ARJUNA_CRICKET_POLITICS_22MAR1996

Ranatunga Prefers Cricket To Politics

By DION SCHOORMAN

The victorious Sri Lanka cricket captain Arjuna ranatunga said he is quite happy playing cricket and his politician father likes watching him playing. He said so at a news conference when asked whether he would take to politics like his father.

Ranatunga`s father, Reggie Ranatunga, is a member of parliament for the ruling Peoples Alliance party.

Ranatunga also insisted his team was not affected by the large amount of money and gifts they had received after winning the World Cup on Sunday by beating Ausralia in the final in Lahore, Pakistan.

"All monies received by us will be pooled and divided equally among the 14 members of our squad,`` he said.

"That has always been the way we acted in the past and that practice will continue.``

Enjoying one of the finest periods in their history, the Sri Lankans rose from the ranks of minnows of cricket to World champions by clinching one-day cricket`s most prestigious prize in emphatic style.

In a true life rags-to-riches fairy tale, the Sri Lankans one of the poorest teams now find themselves with an embarrassment of riches as wellwishers and private sector companies shower them with gifts.

The Sri Lankans plan to try to maintain the momentum of their greatest triumph and extend their prowess to the test arena as well. They launched a special fundraising programme -- Cricket Fund 2000 -- earlier in the year to generate much needed funds towards making Sri Lanka the best cricketing nation by the year 2000.

At that time the idea appeared fanciful but the World Cup triumph has changed that thinking.

Ana Punchihewa, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, said he hoped to introduce professionalism into the game here and hoped to use some of the funds they received to have players on contract.

"We would like to have about 15-20 players contracted to the Board and they will be paid like in other countries,`` he said.

Source:: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)