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'World Cup was one of those bad tours,' says Lanka board chief

Dhamika Ranatunga, the interim chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), felt it is not right to blame certain senior players for Sri Lanka's dismal performance in the World Cup.

Dhamika, who was in Mumbai to announce Sony Entertainment Television's tie-up with the Sri Lankan board, for live coverage of matches for the next 18 months, said: "One person cannot win all by himself in cricket, the same way as one person cannot lose all by himself. It is a team effort and everybody is equally responsible for victory or defeat.''

Dhamika pointed out that people should understand that the game has its ups and downs and one cannot win all the time. ''It was one of those bad tours we've had. We had been playing consistently well since 1995; this was just one of the down phases that the team went through," he said.

He felt that playing in the first half of the English summer, where the conditions change very quickly from time to time, was one of the main reasons for Sri Lanka's poor showing. "The new balls, with a smaller seam, also made it more difficult for us. It was not a strategic failure, but it boiled down to the resources you have available. The two teams which made the final had the best fast bowlers. Batsmen did not win matches in this tournament.''

At the moment the BCCSL is managed by an interim body, after one group went to court after losing in the board elections. The matter is still pending in court.

Dhamika said this kind of turmoil did not help administrators to focus on their job and neither did it help the players to concentrate on their cricket.

On the domestic structure, Dhamika admitted that a big gap between the standard of international and domestic cricket exists. "For the growth of the game we will have to devise ways to narrow down this gap."

For this to happen, he strongly advocated the participation of international players in domestic tournaments. ''They should play a fair percentage of domestic tournaments to improve the standard of domestic cricket. This is important for the development of the game.'' he opined.

"We should also decide on the number of teams participating in domestic tournaments and then provide these teams with the best facilities and coaches so that they can concentrate on cricket," he added.

To a question, whether senior players should be sacked or retained, Dhamika said: "That is the selectors' job; they will decide which players should be taken in and which players should be left out."

However, he felt that a player's experience is a very important factor. ''I have myself played a lot of cricket, and I know how important experience is. If the player is fit and consistent, age should not be a bar to their selection.''

On former Sri Lankan coach Bruce Yardley's allegation that senior players behaved in an autocratic manner with juniors, Dhamika said, "This is not true."

He cited the example of Muttaiah Muralitharan, who, he said, was well-supported by skipper Arjuna Ranatunga in the midst of the chucking controversy. ''Anyhow, we have to take the overall picture, we cannot be guided by comments by certain people only,'' he added.

UNI