da roleta： Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Shaffter reacted angrily on Sunday to mediareports that he had been sacked following a disagreement with the chairmanof the selectors
CricInfo16-Jun-2002Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Shaffter reacted angrily on Sunday to mediareports that he had been sacked following a disagreement with the chairmanof the selectors.According to reports, Shaffter, 72, was unceremoniously dumped following acomplaint by Guy de Alwis, the chairman of the selectors, to the Sri Lankancricket board hierarchy that he’d been refused entry to the players’dressing room at the Edgbaston Test.This is vigorously denied by Shaffter: "It’s totally false. Guy de Alwisnever requested entry to the dressing room. Had he done so then I wouldnaturally have provided permission, as I did to the chairman of the interimcommittee, who was also at the game.""I spoke to Guy de Alwis this morning and he was very apologetic, sayingthat he had never said such a thing, claiming it to be a total fabrication.He will be issuing a rebuttal shortly."Indeed, De Alwis, when contacted at his Colombo home on Sunday evening,appeared to be equally infuriated by the allegations, claiming "there was notruth at all in the statements that have been made."Shaffter points out that he was not sacked per se, but had simply been toldthat his contract would not be renewed on Saturday morning by AnuraTennekoon, the chief executive of the Board of Control for Cricket in SriLanka (BCCSL)."I was originally asked to serve until the 2003 World Cup, but I preferred acontract only until the end of the England tour, after which I would look itagain, taking into account my business and family commitments. The BCCSLwould also then have an opportunity to decide whether they wanted me for alonger term," says Shaffter.On Saturday morning: "The BCCSL informed me that they would not renew thecontract and they are perfectly entitled to do that – they haven’t doneanything wrong by me. To claim it was a sacking is inaccurate."Not that he’s been surprised by the negative spin put on the BCCSL’sdecision, which was leaked to the media on Saturday night: "I suppose thatis what my detractors were trying to achieve, making out that I had beensacked when actually my contract had simply not been renewed. It is annoyingbut not surprising – it’s in keeping with past conduct towards me and Irather expected it."Indeed, in October 1999, during his last stint as the team manager, he waseven more bizarrely dismissed: "Two days before we were about to depart forZimbabwe, I was sacked on the grounds that I was a terrorist, working withthe LTTE."Because of the political nature of cricket appointments in Sri Lanka,Shaffter never looked likely to have his contract renewed after wholesaleresignations from the cricket board early on in the England tour.And, sure enough, it wasn’t long before he had his knuckles rapped, BCCSLofficials complaining that he’d acted without proper authority when allowingtwo non-members of the tour party to play against Glamorgan.He also had a frosty relationship with the media, both in Sri Lanka andEngland, over his reluctance to allow the press access to the players – asure way of making enemies.Some of the attacks appeared political, such as criticism in some sectionsof the Sri Lankan media for his decision to fine Chaminda Vaas, for lettinga masseur stay overnight in his hotel room, on the morning of a triangularfinal at Sharjah – a decision, it was argued, that undermined team spiritand contributed to the team’s dire performance.Shaffter is unsure as to the exact reasons for his contract not beingrenewed: "They didn’t provide any reason for their decision, but in fairnessto them I don’t think they have to give me any reasons and I certainly wasn’t going to ask."No official BCCSL release has been issued to the media.He will remain on for the Natwest triangular series before returning to takecharge of his business, Janashakthi Insurance, a leading insurance companyin Sri Lanka.