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[caption id="attachment_51503" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Pay Disputes and retirement of star players have been a major reason for the downfall of the Sri Lankan cricket.
Pic Courtesy: twitter[/caption] Debasis Sen, Colombo: It’s been 10 days since the Indian players arrived here in the emerald isle to take part in the bi-lateral series. But the quality of cricket on display in the first test at Galle has led to the question as to why the country’s performances have dropped. A country which has produced such outstanding cricketers like Roy Dias, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Rantaunga, Murali Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawerdene, Kumar Sangakkara is now struggling to unearth talents. The contrasting difference in the standards of both the teams is clearly visible between the two sides in this series so far. Retirement of star players: It has left a huge vacuum in Sri Lanka cricket post the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawerdene. The retirement of the duo has hit Sri Lanka cricket big time. It is true that the team is yet to find a duo to fill in the shoes of the two legends. Legends come and go but a team should always be on the move. But the influence of the two on Sri Lankan cricket has been so huge that it is taking a way too long to get someone to at least match them.   The lack of talents is a myth: Ever since arriving in this country this has been a common quote from the ex-cricketers, administrators, selectors and common man. There is a serious dearth of talent in Sri Lankan cricket. Despite possessing the weakest domestic structure, the truth is that, at the risk of sounding sensational, there is talent wherever you trip and stumble. But whither talent, if they cannot be utilized properly?   Pay dispute: According to former cricketers, administrators are making many blunders in running the game here. The SLC has halved the national team’s salary recently, while reducing the salaries of the local players by 75%, citing lack of money. This will make the players prone to corruption at all levels, and the domestic players may even quit the game.   Killing club cricket: Cricket here in the emerald isle has thrived on the club cricket structure. The stars of yesteryears have all emerged from the club cricket structure. But the present administrators who are running the show are focusing more on inter-provincial cricket, irrespective of those provinces having the teams or the infrastructure to sustain themselves in the game. In the process, they’re killing inter-club cricket, which was the base of Lankan cricket. Once a cricketer would pass out of his school, it were the clubs would take care of him financially, and even provide him with a job   Former cricketers given no freedom to work: Former cricketers like Sanath Jaysurya, Chaminda Vaas, Asanka Gurusinha, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Eric Upasantha have all been given various posts by Sri Lanka Cricket to take its game forward. But teh actual truth is they are not given the freedom to work. It is just an eye wash as they have been appointed there to pass on the buck, in case we lose. They need to be given complete freedom to work, which is currently missing. Their hands are tied.   Coach selection: There were many eyebrows raised when Nick Pothas was named as the fielding coach of the Lankan team initially, but after working for a few months  he was ‘shifted’ to the Under-19 team. However, Pothas was again ‘promoted’ to the senior team, and suddenly, when Graham Ford quit as the coach recently, he was made the head coach the team, when he clearly isn’t good enough for the job.