Lanka corruption ‘goes right to the top’: Ranatunga
COLOMBO: World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga on Wednesday said corruption “goes right to the top” in Sri Lanka and accused the International Cricket Council of undermining the game by failing to tackle match-fixing.
Ranatunga, now a government minister, said cricket corruption in Sri Lanka went far beyond the claims made in an Al Jazeera documentary which aired on Sunday. Ranatunga said the allegations must be investigated, “but this must have been happening for a long time.
“This is something that goes right to the top (in Sri Lanka). What they will catch is the small fish. As usual the bigger fish will get away,” he said. “I am so disappointed with the ICC anti-corruption unit,” Ranatunga said, referring to previous complaints against Sri Lanka Cricket, which is headed by politician and businessman Thilanga Sumathipala.
The 54-year-old has in the past accused Sumathipala of involvement in gambling in violation of ICC rules. Sumathipala has denied the charge.
“If they can’t see what is happening in Sri Lanka... they should not sit on this anti-corruption unit,” Ranatunga said.
He said the Sri Lankans implicated in the Al Jazeera documentary could not change the outcome of a Test match unless they had backing from superiors.
“They are small fish,” Ranatunga said referring to the groundsman of the Galle stadium, Tharanga Indika, and a district coach, Tharindu Mendis.
Ranatunga said last year, he raised suspicions that the 2011 World Cup final was tainted.
“The ICC did not investigate, Sri Lanka Cricket did not investigate and we allowed things to continue,” he said. Even as the debate rages between red and white ball cricket, the verdict is out; white ball cricket has trumped red and the writing, for all to see, is very much on the pitch.
Spectators, the key stakeholders, made this choice long ago, and the resounding success of IPL 11 is confirmation of where they stand. In a world with short attention span, time deficit and preference for living in the moment, holding someone’s interest for five days before (possibly) announcing a result is a big ask. Test cricket is often gripping, always superior and hugely compelling, but its length is its greatest enemy.
That players, not just spectators, prefer white is a gamechanger. When Adil Rashid and Alex Hales refused red-ball contracts to remain free to compete in T20 leagues, it indicated how players rated cricket’s three formats. Now, when AB de Villiers suddenly announced his retirement from all ‘international cricket’ alarm bells are ringing at the Wanderers, MCG and Lord’s, the ‘home’ of cricket.
Indictment of Test duration