“I hope cricketing warriors of Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Mahela fame would reemerge to win another world cup,” Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage
By Srian Obeyesekere
Sri Lanka Cricket’s red letter day opening of the State of the Art swimming pool coming under the gamut of the high performance center at Khettarama’s R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium complex yesterday in optimising cricketer training facilities did highlight the great volume of work carried out by the Shammi Silva led administration echoed by the welcome keynote address by SLC Treasurer Sujeewa Godaliyadda commenting at length as to the overflowing funding aimed at propagating and developing the game of cricket from the grassroots level stretching to generously financing other sports as well as funding the national sports fund to other needy State health institutions which was followed by the Sports Minister, Sunil Kumara Gamage expressing hope that Sri Lanka would again produce warrior players of the Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara-Mahela Jayewardene eras to winning another world cup.
The opening of the State of the Art swimming pool by Sports Minister Gamage followed the colorful opening ceremony serenaded by a cultural display by a fleet of Kandyan drummers soon after he was welcomed by the President of SLC, Shammi Silva including other officials Vice Presidents Ravin Wickramaratne, Jayantha Dharmadasa, Treasurer, Sujeewa Godaliyadda, Chief Executive Officer, Ashley de Silva, and Manager Administration, Aruna de Silva and Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya with national players mainly the entire Sri Lanka Women’s Team led by skipper Chamari Athapaththu and Head Coach Rumesh Ratnayake in attendance.
The Sports Minister, while appreciating the volume of development work and funding by Sri Lanka Cricket led by its President Shammi Silva to also helping other sports financially, hoped that SLCs high performance center through its sophisticated modern training facilities would facilitate the country’s common cricketing goal to winning another world cup by recreating warriors of the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayewardene.
On the heels of SLC Treasurer, Sujeeva Godaliyadda stating that its President Sammi Silva had large heartedly made available the use of the state of the art modern swimming pool for training of athletes from other sports, Minister Gamage said, “It’s a highly welcome and praiseworthy to hear that the LC President Mr. Shammi Silva has generously made available facilities at SLC such as this state of the art swimming pool for the use of sportsmen outside cricket. I do hope that we would soon see the dawn of a new cricketing era with warriors emerging like in the past. Under this Government a top priority theme is the creation of a Nice Society. So I believe that the SLCs high performance center would provide towards that common goal to win another world cup.”
He lamented that sports as a whole in the country would be a better place if the bickering problems among the over 70 odd sports bodies in the country were resolved.
He went on to state that Sri Lanka had won a rugby tournament which had been solely organized by the sports ministry at a time the controlling body had been dissolved.
The Minister also aired plans to construct a cricket ground in Jaffna which was been highly supported by former Sri Lanka Captain and current Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya.
“Sanath Jayasuriya is a big name in our cricket and I am confident that his involvement in promoting such a cricket ground in Jaffna would go a long way. In fact, I visited Jaffna together with Sanath Jayasuriya in this connection and also requested help from the Indian High Commissioner towards setting up such a cricket ground in Jaffna. During Indian Prime Minister, Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, Sanath had requested the Indian Prime Minister to help. I don’t think he will turn down such a request from Sanath,” the minister said.
At the outset, SLC Treasurer, Sujeeva Godaliyadda went on to make the point that SLC, apart from keeping cricket on a firm footing by funding the gamut from the grassroots, aimed at creating equal opportunities for youth from the four corners of Sri Lanka to represent the Sri Lanka Cricket Team in the three formats. An estimated 58,00 school cricketers, 30,000 club players and clubs were funded by SLC. Rs.25 lakhs was expended for volunteer workers, Rs. 28 million had been awarded to the medal wionning athletes, Rs.15 million for the men’s and women’s Asian rugby participation, Rs.5 million for carom, Rs.20 million for the National Sports Fund, Rs 1 million dollars for the Apeksha Hospital, Rs.100 million for Little Heart Hospital and Rs.1 million for Law College.
