Tough proposition ahead of Chaminda Vaas
Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Mohan de Silva feels, now there is more pressure on us to deliver. He said the series win over Australia had captured the imagination of the cricket loving public to such an extent, the crowd opted to ignore the results of the rest of the series and were there in their thousands. De Silva told the Sunday Times “The onus is on us now. Our cricketers managed to bring the Lankan crowds back on to the stands and it is up to us deliver and see that our young cricketers keep performing.”
He said that the next few months are crucial for us. “In October we have two important assignments — in October we will play two Test matches against Zimbabwe and go in for a triangular that also involves the West Indies for the limited overs segment. Then in a week upon their return the Lankans will be back on African soil engaged in a tougher proposition — taking on the Proteas. We must use the Zimbabwe tour as a prelude to the South Africa series and it is imperative that the young cricketers get acclimatized to the conditions.
So a solid line up of seamers is required for the upcoming games.” Mohan de Silva said that this is where former fast bowling Coach Chaminda Vaas comes into the picture. According to the prevailing system the national fast bowling Coach Champaka Ramanayake is engaged with the national team and does not have the time to concentrate on the feeder points where we face constant breakdowns. De Silva added “This is going to be Vass’ job. He will be assigned as the lead fast bowler and will be in charge of the feeder point to the national grid.
“He will have to keep the second string fast bowling unit fit and battle worthy at any given time. He will be in charge of that”. Right now national fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera, Dhammika Prasad and Lasith Malinga are on the injured list, while Shaminda Eranga is going through his rehabilitation process. At present the entire burden of fast bowling is thrust upon workhorses Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep while out of form Nuwan Kulasekera is in hibernation.
During the just concluded series though in contention in the squad, fast bowlers – Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara did not get a single game. Vishwa Fernando’s career is so far limited to two overs and one wicket while Kasun Rajitha was subdued by the Maxwell hurricane.
Also in the frame will be the rehabilitation of national captain Angelo Mathews and his bowling abilities which is vital for the Lankans along with the skill improvement of fast bowling allrounder Thisara Perera. This means during the next month or so National lead fast bowling coach Chaminda Vaas will have a work load ahead of him.