SL Sports Minister to crackdown on alleged indiscipline

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera is set to launch an investigation into alleged indiscipline of Sri Lankan cricketers during their just-concluded tour of New Zealand.
Jayasekera said that he had informed the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief Thilanga Sumathipala and the entire touring team to meet him on the poor performances where the team lost in all three formats of the game.
Sri Lanka lost the T20 series 0-2 conceding their number one ranking while the Test series was lost 0-2 and the ODI rubber was a similar failure with a 1-3 defeat.
Jayasekera said he had heard of indiscipline shown by the team, where it was allegedly that the players attended late night parties on the eve of matches.

Speaking today after the team's return, skipper Angelo Mathews said, "We tried hard, but none of our plans came together."
The interim head coach Jerome Jayaratne said the gaps in standards between Sri Lanka's domestic set up and the international level was a telling factor in the poor performance.

"At international level you have to perform. No room for learning there. We somehow have to reduce the gap in standards. Some measures have to be taken in consultation with the cricket board," Jayaratne said.
Sri Lanka is likely to go for a foreign coach now that Jayaratne's temporary tenure is over, SLC sources said.

He took over from Marvan Atapattu who resigned in September followingthe home series defeats to both Pakistan and India last year.