Minister of Petroleum Resources Development and former Sri Lanka cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga said he was “totally disappointed” with ICC’s anti corruption unit declaring that it was a “toothless tiger”.
Currently a government Minister, Ranatunga made these remarks at a press conference at his Ministry of Petroleum in Dematagoda over the pitch-tampering incident.
“I knew only horse racing was about betting, but nowadays cricket has also become a betting culture in cricket”, Ranatunga said.
“When we make pitches we have to make it to suit our home advantage. That is the case everywhere whether in Australia, England or India. But now what is happening is that officials are involved in tampering pitches for financial gains. All these officials who are involved in the gambling industry are directly or indirectly involved and they get away. Only the ‘small fish’ are caught,” he said.
Ranatunga said that cricket will be the biggest loser and many followers of the sport have lost interest as “unwanted people” are running Sri Lanka Cricket.
“They only punish the small fish, not the person who is involved. The president of Chilaw Marians, Godfrey Dabare, is the Sri Lanka Cricket curator (for all venues) but he appears to be safe as he is a good friend of SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala. As far as I know Godfrey knows nothing about pitches but has got the job because he is Thilanga’s friend,” said Ranatunga.
“Ultimately all these small fish get caught and the big fish escape. That has been the pattern even in cricket when it comes to match fixing or spot fixing. Ultimately may be one or two players will get caught, but the people who initiate the deal get away.
“I’m so disappointment that the ICC anti corruption unit can’t see what is happening in Sri Lanka. I’m not criticizing my country, but they (ICC) can’t see the people who run cricket in this country are directly or indirectly involved in gambling. If they (ICC) can’t find out they should not sit on the anti corruption unit. Sometimes the ICC behaves like a toothless tiger, they shout but nothing happens. The ICC needs to take a big step in this incident,” Ranatunga further stated.
“I think they (ICC) have not used some of their powers and I think that is one reason cricket has gone down very badly in the past so many years and they need to take a lot of decisions. The ICC is also like our own government. They take decisions after everything is over.”
Ranatunga further said that the Minister of Sports has been given some powers to manage sports in Sri Lanka and as a lawyer the people can on only hope that he (Minister) will do a good job.
Ranatunga said that the school cricket structure has totally collapsed due to mismanagement of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“SLC is not supporting school cricket because there are nearly 500 schools unlike in the case of clubs which are less in number and have the same number of votes (two).
“I also heard that Asanka Gurusinha who is the team manager is now representing the country at ICC meetings as an official. This only reveals how the current president has mismanaged Sri Lanka Cricket,” Ranatunga concluded.
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