By Revatha S. Silva
[caption id="attachment_146087" align="alignleft" width="357"]
The 29-second video made one startling revelation yesterday (28): Why the Sri Lankan cricket team is failing so miserably in matches in recent times. Here is Niroshan Dickwella (on left) and Kusal Mendis “sharing a steady partnership” on Sunday night in Durham, a day before the start of their ODI series[/caption]
In the 1967 Robert Aldrich war classic “Dirty Dozen”, there were 12 prisoners who were sent in as commandos on a secret suicide mission. The story that rocked the entire cricket world yesterday (28) was not one of a dirty dozen but a “dirty trio” --Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, and Danushka Gunathilaka-- and their mission had been somewhat different: Demolishing Sri Lanka’s cricket image irreparably.
The three were suspended from all cricket and recalled to Sri Lanka immediately from England yesterday by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) mainly for violating the bio-security protocols of the team, a day before the start of their three-match ODI series against the home country. The three had already left London last night and are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today.
It was only on Saturday (26), a day before this disciplinary upheaval, that they had caused mayhem among Sri Lanka cricket fans by perhaps the worst-ever on-field display by a Sri Lanka team in recent history.
And this is not the first time the three players had made a mockery of national cricket’s image and reputation. Yet, visibly, after six matches against India, they may be back, and not at least a single cricket follower in this country, now fed up to the limit with their similar off-field antics and on-field blunders, is going to believe that this would be the end of it.
Will they be allowed to be playing for Sri Lanka in the next World Cup too, after their proposed inquiry?
How would be in normal circumstances
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Was Sri Lanka Manager Manuja Kariyapperuma sleeping when players went out of their hotel, breaching their bio-secure bubble?[/caption]
The flabbergasted cricket fans woke up on Monday to find out how Mendis tried to smoke a cigarette in an England city with Dickwella by his side. In the other video clip, Gunathilaka was seen with the former two, walking visibly on a pavement eating something.
This cannot be the first time that they have behaved in this manner in the open, whilst on tour. If this is the kind of frivolous and irresponsible nature that they behave while wearing the national jersey, even after such an alarming defeat and amidst a pandemic and in a city under heavy Covid-19 restrictions, we can easily imagine how they would have behaved during previous tours under normal circumstances.
It is only the other day that the most ardent cricket fans in the island had begun a quick social media campaign #unfollowcricketers, after Saturday’s “debacle of the debacles”. It seemed “the dirty trio” would have only wanted to expedite the new campaign!
SLC’s statement
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Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa’s reaction on Tweet yesterday (28)[/caption]
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to inform that Vice Captain Kusal Mendis, wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella, and batsman Danushka Gunathilaka will be flown back to Sri Lanka with immediate effect.
“This decision was taken following a preliminary inquiry conducted over a video posted on social media in which the said three players can be seen outside their designated hotel.
“The decision to recall the players was taken by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, based on the ‘Manager’s Report’ on the matter.
“The three players will be suspended from all forms of cricket until the completion of the inquiry,” said SLC in a media release issued around 4.30 p.m. yesterday.
What did really happen?
Where were the three players actually going in the middle of the night in Durham where they were going to begin the ODI leg of the England tour today? Did they innocently come out of their team hotel to just have smoke at around 11.30 p.m.?
The Morning Sports reliably understands that there is more to the story. The three had allegedly been warned by another section of the team before they had left the hotel but the three had rubbished their warning.
As published many times in these spaces, drunk-driving, night club escapades, and all sorts of other misbehaviour had been part and parcel of their whole national career. It had been an open secret. Could Saturday’s incident be another such occasion where the trio had tried to tread that usual path?
The authorities need to make note of whether the three are going to get their act together in future at least. If not, it will be a bad precedence to the young ones who are to play for Sri Lanka in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJ5gYTzYU4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qy2ngkEYv8
The 29-second video made one startling revelation yesterday (28): Why the Sri Lankan cricket team is failing so miserably in matches in recent times. Here is Niroshan Dickwella (on left) and Kusal Mendis “sharing a steady partnership” on Sunday night in Durham, a day before the start of their ODI series[/caption]
In the 1967 Robert Aldrich war classic “Dirty Dozen”, there were 12 prisoners who were sent in as commandos on a secret suicide mission. The story that rocked the entire cricket world yesterday (28) was not one of a dirty dozen but a “dirty trio” --Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, and Danushka Gunathilaka-- and their mission had been somewhat different: Demolishing Sri Lanka’s cricket image irreparably.
The three were suspended from all cricket and recalled to Sri Lanka immediately from England yesterday by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) mainly for violating the bio-security protocols of the team, a day before the start of their three-match ODI series against the home country. The three had already left London last night and are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today.
It was only on Saturday (26), a day before this disciplinary upheaval, that they had caused mayhem among Sri Lanka cricket fans by perhaps the worst-ever on-field display by a Sri Lanka team in recent history.
And this is not the first time the three players had made a mockery of national cricket’s image and reputation. Yet, visibly, after six matches against India, they may be back, and not at least a single cricket follower in this country, now fed up to the limit with their similar off-field antics and on-field blunders, is going to believe that this would be the end of it.
Will they be allowed to be playing for Sri Lanka in the next World Cup too, after their proposed inquiry?
How would be in normal circumstances
[caption id="attachment_146089" align="alignleft" width="356"] Was Sri Lanka Manager Manuja Kariyapperuma sleeping when players went out of their hotel, breaching their bio-secure bubble?[/caption]
The flabbergasted cricket fans woke up on Monday to find out how Mendis tried to smoke a cigarette in an England city with Dickwella by his side. In the other video clip, Gunathilaka was seen with the former two, walking visibly on a pavement eating something.
This cannot be the first time that they have behaved in this manner in the open, whilst on tour. If this is the kind of frivolous and irresponsible nature that they behave while wearing the national jersey, even after such an alarming defeat and amidst a pandemic and in a city under heavy Covid-19 restrictions, we can easily imagine how they would have behaved during previous tours under normal circumstances.
It is only the other day that the most ardent cricket fans in the island had begun a quick social media campaign #unfollowcricketers, after Saturday’s “debacle of the debacles”. It seemed “the dirty trio” would have only wanted to expedite the new campaign!
SLC’s statement
[caption id="attachment_146088" align="alignleft" width="355"] Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa’s reaction on Tweet yesterday (28)[/caption]
“Sri Lanka Cricket wishes to inform that Vice Captain Kusal Mendis, wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella, and batsman Danushka Gunathilaka will be flown back to Sri Lanka with immediate effect.
“This decision was taken following a preliminary inquiry conducted over a video posted on social media in which the said three players can be seen outside their designated hotel.
“The decision to recall the players was taken by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, based on the ‘Manager’s Report’ on the matter.
“The three players will be suspended from all forms of cricket until the completion of the inquiry,” said SLC in a media release issued around 4.30 p.m. yesterday.
What did really happen?
Where were the three players actually going in the middle of the night in Durham where they were going to begin the ODI leg of the England tour today? Did they innocently come out of their team hotel to just have smoke at around 11.30 p.m.?
The Morning Sports reliably understands that there is more to the story. The three had allegedly been warned by another section of the team before they had left the hotel but the three had rubbished their warning.
As published many times in these spaces, drunk-driving, night club escapades, and all sorts of other misbehaviour had been part and parcel of their whole national career. It had been an open secret. Could Saturday’s incident be another such occasion where the trio had tried to tread that usual path?
The authorities need to make note of whether the three are going to get their act together in future at least. If not, it will be a bad precedence to the young ones who are to play for Sri Lanka in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npJ5gYTzYU4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qy2ngkEYv8