There's more to his resignation than meets the eye
A "clash of eras" is in the offing. Rumours are circulating of an unforeseen "dictatorship" within the Cricket Technical Advisory Committee appointed by the Sports Minister with the unexpected stepping down of Roshan Mahanama.
Mahanama, regarded as one of Sri Lanka's most respected cricketers of the evolutionary era, later rose to Match Referee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) after his retirement as an active cricketer in 1999. He started that job in 2004, retiring after officiating at a combined 318 international games across all three formats. There, too, Mahanama was in a situation which had tempted him to retire but he did not speak about it with outsiders.
Both times proved that Mahanama was the same gentleman he always was. His latest parting, having served in the Cricket Technical Advisory Committee for nearly 12 months, came as a surprise.
The committee also includes Aravinda de Silva as its head, and Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan as members, a rare combination of cricketing brains that could help Sri Lanka reach great heights. Their task was to make recommendations to take the game forward, be it domestic or international, player development or structural and technical aspects of the game.
It is known that former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela
Jayawardena, who has earned respect and repute as a coach, having worked across the globe consulting for a few cricket boards, also marked his appearance at TAC meetings as SLC Consultant Coach, a position TAC had wanted him to take up. He is a master tactician. He has played with all TAC members and retired last, next to Sangakkara.
But the TAC didn't stick to the essence of a committee which is to gather opinions, brainstorm ideas and make constructive criticisms before arriving at conclusions. While it is thought Mahanama stepped down as he is connected with the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will be match referee, it's no secret there were bigger reasons for him to call it quits.
Insiders say Mahanama was unhappy of late over certain decisions of the committee which is said to have been gradually overpowered by one person. On certain matters, the head of the committee had adopted the same stance as Mahanama, prompting 'cast of vote' to take a final call. De Silva and Mahanama, being from the previous era, were outnumbered by the three members of the following generation.
This took place more than once--on selecting teams for the ongoing National Super League (NSL) to selecting a foreigner as Sri Lanka's next Head Coach and so on.
Ultimately, it has been proven that NSL is turning out to be a senseless competition and that even the
handpicked foreign coach is not interested in the Head Coach position. Mahanama published an autobiography titled 'Retired Hurt' after his parting as a player in 1999 and in 2015. On his latest parting with the committee, the mature cricketer will likely remain silent, letting time reveal the truth.