Our Australian tour and what future plans should be
View(s):By Rev Bro. Nimal Gurusinghe FSC
All our cricket fans had very high hopes before our team flew to Australia. First of all we expected our National Team to win the Test Series. There were some valid reasons for us to carry all before us in this three Test match series. The Australian team was not a formidable team. It did not have many experienced players.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a very strong outfit with some veterans and experienced players. The result however, was disappointing and our team had to eat the humble pie at the hands of a mediocre side.
Sri Lanka managed well in the ODIs than in Tests.
It proves that our lads are not familiar with fast bouncing pitches. As well as this, our batsmen find it very difficult to cope with swing bowling. This problem began when we started playing Test Cricket. Our Cricket Board members must open their eyes and address this important issue. If those in authority do not take the trouble to solve the problem, then our cricketers will have a hard time winning a Test match on alien soil. It might happen once in a blue moon, but not regularly. It is the responsibility of our Cricket Board to think seriously about the issue and help our cricketers overcome this difficulty.
With regard to the ODIs, our players played well and managed to win two out of the five matches, while one was rained off. Even though we could not win the series our team proved its class in the fifty-overs-game. If not for the rain during the fourth match we could have won the series. When it came to the two T20 games our cricketers showed their superiority and won both matches. In the first one the team was victorious with a very comfortable margin. In the second match our players managed to scrape through after a nail-biting finish.
All this is now over. What are the lessons we must learn from the Australian tour? First of all, our players should be trained to play on fast, bouncy pitches. Secondly they should be given the opportunity to face swing bowling. In order for that to happen we must import the particular soil and grass from other countries and prepare some of our pitches before they leave the island to play a series abroad.
We must now form a fairly young side and allow them to play together for some time. Sri Lanka would then have a team who could deliver the goods in any part of the world. If you try to depend on ‘old horses’ all the time, then our future will be very bleak. Now that Angelo Matthews is going to take over the reins of captaincy, he should be given a free hand to handle the side. If our veterans are going to interfere with his responsibility, it will be a disaster for Sri Lanka Cricket. However, I am sure that our seniors know this policy and will give a free hand to our new skipper as he leads the team. Needless to say, their words of advice will always be most welcome.
We must seriously think of replacements for Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Tillekeratne Dilshan. They are excellent players and have done yeoman service for Sri Lanka Cricket. But we cannot depend on them all the time. Very soon they will have to ‘hang up their boots.’ There are plenty of very talented youngsters who, if given a chance, will show their colours. Young players need encouragement and exposure. We cannot expect miracles from them immediately. If their techniques are satisfactory then, having represented the country for some time, they will become great international stars.
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