E Rodrigopulle: Comment on the Singer Tourney (6 Jul 1996)

6 August 1996

Sports Comment

By Elmo Rodrigopulle

Pity the poor Australian Cricket Board! Apparently they are broke. If this is not so how can one explain their demand to the local Cricket Board to double their guarantee money if they are to play in the Singer four-nation cricket tourney from August 27 to September 8 in Sri Lanka.

The Australians, including the other participants India, Zimbabwe and host country Sri Lanka were to be paid US dollars 135,000 as guarantee money and this was agreed upon.

Now, this is a staggering amount but apparently the Australians don`t think so. What one can guess is that they are broke and so the request to double the guarantee money.

But to the knowledgeable the Aussie request runs deeper than their being broke. This unjust request has taken the sponsors, the Cricket Board and the cricketing public by surprise.

Above all it is the sponsors Singer who must be doubly upset. They have pumped in a tremendous amount of money for this tourney from the previous one, because they want to make it the showpiece of cricket.

Probably the Aussies are trying to play on the benevolence of the sponsors. But for the sponsors, the Cricket Board and the cricketing public enough is enough.

The Executive Committee of the CB must be congratulated for not trying to bend backwards to satisfy the Aussies. That they have told the Aussies that the original agreement stands and nothing more would be given is a big score for the CB. We are sure the Aussies have got the message.

It is apparent that to the Aussies, it is the money that counts and not the game. This is sad when one thinks of the Aussies` chequered history in the game in the past. Why must the Aussies be so avaricious?

The adage: Be a sport, does not seem to hold water for the Aussies. In fact by `baying for the moon` the Aussies are indicating that they are keen to skip the tournament. Asking for the impossible apparently is the Aussie way of playing it.

The Aussies seem to be more spoilsports than sports. Early in the year they tried to derail Sri Lanka`s part of the World Cup by making lame excuses and dodging their match here.

But the Sri Lankans who are true sports played up, played up and played the game. How they made the Aussies look hopeless and helpless opponents in the World Cup final thrashing them without raising a sweat and leaving an indelible scar on the Aussie game! Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga summed it all up when he said that the Aussies are an overrated side.

What the sponsors Singer and the Cricket Board must now do is to tell the Aussies to go fly a kite if they cannot accept what the other three countries have agreed to and play a three-nation tournament.

After all the Aussies are only just another team.

Cricket fans in their places of work who are unable to watch the Pakistan-England series on TV have been afforded some action as Roshan Abeysinghe the cricket expert at YES FM radio is doing a wonderful job in describing the action.

Abeysinghe who has been a cricketer knows what he is talking about and his description of the game is keenly looked forward to by all cricket fans.

Abeysinghe describes the action every hour.

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