Cricket - What a farce? Mahela has to reprimand SLC and in turn he is reprimanded

In the typical fashion of how things are done in this Country, when one is the injured party and he reprimands those who injured him, they in turn throw the book at him.

This is exactly what happened to Mahela Jayawardena this past week. It is totally unacceptable to be threatened and bullied in this way.

Written into the players and manager’s contract is a clause that says, that they are not permitted to speak to the Media or make a statement to the Media, without express authority of the SLC which employs them, and pays their wages, according to the contract the players sign with the SLC. In fact after a disciplinary hearing they can fine a player or worse, sack a player for making remarks to the press, whether favorable or unfavorable is beside the point.

So when Mahela had sent a letter to the SLC requesting that all minor staff also receive some part of the money that was payable to the players, duly authorized by all the players concerned, this letter was leaked to the press. As it was a letter to SLC from Mahela, it can ONLY be SLC that leaked it or someone within SLC. So SLC MUST take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for it.

He therefore has the right to place on record, this time by writing to the Daily Mirror which published the leaked document, what he felt about this leak. By doing so he fell foul of the contract that he signed, and SLC lawyers may have advised the SLC of the legal grounds to hold Mahela accountable.

SLC on the other hand has announced that he was in violation of his contract with the SLC and will hold an enquiry to determine what action to take on this matter if at all. That to me is tantamount to revenge harassment and intimidation of the Captain of the Sri Lanka Cricket Team that is playing a Test and One Day series in Australia at present. This is unnecessary pressure at this crucial juncture. It can affect his performance and Sri Lanka’s ability to defeat Australia.

SLC by so acting in this rather belligerent manner, when their faults are pointed out, is doing a grave injustice to the game of cricket, and to the Sri Lankan Cricket in particular. I implore the SLC to immediately make a statement dropping the case and bowing out of the issue gracefully.