COLOMBO: A major rift in Sri Lankan cricket deepened yesterday when the national governing body said test captain Mahela Jaywardene and team manager Charith Senanayake had breached their contracts by going public with complaints about the leaking of a supposedly confidential memo.
Jayawardene had sent a memo to Sri Lanka Cricket last week suggesting that fees from this year’s World Twenty20 tournament should be shared with support staff, coaches and ground staff — a request that was denied by SLC, which did not want to deviate from standard practice.
The memo and the SLC’s response then appeared in the local Daily Mirror newspaper. Jayawardene was angered that the memo went public and wrote a letter to the newspaper saying he had lost faith in SLC as a result.
SLC said Saturday that Jayawardene and Senanayake should not have contacted the media directly and said it will review the matter.
The governing body did not explain how the private documents were leaked or by who, but did acknowledge the SLC treasurer spoke to the newspaper when he was contacted for clarification of the administration’s position.
Jayawardene has said he will step down from the captaincy at the end of the current tour of Australia.
Sangakkara poised to join 10,000 club
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan veteran Kumar Sangakkara is poised to join the exclusive 10,000-run club in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne against Australia, a landmark he plans to build on.
The prolific batsman needs just 40 more runs in his 115th Test to join the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis to complete the milestone.
“I think 10,000 Test runs is that separation between a batsman who will probably be remembered a bit more than the rest,” the left-hander told reporters on Sunday.
“It’s pretty good to be almost there. And then hopefully beyond 10,000 as well.” With 9,960 runs at a magnificent average of 55.64, Sangakkara only sits behind skipper Mahela Jayawardene (10,671 at 49.86) on the Sri Lankan all-time list, having made his debut against South Africa in 2000.
Voted Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council in September, he has hit 30 centuries during his Test career and is hoping a large Sri Lankan expat community in Melbourne will help him to another.
“Melbourne and Sydney have always traditionally been almost like home games for us,” he said.
“It will affect the mentality of the side when they see such a lot of support in a foreign country. That sort of atmosphere will help us.
“But at the same time, it’s pretty important not to get carried away by your emotions and the occasion.” Sri Lanka trail 1-0 in the three-Test series.
