Three senior Sri Lankan players reflect on the damage done by the South African pull out

Dileep Premachandran in Colombo20-Aug-2006

‘By deciding to pack up and leave, South Africahave put Sri Lanka as a dangerous place on the cricketing map’ © Getty Images
Three days after the South Africans upped and left Sri Lanka, their hostsstill nurse feelings of anger and injustice. At a press conferenceon Sunday evening, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara andChaminda Vaas, three of the team’s most senior players, expressed theirdisappointment at the decision, saying that it had plunged Sri Lankancricket into disarray.The bomb blast that killed seven put paid to South Africa’s participationin the tri-series, and Sri Lanka Cricket’s plight has since worsened withendless showers decimating the planned three-match series against theIndians. When Murali was asked how the events of the past week hadaffected the team, he said: “It has been very hard, it has never been likethis before. It was unfortunate that South Africa decided to go like thatwithout considering the future of Sri Lankan cricket.”We are heavily dependent on the revenues that come out of hostinginternational games, and by deciding to pack up and leave, South Africahave put Sri Lanka as a dangerous place on the cricketing map. It wouldhave been nice if we could have played India and showed that cricket canbe played in Sri Lanka, it is not a dangerous place, but the weather hasdeprived us of that as well.”Sangakkara, the most articulate of the Sri Lankan players added his twobits. “Our cricket board and our government offered the South Africans thebest security cover possible, but it was their choice to go home. We arestill keen to play cricket, India are still keen to play cricket. If theIndians are happy to play here, then I am in no position to comment on whySouth Africa did not feel safe in Colombo. It was supposed to be atri-series, and two sides are still here and have decided to stay on andplay cricket.”He expressed the view that Asia has been a volatile place for the past fewyears, but that the local population had learnt to deal with it and get onwith their lives. “The Asian psyche is more resilient, we are tougherpeople,” said Sangakkara. “But then, there are tensions all around theworld. The countries that believed they were always safe are under threatnow. Sport has almost always transcended political and other tensions. Itis important that life goes on as normal.”We saw that in England recently when, despite the threats, Pakistandecided to stay on and play cricket. In this region, security has been abit of a concern. We saw that during the 1996 World Cup when some teamsdecided to not come here and play. But then, the whole of Asia joinedhands and showed solidarity. We had a joint Asian team come here to playSri Lanka and show everyone that Sri Lanka is a safe place. At the end ofthe day, sport and life must always go on. Cricket is an integral part ofthe psyche of people in this part of the world, and sport must always comeout on top.”Vaas merely opined that “what they have done is wrong, it is not good forSri Lankan cricket” and it was left to Murali to further emphasise whatSangakkara had said. “The mentality of a lot of sides is such that theythink Europe and other countries are safe, but not Asia,” he said. “It isdifficult to see how we can change that. It is an unfair decision thatpeople take when it comes to our countries. The issue will now be handledby the boards and the ICC. We are just here to play cricket, and we arefirm in our belief that whatever happened here is not good for cricket.”He insisted, however, that there would be no hard feelings or any extraneedle when South Africa and Sri Lanka next clashed on a cricket field. “Idon’t see any scope for that,” he said. “As cricketers, we get along wellwith one another, we are all friends. We will continue to play the game inthe best spirit. It is their decision and I can’t speak for them. All Ican say is that there will be no problems in future.”