Will more Sangakkaras stand up and be counted?

Silence can often be a conspiracy against justice. Many things stay inaccurate not because the earth is full of bad civilians but because nice men choose not towards get involved. Kumar Sangakkara has done his obligation towards cricket, and Sri Lanka, via elevating his voice against the rot within the country's cricket.

Cricketers possess a obligation towards the toy that expands beyond the performing field. It is a affordable argument that they serve the toy greatest with bat or ball within hand, and that their ability are ill-suited for corporation off the field. But they possess an debt towards be the moral custodians of the game. They possess the affections of the fans, and their voices bring credibility. They can earn a greater difference than they often imagine.

The silence of the leading international cricketers during the match-fixing scandal within 2000 was unedifying and unbecoming. Perhaps they were unsure; possibly they were concerned, but spirit is tested at such times. Those whom spoke up - Steve Waugh and Sourav Ganguly among them - distinguished themselves, but far too a lot big musicians retreated towards their own corners whilst the toy bled.

In modern moments musicians possess spoken their mind towards address personal grievances. Simon Katich spared none vocabulary within slamming the Australian selectors for tumbling him. A pair of his mates sprang towards his side. Paul Collingwood, although not within terms as harsh, remarked what he idea of being plunged from England's limited-over teams as soon as having ruled them towards victory within the World Twenty20. Shahid Afridi took onto the Pakistan Cricket Board as soon as being sacked as captain. And Chris Gayle has launched nothing short of a war onto the West Indies Cricket Board.

Occasionally musicians possess lent their addresses be known onto matters want the Decision Review System or scheduling. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an open critic of the DRS, but otherwise he has his board's cooperation within the matter. Complaints approximately excessive cricket, although, possess been quite muted since the inception of the IPL and subsequently the Champions League.

The most notable criterion of Sangakkara's speech that it was made as soon as he had voluntarily surrendered leadership. It can be contested he was coerced via conditions, but via none fund was he pushed. And the speech wasn't made within haste or within the pique of the moment: he had robbed his moment towards deliberate the contents of it and the necessarily consequences. Even the most cynical evaluation of the happening shall not fruit an ulterior motive. Sangakkara had nothing towards benefit personally from it; whether anything, he was risking penalty - a fine, or worse.

As the toy has grown increasingly ad, cricketers possess located themselves attached via increasingly disciplinary codes. Through the ages, cricketers possess been expected towards be ambassadors for their country and role theories for their fans. But increasingly they are expected towards preserve ad interests many than the values of the sport.

Cricketers are better remunerated than they possess ever been within the history of the toy, and they shouldn't be grudged their abundance, for they are the reason the toy prospers. However, as the bets escalate, so does the temptation towards conform towards the wills of those whom dominate the purse strings. But beliefs should numeral for something. They must.

Governance portrays the biggest exam towards a toy that finds itself at a crossroads. Lack of leadership is palpable. So are scarcity of dream and accountability. Most cricket boards are operate via civilians whom don't genuinely care approximately cricket. Some are ruled via proxy via politicians, a number of are operate via personal agendas, and a number of are plain incompetent. Cricket is within perpetual crisis within the West Indies; the PCB is a joke; Sri Lankan cricket is insolvent and is permanently governed via temporary committees; Cricket South Africa torn via a power competition between the panel and the executive; and the Indian cricket panel, which dominates the biggest share of cricket's riches, cares alone approximately itself.

But whilst it is undisputed that the BCCI imposes its shall onto the toy, the lie down are complicit via their silence. It is simplistic and convenient towards lay everybody the blame for the ailments of the toy at the doors of the BCCI. If the BCCI has hijacked the international cricket timetable it can be alone because the lie down possess performed willing victims.

The reality is that they are everybody chasing the equivalent thing. The IPL is held responsible for subverting the international cricket calendar, but whether they had the wherewithal every cricket panel would possess its own IPL. The England panel bent backwards towards woo Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire already within jail for financial fraud; Cricket Australia is desperate towards earn the Big Bash, the franchise-based Twenty20 tournament, the showpiece happening within its domestic calendar; and cricket boards want those of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh possess merely resigned themselves towards doles from the BCCI.

The obsessive activity of finance and power has drained cricket of its moral voice. Principles numeral for nothing; few dare towards stand up for what is right. The toy needs towards encounter its true leaders.

If they so wish, cricketers can provide that leadership. It's not naïve towards evoke that the toy could encounter its own Arab spring whether Sangakkara's fellow musicians rob his lead. Cricketers mustn't underestimate their own strength. Along with the fans, they are the true owners of the game.

By standing up, Sangakkara has guided courage and honour; but it shall allowance towards nothing whether he is alone. It is for the lie down towards appear that they care. They owe everything towards the game.

Posted in: Cricket News