Sir Donald Bradman’s advice to Ranil!

Sir Donald Bradman Acknowledged as greatest batsman of all time Full name : Donald George Bradman Born : August 27, 1908 Died : February 25, 2001 (aged 92) Nickname : The Don, The Boy from Bowral, Braddles Batting style : Right-handed Bowling style : Right-arm leg break Role : Batsman

Sri Lanka’s inability to win the Cricket World Cup resulted in a spate of retirements and resignations in the cricketing echelons. Cricket Captain Sangakkara resigned first followed by the Vice Captain Mahela. Then the Selection Committee resigned to make way for fresh judgment and impetus.

Even in other cricket playing nations persons in high places resigned due to their inability to perform to the expectations. Australian Captain Rickey Ponting, New Zealand Captain Daniel Vittori and South African Captain Graeme Smith are all casualties of the Cricket World Cup. Thus, as of now cricket appears to be the gentlemen’s game where persons engage, renounce their positions voluntarily before they are made to feel redundant.

In cricket, people often tend to follow that famous saying attributed to cricketing icon Sir Donald Bradman, in deciding the time of retirement. According to him the ideal time for retiring from the game is when people around you should still be asking ‘why are you retiring?’ and not ‘why don’t you retire?’ However, I would preserve my right to dissent with Sir Bradman, for in my view it is a waste of resources to abdicate your services when there is some contribution you can still make towards the improvement of the game.

I think Sangakkara’s retirement was premature whereas Arjuna and Sanath stayed well beyond their times. Aravinda, I think retired at the right time as a cricketer. Retirement however is a question of faith and it depends how much faith you have in your ability to perform and the how much faith the others would have in you to deliver. Thus there has to be a degree of mutuality in this question of faith and you should not pull along just because you feel confident when all around you are losing theirs in you on the job. Therefore it is a question of striking the right equilibrium in your confidence/aspirations as against those of the others.

Cricket and politics

Now, we have been getting carried way for the past few weeks with this business of cricket and it is time to recover from this hangover. The writer is fully aware that this is the political column and hence it should not be filled with the happenings in the cricket field unless there is some justification for that. This justification then comes in the form of lessons our politicians can learn from the happenings in cricket. What is the correct retirement time for politicians and it is unfortunate that there had not been a Bradman in politics to spell a suitable paradigm for that.

I felt sad when I learnt about Sangakkara’s resignation but then again I thought if Sangakkara had the same tenacity of Ranil Wickremesinghe we would not have lost the captaincy prematurely. But cricket and politics are fields far apart from one another and an analogue between the two may appear inappropriate. Cricket is only a game but politics is the business of running the country and hence everything, including the fate of the cricketers, depends on politics. Thus a politician who does not have the feel of ‘the right time to retire’ would become a parasite on the nation creating more problems than a Cricket Captain would. The Cricket Captain has to earn the confidence of only the selectors but the politician has to win the confidence of the entire nation, or at least a majority of them.

World Cup

Sangakkara resigned because he lost one World Cup and thought that he should give way for somebody who can win it next time. But Ranil has now lost more than 20 elections but it is indeed ironic that he does not feel that he should make way for somebody who could have a different approach. The UNP supporters however may say that ‘whatever happens, Ranil is good enough for us’. But the position is that Ranil in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition is not the property of the UNPers alone.

Leader of the Opposition is a national office and the person who holds that office should exercise his powers in the national interest. Thus he should be constrained in all his public activities to act with responsibility, foresight and above all with national interest. He should possess the potential to form the next government and it is this ‘potentiality’ that will have a bearing on the existing government to perform well. Ranil is a politician who has proved beyond doubt that he does not possess this potential to become the alternative leader of this country and with that his clinging on to the post becomes a mere formality with no effect and promise. Isn’t Sri Lankan Cricket more democratic than UNP politics?

The performance of the Vice Captain will have a bearing on the Captain’s performance for the Captain has to perform that much better to retain the captaincy. How well performing this country would be if the politicians could learn from the cricketers? If Bradman ever met Ranil it would have been neither ‘why are your retiring?’ nor ‘why don’t you retire?’ but ‘why on earth are you clinging on?

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