Whither Sri Lanka Cricket AGM?

THE month of March is virtually coming to an end and there is no signs of the Ministry of Sports calling for an annual general meeting for the seven sports bodies that are currently under the Ministry's interim administration.

Of these bodies cricket which is the most influential has undergone enough and more damage with the constant changes in administration that it is now being reflected in the performances of our national teams from senior to junior levels.

No sports body can function properly unless elections are held in a democratic manner and the membership given the right to voice their opinions on whom they think is the most suitable office-bearers to run cricket or any other sport for that matter.

This democratic right has been deprived to the membership by the Sports Minister not making any concerted effort to call for an election to the respective bodies.

For no apparent reason the Sports Minister in a press statement made in January stated that he would call for an AGM and summoned the respective interim administrations and reviewed the progress they had made so far but gave no clear indication to them that he was going to hold elections.

The wait for the Sports Minister to make an official announcement became unbearable as the days flew by that the Colombo District Cricket Association (CDCA) summoned it member clubs and took a unanimous decision to appeal to the President Mahinda Rajapakse for justice.

The matter is before the President and they are hopeful that a swift solution would be arrived at.

The membership of the National Sports Associations (NSA) are fully justified in now demanding elections in view of this Ministry circular which said AGMs would be held before March 31. It is highly irresponsible of the Ministry to issue such media releases and not explain them.

In the mean time the Ministry of Sports is under a further cloud having got themselves into hot waters after being exposed as using its headquarters for a multi-billion rupee human smuggling operation, which is currently under investigation and being reported almost daily in both the local and international media.

Dwindling spectator interest The dwindling spectator interest at international cricket matches played at home is causing grave concern.

Two factors one can see as the main reasons for such a drop is the current performance of the national team and the high pricing of tickets which has put it beyond the reach of any average spectator.

The huge number of defeats the national cricket team has suffered in the past four months which has seen them plummet from second position to seventh in the ICC one-day international rankings is one clear reason.

No one wants to spend hard earned money to come and watch the team lose. Obviously there is a winner and loser in every game but the frequency with which Sri Lanka has been losing has become a contributory factor.

In the past four months Sri Lanka's one-day record has been abysmal.

A record such as 19 defeats against eight wins (1 no-result) from 28 one-day internationals does not paint a rosy picture at all, not by any standard. It has placed Sri Lanka in a position where they are now forced to play in a qualifying round to get into the last eight of the ICC Champions trophy tournament which is to be held in India in October.

It is sad that cricket is not going to take off without spectator interest. The high pricing of tickets (Rs. 5000/ for a grandstand view) saw that section virtually devoid of spectators.

Reasonable pricing would have filled the stands because there is nothing like a full house to motivate the cricketers to raise their performance especially when they are on a low as at present.

Having been on the road since October and not received the spectator support they would have wanted in countries like India, New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh they at least would have looked forward to some home support during the Pakistan one-day series.

But that did not materialize because of the lack of forethought on the cricket officials responsible for the pricing of tickets.