Cracks on the plastered wall: Only quantity, no quality in cricket
View(s):I do not know as to why they call that substance ‘Plaster of Paris’, because even the narration of it does not take us anywhere near France or its environs. However plaster is a substance that the humanity has been associated with throughout its civilisation. From the first known clay and brick temples and abodes, plaster has been an aid to smoothen the rough edges.
However, thinking of plaster I always wonder when we came out with our own brand of it, where we use it as a tool to cover whatever that protrudes like a hairy growth on a woman’s face. The Sri Lanka plaster is used for many a thing and the latest user of this substance is the SLC.
Yes, we all know it is bad to criticise a move when the management says that it intends paying more to its employees or affiliates. But, the latest SLC move to pay its club cricketers more — an increase in payment — needs a bit more pondering. We must turn inwards and ask ourselves: Is this the panacea to all ills in the local game? Would this move help Sri Lanka cricket bridge the widening gap between our own club structure and the prevalent international standards? Would this move help the Lankan authorities to enrich the game and take it to the expected next level? Or else is this a move to tell the previous administration – “Hey man, all this while you threw peanuts and now we are going to give them instant noodles”?
One must first ponder as to whether we on the right track in the game of cricket. SLC being the custodians of the game in Sri Lanka has been doing the right thing by it. Or has it been just feeding the hungry stakeholders and fattening them up for Christmas?
At present we are shouting hoarse: “Oh god what are we going to do after Mahela, Sanga, Herath, Dilshan and Malinga give up.” But, have we even bothered to find out what the root cause for this situation is and what remedial action we should take to overcome it.
Just imagine the change of scenario! From 1997 when Mahela Jayawardena made his debut in international cricket to 2004 when Lasith Malinga made his debut, there was a stream of Sri Lankan cricketers who were instant international successes.
Following Mahela Jayawardena’s entry, T.M. Dilshan and Rangana Herath made their debuts in 1999, then Sangakkara played his first international game in 2000 and in 2004 Sri Lanka had the fortune of discovering Lasith Malinga from Galle. Yet, by 2004, the Lankan team was well settled, with Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan taking the burden of bowling sides out. In batting, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Hashan Tillekeratne and Thilan Samaraweera gave muscle to the batting order, besides Sangakkara and Jayawardena.
Yet, by 2009, with the established players falling off one by one, the Lankans began to feel the pinch but, the replacements were not readily coming off the larder the way it came forth in the era that I mentioned before.
Players like Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Malinda Warnapura, Thilina Kandambi, Jehan Mubarak and Upul Tharanga came out as players with great potential, but failed to live up to the expectations. At the same time my plot thickens when one considers the fact that Jehan Mubarak who was never a permanent feature in the mainstream of international cricket, making a comeback in the Pakistan series – mind you after eight years. Another significant factor, besides ordinary trundlers, was that Sri Lanka did not produce any bowler of substance during this period. A slight exception was Ajantha Mendis who made a quick exit, after a whirlwind start. Some may inquire also about Nuwan Kulasekera, but he too made his international debut in 2003.
During 2004-05, Angelo Mathews, a product of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo was being talked of as a future national cap and in 2006 he led the Sri Lanka Under 19 team at the ICC’s teen World Cup but, failed to make an impact. Yet, by 2008, Mathews made his international debut as a bowling allrounder, but, the genuine product that he was, managed to turn the accolade the other way around. Four years later, he stood as the lone contender to take over the captaincy when Mahela Jayawardena decided to relinquish his captaincy crown second time around.
Mathews still stands as the only international class product of Sri Lanka since 2004. Why?
I wonder if the Lankan cricket hierarchy pondered about this vacuum and studied as to why this situation has arisen.
Yes, someone may argue that we have produced Thisara Perera, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne, but, still I argue — can any of those players come out and say, for instance – No 4 slot is mine!!
Then definitely it is a problem that we are faced with. In Sri Lanka there is a dearth of quality cricketers coming into the national grid. All points to a deficiency in the structure.
Wear your Sherlock cap and come take a walk with me.
The best thing that happened to Sri Lanka Cricket is winning the ICC World Cup in 1996. Yet, in the hindsight it may have been the worst.
Just see the players that I mentioned above would have been in school playing junior cricket in 1996 — and by the time they graduated into the first Xl, the school cricket system had not changed much. Schools played around twelve matches maximum during a season and schools that played cricket also was small in number.
One must admit historically, it was the school cricket system that nourished our Lankan cricket and sometimes cricketers of certain schools joined certain clubs once leaving school. The system was interwoven. In 1996, Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup, but I do not think our system was ready to embrace the accolade. Yet, at that point every school in the country wanted to play cricket and wanted to produce a Sanath Jayasuriya. Still, besides the established schools which were involved with the game for over fifty years and which had their own resources to indulge in it, the rest of the schools were not geared for it, yet they dived in at the deep end. The result: from a steadily climbing entity, it was squashed to a faceless flat jumble.
Sri Lanka cricket grew in numbers. The number of schools that played cricket increased from about 40 to 200. It had the quantity, but not the quality. At the same time, for some unknown reason, clubs like the Galle CC, Panadura CC, Kurunegala SC, BRC, Moratuwa SC, CCC and even Bloomfield have gone down in their quality of product or standard.
Teams in the calibre of Badureliya CC, Chilaw Marians, Ragama CC and Ports Authority which are mostly one-man shows have surfaced and even won championships, but, they do not have the staying power, thus bringing in vulnerability to the whole gamut.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Sidath Wettimuny and co could take a walk around the park and see really what has gone wrong with the game in Sri Lanka. The present game in Sri Lanka lacks quality. It may produce cricketers by the number, but, since 2008, has not produced a cricketer of international class. So, putting plasters is not going to solve the basic problems. We are already in a rut, if you can recognise it, finding the right rope to bail ourselves out of the predicament is the challenge.
Just think of it.