by Callistus Davy of the ‘Sunday Observer’ last week.