Upul Wijayawardhana in The Island 29 July 2016, with title Murali is no traitor
What cricketers do in retirement is their business; some take to politics and do a very bad job; others create Ministries, not of government but, of crab and make a great success of it; most do coaching, many of our cricketers having successful coaching careers. It looks as if it is the norm for most teams to have ‘foreign coaches’. Well, it was so even in 1996 when we won the World Cup; our coach was Dav Whatmore who though born in Sri Lanka, migrated to Australia and played test cricket for Australia but helped us defeat Australia in the finals. Murali should be free to coach any team that pays him well and we have no right to object at all if we never offered to employ him.
Unlike many Sri Lankans I am no cricket fanatic, may be because the first time ever I faced a cricket ball, in my schooldays, I ended up with an injury, though minor, to my right thumb diminishing my enthusiasm for the gentlemen’s game. I say I am not a fanatic because often I find that my English friends know more about our cricketers than I do. However, I have been a great supporter of our cricket team and have been very proud of their achievements. I have proudly failed the Norman Tebbit’s ‘Cricket Test’. For the sake of those who are too young to know what it is, I should reiterate what the Conservative politician said in 1990:”A large proportion of Britain’s Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?” Fortunately, my English friends are more understanding than Lord Tebbit and, in fact, many of them are ardent supporters of the Sri Lanka team, except when they are playing against England.
