According to a leading media report,The player agents’ influence in Sri Lanka cricket has taken an ugly twist. The hot talking point is that three agents including a foreigner and two locals are minting millions of rupees from national cricketers while influencing selections of their favourites.Manipulating players to play in the IPL tournament thereby distracting them from giving priority to their national commitments is public enemy No.1. The state of affairs is said to have gone from bad to worse. These agents have gone to the extent of signing up under-19 schoolboys and club players. The biggest culprit is said to be a foreigner running a cricket website.
It is understood that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is helpless to check the agent’s influence over players. The President of SLC, Upali Dharmadasa says, “Opting for whatever managers is solely the prerogative of the players which the cricket board cannot stop.”
It is understood that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is helpless to check the agent’s influence over players. The President of SLC, Upali Dharmadasa says, “Opting for whatever managers is solely the prerogative of the players which the cricket board cannot stop.”
Meanwhile, the ever-growing influence of agents controlling the affairs of cricketers has run into rounded criticism by former World Cup winning Sri Lanka captain, Arjuna Ranatunga.
Agents’ money-making lust
“Agents controlling players has become a huge business here. They are making millions of rupees by manipulating players. The worst anti-national act by them is their monopoly over players to give first priority to the IPL instead of national commitments. We can see that from past occurrences like how when Mahela Jayawardene first captained Sri Lanka they kicked the opportunity to play Test cricket in England in preference to participating in the IPL.”
Ranatunga alleged that the agent influence had progressively eroded player values given the taste of money while representing the country became secondary. “Values have deteriorated to the extent of a player being even induced to feature in a toilet advertisement. But I blame the sports minister and the government for permitting such things to happen. They don’t have the backbone to stop it,” Ranatunga claimed. He pointed out that abroad, the player-agent relationship was quite the opposite where the manager essentially looked after the player’s interests.
“Agents controlling players has become a huge business here. They are making millions of rupees by manipulating players. The worst anti-national act by them is their monopoly over players to give first priority to the IPL instead of national commitments. We can see that from past occurrences like how when Mahela Jayawardene first captained Sri Lanka they kicked the opportunity to play Test cricket in England in preference to participating in the IPL.”
Ranatunga alleged that the agent influence had progressively eroded player values given the taste of money while representing the country became secondary. “Values have deteriorated to the extent of a player being even induced to feature in a toilet advertisement. But I blame the sports minister and the government for permitting such things to happen. They don’t have the backbone to stop it,” Ranatunga claimed. He pointed out that abroad, the player-agent relationship was quite the opposite where the manager essentially looked after the player’s interests.
Another dark cloud in the player-agent business is that a cricket commentator, Roshan Abeysinghe, who is also the manager of several Sri Lanka, club, school players and manager of Ragama CC together with Ravi Perera, a club manager are glaringly flouting the SLC regulations by breaking their contracts with the board by being player agents apart from their official duties.
Asked as to what stand SLC had taken over this blatant conflict of interests, the SLC President said that a unanimous decision had been taken by the executive committee recently to ask these commentators to choose one of the two professions.
“I am coming down hard on them. We have informed them in writing that they can’t serve SLC if they are going to continue as player managers. They have to select one of the two,” said Dharmadasa while adding that one of them whom he declined to name had asked for three month’s time to fall in line.
However, Ranatunga, reacting to this said that still things had not changed with these commentators continuing to flout their contracts by performing two jobs.
However, Ranatunga, reacting to this said that still things had not changed with these commentators continuing to flout their contracts by performing two jobs.
Meanwhile, Sports Minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, responding to Ranatunga’s allegations, admitted that player agents were doing great harm to the country’s cricket.
But he insisted that he was watching the situation and that he would put a stop to this malice in the next three months.
“It is true the player agents, including a foreigner who has vested interests in Sri Lanka running a cricket website, enjoy a monopoly making big money particularly by luring players to the IPL. I am closely monitoring them and will definitely put a full stop to this national calamity in the next three months,” promised the minister.
He elaborated that he had already set up a committee headed by SLC Secretary, Nishantha Ranatunga, and also comprising chairman of selectors, Asantha de Mel and some outsiders as well to look into this issue and also the entire cricketing structure in the country so as to go for a total restructuring.
But he insisted that he was watching the situation and that he would put a stop to this malice in the next three months.
“It is true the player agents, including a foreigner who has vested interests in Sri Lanka running a cricket website, enjoy a monopoly making big money particularly by luring players to the IPL. I am closely monitoring them and will definitely put a full stop to this national calamity in the next three months,” promised the minister.
He elaborated that he had already set up a committee headed by SLC Secretary, Nishantha Ranatunga, and also comprising chairman of selectors, Asantha de Mel and some outsiders as well to look into this issue and also the entire cricketing structure in the country so as to go for a total restructuring.
“I’m aware of all the wrongs that are happening in our cricket. In the past we did not have such a situation. But after we won the World Cup things have changed with people coming into the past administrations with vested interests,” Aluthgamage observed.
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