The scoreboard read 54/3, with the bowling side not allowing batsmen any room to breath. The lead pacer ran in, and the batsman wafted against three deliveries. Frustrated, on the fourth he went for a big shot, only to miss hit and hole out at mid on. Score – 54/4.
You could have been forgiven for thinking this was Sri Lanka playing India, in any one of the recently concluded three Tests. No, instead, this was a two-day practice game at Trinity College in Kandy – where Kumar Sangakkara experienced his formative years – before onset of the new domestic season by late August/early September.
At least the scorecard was in accordance with conditions prevalent. Green-top surface, dark wicket, laden with moisture, not a lot of bounce, and the ball moving around – it was reminiscent of the different pitches that prevailed in Sri Lanka at one point in time, not too long ago.
“Don’t get too carried away,” said Mohammad Yusuf, who is one among the many cricket coaches at this college. “They don’t make such pitches in domestic cricket anymore. This is a warm-up game, and it is an unprepared wicket at best.”
His main charge is to nurture a young school-level team, who will currently be playing at the Under-17 level this season, almost busy in search of the next Sangakkara to come forth from this illustrious institution. He is only too eager to explain the domestic structure in Sri Lankan cricket, and what he says isn’t too complicated either.
Domestic structure
College, or school, cricket is the junior-most level here. There are mainly divided into Under-13, 15, 17 and 19. Most schools have two teams – A and B – competing at these different levels, feeding upper grades with well-coached kids as they move up the years. It is the Under-19 level that really matters because this team is of prime focus at any school in Sri Lanka, only one level below professional cricket.
“The best players from Under-19 competitions are picked for provincial tournaments,” said Yusuf. “For example, Kandy is in Central province so they will pick the best performances from college cricket to play this provincial tournament across the country. From there, they will pick the Under-19 team for Sri Lanka.”
For those aspiring to be professional cricketers, the next stop is the various cricket clubs. Colombo is the heartland of club cricket and names such as Colts Cricket Club, Sinahalese Sports Club, Moors Sports Club, Tamil Union Cricket & Athletic Club, Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, and Nondescripts Cricket Club come to mind instantly. These clubs form the designated first-class structure, and additionally also feed the Under-23 provincial tournaments.
On the face of it, everything seems normal, almost like a defined domestic structure in any other cricket nation. Delve a bit deeper and cracks start to emerge. “The Under-23 provincial tournament is a recent phenomenon,” said Rushan Jaleel, who is the strategic coach/consultant for Trinity College’s various teams. “It was brought up because the first-class structure has completely gone to the dogs.”
“Earlier only a few top quality clubs were in tier A and given first-class status. It meant that the number of first-class matches was high through the season and the level of competition was maintained. Now, tier B clubs have been given first-class status too. Earlier they only played three-day matches, which were not considered first-class matches. So, now, the whole structure is divided in groups or zones, and it has results in fewer number of matches for players and the quality of first-class has gone down considerably,” he further explained.
His words resonate with what the likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, bowling coach Chaminda Vaas and team manager Asanka Gurusinha highlighted at different points during the Test series. The underlying point is dilution of the domestic cricket structure as Sri Lanka Cricket is now embroiled in a legal mess over this move to grant first-class status to tier B clubs.
This is where it gets complicated further. Most of the clubs – and their prominent players get to feature in only handful first-class games through a season. The top clubs get to play a few more matches because they advance to the latter rounds. But this isn’t enough of course, as evident from the recently concluded Test series.
Furthermore, first-class cricket has become a play-thing in the hand of Sri Lankan administrators. In the 2016-17 domestic season, the provincial first-class tournament was replaced by a List A tournament, apparently in preparation for the 2017 Champions Trophy. Elsewhere, a couple matches between tier B clubs are even under investigation for corruption incidents. All of this paints a ghastly picture for what is going on behind the scenes.
Talent drain
Jaleel himself has played Under-19 provincial cricket. He graduated from Trinity College and then represented Central Province, but couldn’t go any further. There are obvious questions to ask here. Why did they do it? What was the purpose of this move to dilute first-class cricket like this?
“If you ask Sri Lanka Cricket, they will say it is to find the next Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene by expanding the first-class sphere,” Jaleel said. “Sure, we desperately need a new face to come up and be the focal point. But Sangakkara and Jayawardene came up from the prevalent definitive structure that existed. This dilution has happened because of other reasons.”
Wherever there is cricket administration, political games cannot be too far away. With tier B clubs included, now they have voting rights, which suits any ploy that the administrators might have in near-future elections in Sri Lanka Cricket. Of course, the traditional clubs aren’t taking this lying down, and there is an on-going legal battle, which is threatening the fibre of domestic cricket even further.
In their bid to find the next big name, however, this isn’t the only threat facing Sri Lankan cricket today. Players like Karunaratne and Malina Pushpakumara (558 wickets in 99 first-class matches) have still been able to make a good fist of things. Yet, the lack of games is starting to drain the remaining talent away.
Consider the 2016-’17 season alone, when the provincial first-class tournament was scrapped. “An average club cricketer got anywhere between four to six games and the pay is not good,” said Jaleel. “At best he would make 4-5 lakh Lankan rupees. Someone who plays an entire season will earn 6-7 lakh Lankan rupees. So these club cricketers are starting to move to Australia and England, and play club cricket over there.”
If a Lankan club cricketer plays in both England and Australia over the course of a season, he will easily earn in excess of 15 lakh Lankan rupees, and doesn’t need to come back to play in Sri Lanka. For those, who still have an iota of chance to play international cricket, they are opting to play in England (April to September) and then come back for the domestic season (September to March) back home. Such players stand to earn around 12-15 lakh Lankan rupees, which is still healthy.
Yet, a talent drain is the last thing Lankan cricket needs. While the system may be flawed, it squarely affects the single-minded focus in finding the next big name to help revive fortunes. When you ask around, there are a few names that crop up, in whom Lankan fans and administrators have invested their faith. Kusal Mendis, who defied India spectacularly at the SSC, is one.
Among future prospects, 22-year-old Minod Bhanuka and 21-year-old Sadeera Samarawickrama (both keeper-batsmen) are rated highly. Among bowlers, left-arm leg-spinner Lakshan Sandakan is seen as one for the future, and along with Mendis, he too is featuring in the series against India at present.
This hope is reminiscent of 2015 when India had visited here last. Jayawardene had just quit international cricket, and it was Sangakkara’s last series too. Back then Lahiru Thirimanne was the big prospect for the future. Two years on, the left-hander is struggling to get back into the Lankan side, having last played Test cricket in June 2016.
It makes for some wonderment. Will Mendis, Sandakan and others be around when India visit this island country for their next tour post 2019? What shape will Sri Lankan cricket be in, then?
For the sake of international cricket, one can only hope the answeris a positive one.
