by Rohan Wijeyaratne
Before we get on to our top story, a word of congratulations to our national team for their showing against Pakistan. It was what one would call a stellar performance; something that came right out of the top drawer. Not only were the Pakistanis vanquished, they were toyed about with, in a style reminiscent of cats playing with mice before they are finally devoured. No amount of praise would be too high to hail the heroics of Jayasuriya playing for the first time since pulling out his arm from its socket, and De Silva who purred his way around much like his latest acquisition in cars. Together, they combined to snuff out whatever hopes the Pakistanis may have harboured of sending the Lankans packing out of the tournament. While Jayasuriya’s comeback from injury could not have been announced in better style, De Silva showed ominous signs of reaching his invincible form of old, very soon. He is perhaps still not there, but is getting there alright, and he knows it.

A broadside aimed at the ICC

In recent times, we have noticed there has been some outbursts if not broadsides let loose by none other than the government controlled media itself, targeting the ICC. This has been in relation to the allegedly boorish conduct of one of its officials currently operating here. Whether there was sufficient provocation to launch such a strong and virulent attack on one individual or not we do not know, coming particularly at a time when the government was literally bending backwards to project this country as a haven for foreign investment of whatever description. However, complimentary tickets, identity badges and car passes being the point of contention, we thought we might touch upon the subject ourselves, drawing inspiration from our own experience in the hope that at the end of the exercise, the whole equation may be reviewed from a more rational perspective.

Always a contentious issue

From first hand experience I can say with responsibility, that complimentary tickets to the cricket is one of the contentious issues that has become a massive headache to the Board over the years. It particularly becomes so, since everybody who is somebody, counts himself as being eligible or important enough to be invited to the Board’s hospitality, all on the house. Things can become so embarrassing sometimes, that in one or two instances of which I am personally aware, a highly placed Board official of the last Interim Committee was driven into purchasing tickets at his own expense, to be given to those who approached him for complimentary tickets. Still with all that, the numbers who grumbled were legendary. And mind you, this was during triangular tournaments, where the demand was nowhere near what it is today. Even then, it was impossible to play down the numbers at the time, as there were many, who were under the mistaken belief that they were god’s gift to Sri Lankan cricket if not the Board itself, and therefore should make up the numbers at all the Board functions if not the cricket! And whatever one did to appease them, it still wasn’t good enough.

How it all happened

The current ICC tournament now in full swing was first discussed at the ICC meeting last year in Kuala Lumpur. At the time, they were looking very seriously at India as the probable hosts for this tournament. The main consideration being that India with its massive spectator interest was a haven for the marketing men, who after all, make these tournaments happen. However India had its own problems including tax considerations and at that meeting managed to show sufficient disinterest to prompt the ICC to seek for venues elsewhere. Several were approached including Australia and England until it finally boiled down to a choice between Sharjah and Sri Lanka.

When Vijay Malalasekera was asked whether he would accept, he asked the forum for sufficient time to launch a long distance call to Colombo, where his colleagues Michael Tissera, Sidath Wettimuny and Kushil Gunasekera were all gathered to listen to Malalasekera’s story. The former chairman’s point was that if this opportunity was taken, much could be done to off-set the ill effects of the twin bombings in New York and the Katunayake airport. He was of the view that it would give a tremendous fillip to the tourist industry in particular and the image of the country in general. His colleagues back in Colombo were elated at the prospect and advised their Chairman in one voice not to let go of the opportunity. That then, is how Sri Lanka came to be chosen as the venue to host this current tournament by the ICC, and by no way as a matter of right.

Let’s be honest about it

We love to mock the ICC and ridicule them at the slightest indiscretion or delay, probably exposing in the meanwhile, a certain lack of sensitivity and appreciation of its contribution to world cricket. But in moments of honest contemplation, we must be grateful to that body for fostering the game through the many decades of its existence, and for having carefully nurtured the game even through turbulent times to what it has become today. The ICC must also be given credit for having held together, a divergent group of individual nations with manifest interests and agendas, some of who have not been shy to strain to the very limit, the fine working relationships that are necessary to prevent the entire body from being torn asunder. In the early years of course, particularly during the time of its precursor, the Imperial Cricket Conference, it was essentially the exclusive preserve of a few countries and worse, a few elitist cliques within them. But now the situation has been broad-based and democratized to an extent where it’s last Chairman was an Indian and very soon it may be a Pakistani. Besides, it is committed to spreading the gospel of cricket to the four corners of the globe much faster than what we ever thought it would or could.

An unenviable situation

The plain fact of the matter is, that the ICC is running the current tournament, meaning, they are the hosts. And hosts are those who do the inviting, not those who own the venues! Sri Lanka in this instance owns the venues but the ICC for a very fat fee have hired out the grounds and other facilities. And it is the ICC staff who are conducting the tournament with the assistance of our Board in a working partnership. None of our venues have anything like the facilities or the space that some others may have around the world, and therefore at the very outset there is a huge logistical problem that needs to be addressed. And within the limitations that govern our venues in terms of space alone, the ICC has to accommodate those of the Global Cricket Corporation which is the franchise winner for this tournament (and two more Champions Trophy tournaments and two World Cups to follow) and also its four principal product sponsors who are LG, Pepsi, South African Airways and Hero Honda. Further, it has to accommodate the hierarchy of all the full member countries and the two associates countries of the ICC, and hand out 75 complimentary tickets to each participating team at each match, and also invite Sri Lankan dignitaries as well. At the best of times, this can be a very tall order, and given the attendant restrictions, particularly those of adequate space at our venues, it could become a monumental one. Had these been understood, we are certain that even ICC’s worst detractors would have been a bit more charitable towards them than what has been the case.

Sponsorship helps all

Also, the sponsorship of these tournaments benefit all countries, and it runs into huge millions in dollar terms. And one of the beneficiaries is Sri Lanka itself, quite apart from what it gets for hosting this tournament. Therefore it is unfortunate that a situation arose over a matter that was probably not worthy of the controversy that it created. In hindsight, all of it may have been resolved with much less than half the fanfare and noise that it generated.

Massive boost to the country

A bit against the grain and may be a touch strong too, I hear you say, but facts must be evaluated in their proper perspective and presented the way they actually are. It is our belief that this country and our cricket would stand to benefit hugely, if we portrayed ourselves as a country and an administration that is easy to work with and eager to foster international cricket within its shores. The spin offs from such a development could be monumental. Already we have learnt that Sony TV and the World Sports Group have given us free advertising spots which are viewed by over a billion people worldwide, and which would otherwise have cost the Tourist Board over a million dollars had they been made to foot the bill. And through these advertisements the message is going out loud and clear to the far corners of the globe that it does not actually rain bombs in Sri Lanka every second minute, and the pot holes you see on the road are actually not the work of land mines! In fact, nothing could have been better timed than such a huge focus on this country and its cricket, particularly at a time when the main protagonists of that sickening war were shaking hands in far off Thailand and deciding with much eagerness, when they should meet again.

Let’s stop ballooning trivia

This is not to say that we should allow everyone to ride rough shod over us, but we must be big enough to discern between substance and trivia. Complementary tickets, car and photo passes must fall comfortably into the latter category, given the vastness of the undertaking and benefits that can be derived from the successful completion of such an undertaking. We would therefore urge all concerned to join in and help reap the benefits of goodwill and co-operation for this country and its cricket in the years ahead, than portray ourselves as nit-pickers in a very deep and dark well.