* Payment disparities mar Indo series preparations * Grant Flower tests positive * Namal talks about solutions for cricket’s deterioration   By Revatha S. Silva Sri Lanka cricket is in an abysmal mess. The administration is censured by all, the selectors are trageted for their unimaginable inconsistency, the Sports Minister says the game is in the legends’ hands and the legends are making all the moves, players have displayed their worst discipline and there is no end to the series of defeats that is continuing for years: The knots are within and outside too - antho jata, bahi jata. Now, after all, the national Batting Coach Grant Flower has tested positive for Covid-19, four days before the start of the ODI series against India. Yet the most bizarre development is the query of the new intakes to the Sri Lanka white-ball squad for India series who are now a disgruntled lot, due to the meagre amounts paid to them after signing contracts this week with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the Indo series. Backup squad From England, 21 players returned home on Monday (5) and went straight into quarantine. In the meantime, the following players were already in quarantine in Cinnamon Grand hotel, Colombo as a backup squad for the Indo series, which also contains three T20Is. Those players are Ashan Priyanjan, Roshen Silva, Angelo Perera, Dilshan Munaweera, Malinda Pushpakumara, Milinda Siriwardena, Lahiru Gamage, Chathuranga de Silva, Sandun Weerakkody, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, and Lahiru Madusanka. Most of them being leading domestic players, they are to be paid a meagre $ 6000 per year (Rs. 1.19 m per year or Rs. 99,500 per month) for their contracts. As players eat the humble pie for continuous defeats and appalling displays of discipline, is the board holding all of them for ransom, by contracting them for such low wages? Utmost disparity “Those players have been the best batsmen and the best bowlers of the domestic tournaments during the previous years. It is good that they get this opportunity to play for the country but do they deserve this when relative newcomers such as Pathum Nissanka, Ramesh Mendis, and Ashen Bandara are contracted for more than $ 25,000 to 50,000 per year,” a highly-placed source opined. This payment disparity is unfortunately giving signs that the Sri Lanka team will lack unity and team-work in the middle during the forthcoming series. Queries over payment disputes within the same bunch of players are not a good sign with just days to go for the first match. Bizarre ‘world records’ Now, anyway, Sri Lanka for the India series are to be led by Dasun Shanaka, who is coming in place of Kusal Perera. Perera sheds captaincy after just two series, only to become probably the fifth to face the destiny since 2019. Two years, six Captains! Records say Sri Lanka has set ‘the world record’ for the most number of Captains and national players (49) since 2019. There is another record too: The most number of international defeats, 46! Grant Flower testing positive The latest twist reported yesterday in this Sri Lanka cricket fiasco is that their Batting Coach tested positive for Covid-19. “He was found to be positive during a PCR test carried out on him today (yesterday) when Flower showed mild symptoms of the disease. Immediately upon identification, Flower was isolated from the rest of the team members (players and coaches) who are undergoing quarantine following their return from England. He is now undergoing due medical protocols whilst a new round of PCR tests were conducted among the remaining squad members this evening,” said SLC in a release. “Antigen tests were made on the rest of the squad in the Sri Lanka bio bubble and all of them are negative. They will be tested every three days until the series is over (on 25 July). There is no necessity so far to make use of the backup squad which is now in Cinnamon Grand hotel. If more positives are to be reported within the bubble, they might be joined as replacements,” a senior SLC official said last evening. Namal says he is for a change Meanwhile Minister of Youth and Sports, and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development Namal Rajapaksa told parliament yesterday that lack of long-time vision since 2014-15 is the cause for national cricket’s current predicament. “This deterioration began during 2014-15. There is no use in accusing each and everyone now. SLC is an independent body. They are an elected body. Yes. That election has to change. We are going to do that. We are bringing in a new Sports Act to the Parliament to introduce a systematic way to those who are elected to the cricket board and its stakeholders. I say that with responsibility and we can do it,” said Rajapaksa.