Well done Ranatunga!

Three hearty cheers to chairman Arjuna Ranatunga and the members of the Interim Committee for lifting the ban that had been imposed on the cricketers who took part in the Indian Cricket League tournament.

We are living in a democracy and the ban was depriving the cricketers of their fundamental rights. Although belated, the IC has done well to lift the ban.

Obviously the lifting of the ban would be irritating and would have the Board of Control for Cricket in India fuming. But then who the hell is the BCCI to tell us what to do and how to run our cricket?

The forming of the Indian Cricket League went to antagonise the BCCI who to spite the ICL formed the Indian Premier League. The BCCI offered mind boggling sums of money to lure the cream of world cricketers and their tourney was a resounding success.

Obviously the cricketers who figured in the IPL found the money bags that they were earning too heavy to carry. The coming tourney is sure to make the cricketers money bags even heavier.

Sri Lanka must not let the Indian Board to tell us how to run our affairs. They had the International Cricket Council bending backwards to please then when they threatened to stall their tour of Australia and pull out.

Umpire Steve Bucknor and match referee Michael Procter who had the courage to stand by their convictions, were badly let down by the ICC and the ICC created a precedent the way they faced bouncers bowled by the BCCI.

The Interim Committee in doing what they did, lifting the ban has now allowed and opened the doors for our cricketers who played in the IPL to also if the money beckons to play in the ICL. This way the cricketers will have good reason to say - to hell with country first. Let’s play in these two leagues. And no one would fault the cricketers. After all money is not the thing, it is the thing.

Ranatunga and his members in lifting the ban, have given teeth to the ICC that has still not shed its ‘toothless tiger’ image. It is hoped that the ICC, now that Ranatunga has got under the skin of the BCCI will prompt the ICC to stand up to opponents, not to cow or bend backwards to please who or how ever powerful the opponents are.

The International Cricket Council is the governing body for the game. They must maintain that status and remain that way now and in the future. They must wield the willow like their predecessors of old did.

Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu, Upul Chandana, Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunewardena and Saman Jayantha who played in the ICL will now heave a sigh of relief because they are now given visas to force their way into the Sri Lanka National Test and one-day teams.

They along with umpire Ranmore Martinesz were banned by Jayantha Dharmadasa’s Interim Committee from taking part in all forms of the game and also administration.

While the local interim committee has acted sensibly, the Bangladesh Cricket Association has acted differently and banned their players who signed with the ICL for ten years.

That was too harsh a ban and we hope the BCA will take the cue from Sri Lanka and act similarly and lift the ban on their cricketers who had every right to side with the ICL because playing in that league enables them to earn much, much more than what they were earning fulfilling their commitments with the BCA.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India will definitely be smarting because of the way Arjuna Ranatunga and his members acted. It would be interesting to watch how they will face this carrom ball.

However the decision to lift the ban was certainly not unanimous. There was a dissenting member. And the gut feeling is that, that member saw the disturbing trends that lie ahead for the game and he was quite right in having his say.

In a democracy there has to be an opposition. And that member must be appreciated for speaking out and getting his fellow members to see reason instead of simply being a ‘Yes Sir’ man.

Mountains are being moved to see that this dissenting member is removed. But this member is not one who will easily throw in the towel. He will like a true cricketer face it and he is confident that he will finally triumph.

Isn’t it said that those who dare win.

Udeshi was marvellous

The chairman of the tour organising committee of the Interim Committee during the India tour was Rajan Udeshi. Now the Udeshis need no introduction, because sport run in the family with table tennis being their forte.

A businessman by repute, he is as simple as simple can be and the manner in which he organised everything in his field during the tour, especially the media seeing to their needs was outstanding and came in for praise from, not only the local media, but the visiting media too.

Udeshi would not sit on his backside, as most officials are won’t to do, but kept visiting the fields that he had to be in inquiring how things were going and kept insisting that if there are any shortcomings for it to be brought to his notice.

Udeshi did an exemplary job. Thank you.

Ponting needs Symonds

Ricky Ponting the captain of Australia, champions in Test and one-day cricket came out in defence of his champion allrounder Andrew Symonds and said that he would like the allrounder to be back sooner than later.

Ponting knows the value of Symonds in the team. True Symonds is temperamental. It is a pity that he acted like a schoolboy and went fishing without attending an important team meeting when the Bangladeshis toured there.

It was like one of the wild shots he plays when batting, that landed him in hot water and the punishment being dropped from the crucial tour of India next month.

Questions being asked are: Was Symonds deliberately kept out, so that he would not start his old feud with Harbhajan Singh, that could put this tour too in jeopardy which could have led the International Cricket Council and the Boards Cricket Australia and Board of Control for Cricket in India trading punches and putting the game at the crossroads?

They would not have liked to face the volcanic situation they faced when the Indians last toured Australia erupting again. The Indians are sure to be celebrating the dropping of Symonds. While the Aussies would be severely weakened without the brilliant allround abilities of Andrew Symonds.

It is cricketers like Symonds that keeps turnstiles creaking for oil and bring crowds flocking to see actors par excellence like Symonds. Pity that he will be missing.