Sri Lanka manager reacts angrily to false allegations

Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Shaffter reacted angrily on Sunday to media reports that he had been sacked following a disagreement with the chairman of the selectors.

According to reports, Shaffter, 72, was unceremoniously dumped following a complaint by Guy de Alwis, the chairman of the selectors, to the Sri Lankan cricket board hierarchy that he'd been refused entry to the players' dressing room at the Edgbaston Test.

This is vigorously denied by Shaffter: "It's totally false. Guy de Alwis never requested entry to the dressing room. Had he done so then I would naturally have provided permission, as I did to the chairman of the interim committee, who was also at the game."

"I spoke to Guy de Alwis this morning and he was very apologetic, saying that he had never said such a thing, claiming it to be a total fabrication. He will be issuing a rebuttal shortly."

Indeed, De Alwis, when contacted at his Colombo home on Sunday evening, appeared to be equally infuriated by the allegations, claiming "there was no truth at all in the statements that have been made."

Shaffter points out that he was not sacked per se, but had simply been told that his contract would not be renewed on Saturday morning by Anura Tennekoon, the chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL).

"I was originally asked to serve until the 2003 World Cup, but I preferred a contract only until the end of the England tour, after which I would look it again, taking into account my business and family commitments. The BCCSL would also then have an opportunity to decide whether they wanted me for a longer term," says Shaffter.

On Saturday morning: "The BCCSL informed me that they would not renew the contract and they are perfectly entitled to do that - they haven't done anything wrong by me. To claim it was a sacking is inaccurate."

Not that he's been surprised by the negative spin put on the BCCSL's decision, which was leaked to the media on Saturday night: "I suppose that is what my detractors were trying to achieve, making out that I had been sacked when actually my contract had simply not been renewed. It is annoying but not surprising - it's in keeping with past conduct towards me and I rather expected it."

Indeed, in October 1999, during his last stint as the team manager, he was even more bizarrely dismissed: "Two days before we were about to depart for Zimbabwe, I was sacked on the grounds that I was a terrorist, working with the LTTE."

Because of the political nature of cricket appointments in Sri Lanka, Shaffter never looked likely to have his contract renewed after wholesale resignations from the cricket board early on in the England tour.

And, sure enough, it wasn't long before he had his knuckles rapped, BCCSL officials complaining that he'd acted without proper authority when allowing two non-members of the tour party to play against Glamorgan.

He also had a frosty relationship with the media, both in Sri Lanka and England, over his reluctance to allow the press access to the players - a sure way of making enemies.

Some of the attacks appeared political, such as criticism in some sections of the Sri Lankan media for his decision to fine Chaminda Vaas, for letting a masseur stay overnight in his hotel room, on the morning of a triangular final at Sharjah - a decision, it was argued, that undermined team spirit and contributed to the team's dire performance.

Shaffter is unsure as to the exact reasons for his contract not being renewed: "They didn't provide any reason for their decision, but in fairness to them I don't think they have to give me any reasons and I certainly wasn't going to ask."

No official BCCSL release has been issued to the media.

He will remain on for the Natwest triangular series before returning to take charge of his business, Janashakthi Insurance, a leading insurance company in Sri Lanka.