Sri Lanka just discarded head coach Chandika Hathurusingha following a disappointing World Cup campaign in UK and appointed Rumesh Ratnayake as a temporary replacement ahead of the upcoming New Zealand series at home.
Talking about such a major change, country's former skipper Kumar Sangakkara reckons this doesn't send the right signal to anyone involved in the system.
He said they all require a secure environment to give their best and it's upon nation's administrators to provide them with one.
"They just need to have less chaos around them, less noise around them," Sangakkara told Sportstar. "The best facilities to train in, the most secure environment within which to play, consistent selection policies, a much, much better, more refined, more competitive domestic structure, a huge amount of planning in terms of how the pathway of cricket development in Sri Lanka reflects the requirement of the international game and the international side."
"It is not for the lack of talent or the dearth of good cricketers. There are lots and some of them will go on to become great cricketers. How that message gets conveyed from the top all the way down to the grassroots and how in terms of fitness, in terms of mental skills, in terms of technique, in terms of individuality, what it is that is required to succeed at this stage [is more important]."
"And then continuously concentrate on driving the players in that direction in a manner that takes care of their growth, not just as cricketers but also as people."
"It is something that needs a conscious effort, a big change in mindset in Sri Lanka, and an investment of money and time to give it the years it needs to rebuild a strong, world-beating team. I hope it is done quickly."
Sanga, a longtime advocate of board revamp and restructuring of domestic cricket in Sri Lanka, added: "People are always very, very stubborn. You can have very set ways and set ideas and sometimes ego also gets in the way. The best way is to be realistic and understand that it is not about you, it is about the future of the sport in Sri Lanka and the future of the cricketers in Sri Lanka and also the fans."
"It is a big responsibility, and when you understand that, it requires a certain amount of risk-taking in terms of concept, in terms of change, in terms of getting the right people in to do the right jobs, it becomes easier to understand why you need to change. That effort has to be taken now. You can’t do the same old things and expect different results."
Sangakkara, along with other former skippers Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva, was part of a special task force that provided a clear roadmap on how Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) should resolve its longstanding issues but those suggestions were never dwelled upon.
"We’ve presented a blueprint for what we think is a better system for Sri Lankan domestic cricket, international cricket, selection policy, administration. All encompassed into a proposal that’s been bandied to and fro, presented on and off for the last 10 years at least."
"It takes a certain amount of political will as well to change the status quo. Or the clubs themselves have to vote for those changes. People in power also need to be able to let go of those seats in terms of allowing the devolution of power to be beneficial to the game. Again, that takes a lot of doing. It has to come from within, it has to," he said.
"If the administration doesn’t do it, it has to be out of the political will of the sports minister who takes it and debates it in parliament, changes the sports law and then, of course, has a change in the board constitution, the required changes to the domestic structure that are required."
"We have to wait and see who the first person is who has the courage and the vision to do just that," Sanga concluded.
