The Sri Lankan sports minister has revealed that they will be launching an investigation on the disastrous state of Sri Lankan cricket after the team suffered a string of embarrassing losses at the hands of minnows Zimbabwe and then the Men in Blue.
Dayasiri Jayasekara stated that he was inviting former administrators, journalists, and other sports experts to generate some ideas on how to revive the beloved game of cricket in the island nation.
“I am hoping to get all these experts at a single forum and thrash out issues,” Jayasekera was quoted as saying by AFP. “There is no point in blaming administrators or the players without an in-depth study. The idea is not to apportion blame, but address the deficiencies and rally behind the national team,” he further added.
Jayasekara had suggested a full clear out of the personnel on the board, an idea which was first pushed by former World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga after Sri Lanka’ humiliating 3-0 drubbing against India at home. That was only a continuation of their disastrous performance after they suffered a 3-2 series loss to Zimbabwe at home. The then captain Angelo Mathews had said that the series loss was the lowest point in his career.
“I don’t want to interfere in the administration,” Jayasekera said. “That might lead to isolation by the ICC (International Cricket Council).” He further added that the fitness level of the Sri Lankan players is not par with other top teams which have brought about their downfall in the recent past. The sports minister has alleged the current squad as too fat and unfit to play 5-day matches with their fitness level.
After losing the Test series by a 3-0 margin, the Sri Lankans began the ODI series on a disastrous note. The hosts were thoroughly outplayed in all 3 departments of the game as the visitors romped home by 9 wickets and with more than 22 overs to spare.