Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara has joined Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan and Roshan Mahanama in rejecting an invitation to advise Sri Lanka Cricket as consultant.
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Faiszer Mushtapha, Sangakkara highlighted the need to change the SLC constitution and Sports law to find a long lasting solution.
Full Text of his letter:
“I am respectfully declining the same in light of my past experiences serving on a similar committee under the invitation of the former Minister of Sports. I spent over 6 months on that particular advisory committee and found it to be an abject waste of time as none of our recommendations were implemented or heeded,
Although it may seem unfair to judge your invitation to be of a similar vein and intent to the one mentioned above, please excuse me if I view it with a sense of scepticism. I firmly believe that what is needed for SLC is not temporary band-aids and short term quick fixes, but lasting and permanent change”.
There are many cricketers and administrators with genuine intentions that will not come forward with their time, efforts and ideas as time and time again they feel they have been taken advantage of and used as pawns to buy time for political manoeuvring.
If you, Sir, are able to establish genuine bona fides and harness the support and commitment of H. E. The President of Sri Lanka, the Hon. Prime Minister and all other relevant public officials to make the required revisions, changes and amendments to the constitution of SLC and to the Sports Law, I am sure that you will receive the full co-operation of myself, the larger cricketing fraternity, and the public.
I would like to once again thank you, Sir, for your thoughts and this invitation and I wish you all success.
Earlier Jayawardene, Muralitharan and Mahanama expressed similar sentiments and refused to work. Aravinda de Silva is yet to accept or refuse the offer.