Do we have talent?Yes, we do
View(s):By S.R. Pathiravithana
Some may want to go to the movies and some may like to get involved in some other mental or physical activity in their free time. Generally I choose the second, because I like to indulge in some activity which keeps my mind well lubricated.
Off spinner P.T.H, Kaushal -- possesses all the ingredients to take the next step Pix Amila Gamage
I got a good mental massage when I walked into Sri Lanka Cricket’s coaching facility and got the opportunity to have a closer look at the next generation of Lankan lads sweating it out at the nets under the watchful eyes of the SLC’s coaching staff.
My mind began to rev-up. Here was a plethora of talent – the seedlings that the game really needs. The catch point was that these lads were not all from the metropolis. They hailed from all over the island.
My quizzical mind began to wonder. The next batch of Lankan talent is here and they are the lads who should be under the very close scrutiny of the Lankan cricket management because more than 90 per cent of the cream of local cricket talent was there inside one net. Yet, none of the top class national coaches who have the clout to make selectors think were present. As I learned; generally none of the selectors even waste their precious time to come here and watch them at play just to ascertain, “What do we have here if the lid blows apart?”
It is here, at this very point, that Lankan talent is harnessed and given its perspective. But, here it is a sorry story of keeping them fit for ‘What’?
I felt it is here that the national coaches (at least the ones who are here) should pass their free time learning about what talent we have and as to which cricketer should be put through the mill. It is here that the national coaches should spend their time, because the next-in-line talent is here and the ones who are travelling on the bandwagon have already passed this process and
A fast bowler of the future generation in action
are out there on tour. They need very few adjustments and the highly paid professionals have the national coach to attend to their slight adjustments. I feel the national coaches do a lot of cricket watching, but day in and day out they watch the same lot to no avail.
National coaches on tour may work for the bigger nations where talent converges from thousands of miles apart in different states. But in this tiny island full of talent the next generation churns out of just one mill.
Yet, I had more questions to ask them. Questions that generally keep a Friday evening gathering warm. I asked the spin people after Rangana what do we have? Why are there accusations of most Lankan spinners being dart throwers – an accusation that came from the highest echelons of local cricket? Why after Murali don’t the Lankan spinners get proper revolutions? and the list went on.
They accepted the gauntlet. They lamented that Murali, Herath and Randiv passed through this way. Yet even Akila Dhananjaya and P.T.H. Kaushal were also in the system going through trained eyes from a very young age. Still Dhananjaya caught the eye of Mahela Jayawardena being in the right place at the right time and that too was at the very place they keep practising round the clock. In unison they said, “We have the talent and an abundance of it.” Then I asked why all these accusations of less revolutions and dart throwers. The answer was half expected. They said according to the wickets that are prepared for the local tournaments, the spinners they have to keep restraining themselves and keep the ball in line. Underprepared wickets tend to turn more and it is difficult for the local spinners to get more revolution and spin and keep in proper tracks. The result they keep bowling flat.
The fast bowlers’ tale was more diagnostic. The general theory is that the Lankan lads are brittle boned as they lack meat proteins. This is a common phenomenon in India too. According to Arjan Nalliah –Doctor of Physiotherapy — who is attached to the SLC’s coaching department as the Strength and Conditioning coach, fast bowlers who expend a lot of physical strength need sustaining power and should be at peak levels all the while. Like race horses they should be nourished and properly trained and be at peak levels to perform. Yet, he is sad that Sri Lanka does not have the facility to house them and train them constantly.
The other general view was that fast bowlers should do a lot of running and depend less on gym work. Yet, they are glad now the system is gradually being reversed.
The next lament was against the pack of fast bowlers who had jumped the barrier and joined the national squad. The fast bowling coaches lamented that besides their training, in their off time from national duty, they play very little domestic cricket. They would come up with some excuse to skip a match. They added, “What happens is when they are on tour they are expected to bowl thirty overs an innings. They are not ready to do it because they have very little preparation. Then they break down halfway through a match”.
The coaches trying to stress a point
The rest of the seam bowlers also are faced with a serious problem. The local tournaments are played on wickets that are mostly underprepared and the fast bowlers have very little or no role to play. In most of the matches it is spin bowlers who dominate the attack and even open bowling.
Even in batting it is the same. According to the coaches there are batsmen who can fit the bill in the international arena, but the right ones keep getting overlooked. Most of the time the same old faces keep travelling on ‘A’ tours. Right now the ones who have passed the barrier are proving the fact in Australia.
The general consensus was that the second string keeps doing their thing in the mill to no avail. There are no ‘A’ team tours barring one to the West Indies. Yet, when it comes to the selections the same old faces appear in the white sheet and the ones who deserve the break stay back at home. This is because the hierarchy and the selectors do not want to come down from that pedestal and seek the truth. What is good for the goose?
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