By
R. L. Fernando
The local print and electronic media were taken for a glorious ride by the Board
of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) in their publications and broadcasts on
December 4 which mentioned that Sri Lanka’s opening batsman and Vice Captain Marvan
Atapattu was dropped from the team to meet Zimbabwe in the 2nd Test (which got underway on
Friday). The BCCSL which issued a media fax release (signed by their BCCSL officials) on
December 3 (Thursday) evening contained the 14 member squad which showed that Atapattu was
not in it. The 14 players named were Jayasuriya (Capt.), Arnold, Sangakkara, Jayawardena,
Chamara Silva, Tilekaratne, Samaraweera, Muralitharan, Vaas, Nissanka, Buddhika Fernando,
Chandana and Bandaratileke.
The three BCCSL officials who signed the release were media manager Niresh Eliyathamby, Director, Cricket Operations and an Interim Committee Member.
But when hen the match began on Friday morning at the scheduled time of 10.30 a.m. Sri Lanka time, the Lankan squad shown on the board over TV was the same which played in the 1st Test against Zimbabwe and Atapattu’s name was in it.
On Thursday evening BCCSL Media Manager who was available for comment told "The Island" that Atapattu was being rested. The new addition to the squad was batsman Chamara Silva who earlier scored a century for the Board XI against Zimbabwe at the P. Sara Stadium.
Following that news release by the BCCSL, all the media had gone to town in their publications and broadcasts on Friday morning which had erupted a hornets nest among cricket fans.
On Friday morning "The Island" had tried to contact the BCCSL officials about Atapattu’s presence in the team. But most of their mobile telephones were found switched off. However, when Niresh Eliyathamby was contacted on his mobile phone, he said that the BCCSL authorities had changed their minds about the team selection on Friday morning.
The BCCSL has taken the media apart by their incorrect briefing and any future bulletins may have to be reviewed and confirmed before publication.