Sri Lanka Cricket: Better preparation or downright retaliation?

Sri Lanka Cricket / Frank Gregan / 18 April 2011 /

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Plenty of smiles but all is not rosy in the Sri Lankan garden. One of Tillekaratne's first tasks as captain will be to appease the players recalled early from the IPL.

"It's a dangerous game that the Sri Lankans are playing, as has been pointed out by Muttiah Muralitharan, their former off spinner. He has been reported as saying that with a debt of 25 million dollars to clear after the World Cup the last people the Sri Lankans should be upsetting are the Indians, the box office attraction of the sub continent. "

The Sri Lankan players who are scheduled to tour England have been told they need to leave their IPL teams behind sooner than they thought. Is this to prepare better for English conditions or is there something more sinister, asks Frank Gregan.

Like most sports fans, I find politics about as exciting as an English Minor County Championship match destined for a draw and consequently I always end up voting for the bloke who tells the most lies, he promises more! Politicians get involved in cricket all the time, it appears the sport is always receiving directives from upon high about safety issues and other areas of concern that have nothing to do with life out in the middle.

But this time it seems that the Sri Lankan government are taking an active interest in their squad's preparations for the forthcoming tour against England and have stepped in to make sure that their big names don't step straight off an aircraft and into the first Test at Cardiff, which gets underway on May 26th.

The big upheaval concerns ten of their players contracted to IPL franchises, many of whom are pivotal to their team's chances of success. Initially the Board of Control for Cricket in India had been given assurances from Sri Lanka Cricket that their players would be available up until at least May 20th. That decision has been overturned and all of the players are required to report for the preparatory camp in Colombo on May 5th.

The decision to recall the players was taken by the Sports Minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who personally requested the players return home to prepare with the rest of the squad. Unlike three years ago when an English tour was cancelled by the Sri Lankans because of player dissent, the players are said to be happy to comply this time.

It's a turnaround that will have a big knock on effect for a number of the franchises which have still not given up hope of retaining the players until May 20th. The BCCI are claiming foul play whilst there are rumours that the withdrawal is in retaliation for the poor hospitality the Sri Lankan government VIPs received during the World Cup final in India.

It's a dangerous game that the Sri Lankans are playing, as has been pointed out by Muttiah Muralitharan, their former off spinner. He has been reported as saying that with a debt of 25 million dollars to clear after the World Cup the last people the Sri Lankans should be upsetting are the Indians, the box office attraction of the sub continent.

Despite being in its fourth year the Indian Premier League is the new kid on the block. The ICC's future tour programme is worked out years in advance and the IPL is still having to shoe horn itself into the annual timetable.

This year's tournament has clashed with tours involving Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the West Indies, England and the aforementioned Sri Lankans. The competition is becoming a tiresome train ride with players getting on and off at different stations. Continuity is lacking and as a consequence the product which costs an absolute fortune is devalued and its prestige is being tainted.

There's no way that the tail can wag the dog and the IPL can't dictate the calendar to the ICC but franchises may have to look at signing players who are available for the whole tournament. The problem with that is it once again raises the old club versus country and' sheckles versus patriotism' arguments.

If the Sri Lankans stick to their guns then they will be fresher and better prepared to give England a run for their money in conditions that the tourists have slowly shown signs of coming to terms with. It's time to start planning a strategy with a view to trading once the series gets underway. Once the market forms [7.0] or greater should be available on Sri Lanka to win the series with England around [1.4] and a drawn series at [4.0]. If newly appointed skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan's side make any kind of a start, they will trade much shorter.

As for the Sri Lankan players leaving the IPL early, let's hope the decision was made in the interests of cricket and not as a tit for tat for poorly presented prawn sandwiches!

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