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| Thursday, 28 October 2004 |
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Lankan umpire quits - critical of ICC's elite panel by Sa'adi Thawfeeq Sri Lanka's international cricket umpire Lalith Jayasundera has quit the game criticising the International Cricket Council's (ICC) elite panel which he says has discouraged umpires from making any headway in their profession. "Before the elite panel came into being umpires from all cricketing nations had a chance to make their mark and officiate in Test matches. But no longer," said 51-year-old Jayasundera who is discarding the white coat after being in the business for nearly two decades. "I took to umpiring with the hope of officiating in Test matches. But my 20 years of sacrifice in the job has amounted to nothing," Jayasundera said. "There will come a time when there won't be any Asian umpires in the elite panel. With our own Asoka de Silva being demoted from the elite ranks and India's Srini Venkatraghavan retiring there is only one Asian today in the elite panel - Pakistan's Aleem Dar," he said. Jayasundera who began as a division III umpire in 1984 progressed to become a Class I umpire five years later and broke into the international scene in 1999 when he officiated the Australia v India Aiwa Cup one-day international. He went on to stand in eight further ODIs but never made it to the Test ranks. The nearest he came to officiating in a Test was when he performed third umpire duties in two Tests. Jayasundera said the future for umpires in Sri Lanka was also bleak. "I don't see any future for umpires here because there is so much of politics involved. There is no chance for any young umpire to come up," he said. Jayasundera made up his mind to quit under controversial circumstances. He was standby umpire for the warm-up match between the touring South Africans and a Sri Lanka Board XI in August which was called off without a ball bowled at the De Soysa Stadium due to wet ground conditions. The organisers Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were of the opinion that play should have been possible at some stage of the day and that the officiating umpires including Jayasundera had been too hasty in their decision-making. When a suspension on the three umpires was forthcoming, Jayasundera sent his resignation from officiating at all levels of the game. He is now migrating to USA with his family to further the education of his children. Sri Lanka cricket will be the loser for it is very rarely you find a colourful and cheerful personality like Jayasundera who always found time during breaks for a sense of humour or to spin a yarn which had everyone laughing. He takes credit for identifying and introducing fast bowler Dilhara Fernando to Sri Lanka cricket and for encouraging Asoka de Silva to become an international umpire. Jayasundera had a good cricketing background having captained the Isipatana MV first team in 1972 and then represented Panadura SC, CCC and Colts in the Division I Premier trophy tournament (then known as Sara trophy) as a right-hand middle-order batsman. Being an employee of Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills he played in the Mercantile and later in the Nationalised Services 'A' division tournaments between 1972 and 1984. He also holds a Level 4 diploma certificate in coaching. Although going out of the game on a sad note, Jayasundera has not forgotten his 'guru' former Sri Lanka Test umpire Udaya Wickremasinghe and the numerous captains who evaluated his performance as an umpire during his umpiring career. |
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