Ranatunga - No Ill-Feeling Among the Players On Tour (24 Nov 1996)

24 November 1996

No ill-feeling among the players on tour: Arjuna Ranatunga

By Lal Gunesekera

Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga said that he was quite used to winning as well as losing and taking criticism. `Our team is like a family and one or two people are trying to destroy it. Our am- bition is to give off 100 per cent in playing for our country,`` Ranatunga said at a press briefing convened by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board at its headquarters on Friday night to dispel rumours and so-called controversies on the recent tour of Sharjah.

Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the final of the Singer Champions Trophy.

The president of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, Upali Dharmadasa, said that they (the board), were negotiating with four persons to take over as Sri Lanka`s coach. He said: ``It`s not correct for me to disclose their names when negotiations are under way, but all I can say is they are a mixed bag. We will finalise everything within the next couple of months, as the tour to New Zealand starts on February 25. The appointment will be made in January``.

Former Australian cricketer, Sri Lanka born Dav Whatmore, who was Sri Lanka`s coach, left for Australia on Friday morning before taking up his appointment as coach of Lancashire in the English county championship.

Dharmadasa also said that Sri Lanka`s record since winning the World Cup at Lahore earlier this year, was much better than some other countries who had won it earlier. Where Sri Lanka were concerned, he said that they had figured in 15 one-day internationals and won nine, lost five and drew one.

Sri Lanka`s manager, Duleep Mendis said that his team lost in Sharjah due to bad batting, and that was the main reason why Mavan Atapattu had to be flown from Colombo to Sharjah as a replacement for the injured Kumara Dharmasena. He said: ``We felt we needed a batsman.``

Dharmadasa further said that he had received a statement from Roshan Mahanama to say that he never contacted Colombo from Sharjah when he was dropped from the first game against New Zealand and had never said that he was contemplating returning to Sri Lanka.

Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga said that it was the team management (manager, cricket manager, captain and vice-captain) that took decisions regarding the selections on tour and that there was no ill-feeling at all among the players when Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinha were left out for certain games.

On Gurusinha`s selection for Sri Lanka`s tour of New Zealand in February next year (1997), Duleep Mendis, said that the selectors had decided that if a cricketer is playing in a No. 1 league (county cricket etc) that they have to return to Sri Lanka at least two weeks before departure on a tour, and in any other league, that they must come back to Sri Lanka at least four to five weeks before a tour starts.

Gurusinha left for Australia last Tuesday (November 19) where he has been contracted to play as captain cum coach for the next two years too for North Melbourne in district cricket (not classified as No. 1 league). The season is scheduled to end in mid-March next year (1997) and Gurusinha has already missed six games. There are eight or nine games remaining in these two-day matches.

Gurusinha has informed the Sri Lanka Cricket Board that he is available for the tour to New Zealand and that he would join the team in New Zealand.

Mendis, speaking further on this matter, said: ``We must make sure that our cricketers are at their best before undertaking any tour, particularly for a Test series. Aravinda de Silva`s case was different and it was an emergency when he was asked to fly to Pakistan for the second Test onwards last year (1995) when he was playing for Kent in the English county championship. When Aravinda`s contract was signed, the Pakistan tour was not on the card.``

Upali Dharmadasa commenting on the 10 Sri Lanka Cricket Board officials who went to Sharjah said that six invitations for the officials were received. Together with him (Dharmadasa), the others who were in Sharjah were Thilanga Sumathipala (a vicepresident), Dhammika Ranatunga (chief executive), Triphone Miranda (secretary), Ajit Abeygunawardene (assistant secretary) and Tissa Gunaratne (administrative secretary), while five others including K. M. Nelson and Nihal Leuke went at their own expense.

``One of our vice-presidents, Harendra Dunuwila, was in Sri Lanka, together with 16 other executive committee members. On my return to Colombo from Sharjah, I found that the affairs of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board had run smoothly and everything had gone off well,`` added Upali Dharmadasa.

Dhammika Ranatunga, chief executive of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, said: ``We knew after the second game with Pakistan that we had not qualified for the final. However, ICC Match Referee, Mike Smith`s decision was awaited and his (Smith`s) reversed decision stating New Zealand had qualified for the final with Pakistan, we felt was correct. This was made after discussions Smith had on the phone with ICC chief executive David Richards.``

Among the others who were present at Friday`s briefing were Thilanga Sumathipala (vice-president) and Triphone Miranda (secretary).

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