When Team Nepal takes on UAE in its first match of ACC Premier League on Thursday at Kuala Lumpur, the team is likely to be less motivated than it was while playing its first World Cup earlier this year. It’s not because the stature of tournament is smaller. But the reason is highhandedness shown by the country’s cricket governing body, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), to its head coach, Pubudu Dassanayake. And Dassanayake is a person Nepali cricketers revere, almost! CAN extended Dassanayake’s coaching contract by three months, after promising extension for a year. Both CAN and Dassnayake had announced it at March-end.
It goes without saying that Nepali cricket has prospered after arrival of Dassanayake as a coach. Not only Nepal climbed in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings, but also secured a place in the World Cup of T20 format, where Nepali cricketers proved their mettle. Hence, the callous treatment shown to him is uncalled for. Those-in-the-know of Nepali cricket’s management say Pubudu’s rising influence over players and policies was the reason CAN bigwigs decided to curtail his stay.
CAN leadership backtracking on its promise shows that there’s something terribly wrong with Nepali cricket. Worse still, it is at the governing body of the sport. Only recently, the players that played in the World Cup decided to boycott the national championship, in an effort to highlight incompetence of the cricket authority. If cricket insiders are to be believed, the major sponsors of Nepali cricket are not happy with CAN’s handling of resources. Hence, a question arises: is this cricket? You would expect the gentlemen’s game to be run in a gentlemanly manner. But that is far from reality. The cricketers have criticized CAN’s recent move.
But this is not the first time cricketers led by captain Paras Khadka have done so. And that is worrying. CAN is a body that has been formed to manage cricket, and has a responsibility to develop the game. However, despite Nepali team’s success at the international level in recent years, precious little has been done for the development.
The physical infrastructure has not improved, cricket structure—in dire need of restructuring—remains what it was a decade ago, the facilities for players at the districts are yet to improve. Yes, the earning of national level cricketers have gone up, but there is hardly any motivation for boys and girls at school level—who would make the team of tomorrow—to take up cricket.
And that calls for a revamp of the organization. Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has directed CAN for years to have a proper management structure, including CEO and permanent manager for cricket teams. CAN is yet to heed the call, due to its internal power struggle. Governing bodies across sports and nations are known for bickering within. Yet the sport governing bodies that are successful have separation of power properly defined between the policy making body (Executive Committee) and the administrative body (Management).
That is lacking in CAN. If there ever was a time to follow that path, it is now, especially as appeal of Nepali cricket and its international scope has grown many fold in the recent years. Now is the time professional managers should be included in CAN and not only past cricketers (for their knowledge of the game), and do away with political appointees. Inclusion of professionals would mean that cases are decided on their merit and not ego trips. That would also mean that those who contribute to cricket are given due recognition. Coaches may come and go, but Nepali cricket would be steady if proper development processes are followed.
Ed: This editorial appeared in Republica national daily. Original article here