In good times and in bad.... (15 June 1999)

15 June 1999

In good times and in bad....

Athula Senanayake

As the cricketers and the authorities get lampooned from all directions, I think it is only fair that some consideration is given to the following -

It was virtually this team that won us the World Cup in 1996, a feat that we had not dreamt of before that tournament. Remember also the various tournament victories and the tremendous tour of England last year. They put us on the map and made those sooty cricket pundits twist their tongues around their surnames. The cricketing world for once knew that we could not be ignored and granted us immeasurable amounts of publicity at a time when Sri Lanka was in dire need of a positive image.

So they played badly and perhaps without much conviction - but do we have the right to expect perfection at all times? How easily we sit in judgement as they faced teams that were obviously superior - yes, it can happen. I, having had impetuously travelled to see all the matches and therefore perhaps more justified than others in complaining, feel that whilst we had good reason to be disappointed, a witch-hunt of huge proportions is surely counter-productive. What we need is a quiet assessment of what the corrective measures should be.

So spare a thought for the cricketers and their families - let us try to remember the better times and work towards regaining the lost prestige. By all means remove the unsuitable but let us not make unfounded personal attacks on them or humiliate them by sending them out through VIP lounges and getting them back through the regular channels - they should always have gone and returned through the regular one.

A Sri Lankan cricket supporter must be exactly that - in good times and in bad. Show tem that their achievements of the past, which stunned the world, are not forgotten.

Source :: The Daily News