Winning at all cost does not pay: Marvan Atapattu
View(s):
Without a miss it happens every year – the day that is dedicated for the next generation of schoolboy cricketers to gather and savour a special moment of success. On Wednesday it was the day that young fast bowler Nipun Ransika stood tall and followed the path that so many other greats had done in the past.
Looking with pride and inner feelings was another schoolboy cricketer who did the same way back in 1990. That day he walked the hallway to be crowned Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. Now a quarter-century later, he crowned the 2017 Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year.
Marvan Atapattu, Chief Guest at the Sunday Times-Dialog 4G school cricket show, relished every moment of it. He reminisced the day he got on stage, while his mother and father were looking at him with the same pride in their eyes.
A while before Marvan handed the pinnacle award to Ransika, he, in his capacity as the Chief Guest came up with some timely advice, not only to the budding cricketers, but to all such people who are involved with the game at school level.
He said the Schoolboy Cricketer is a special forum. He said, “This stage is a special one. I was going through a bit of history and I got to know that the ‘Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year’ show started way back in 1979 and, of the 39 Schoolboy Cricketers who were crowned, 15 of them went on to represent the country. That proves how important this show is and, down the line, how well the selections have been done.”
A batsman, who was one of the most technically sound in the international cricket arena, Marvan went on to score over 5,000 runs in 90 Test matches and, one of the most noteworthy features was that the figures included 6 double centuries with the highest score being 249. Besides, Marvan also captained Sri Lanka and was also the Head Coach of Sri Lanka. So he is an authority on the game and has the right credentials to speak on the subject of Cricket.
Initially, Marvan spoke to the next generation of National cricketers. He started by saying that, among the scores of budding cricketers at this forum, only a very few will reach the level of adorning the crested cap. Even while there, it is very easy to go from hero to zero. But, at the same time, one could take back the harvest of what one puts into the game. That is where discipline and dedication takes the stage, he pointed out.
He said, “Always be proud of your performances and be humble about it. I think, I should say this because you are still schoolboy cricketers. Don’t think you are a hero because you may become a zero the next day, and all of a sudden, you will be disheartened and demoralised. Yet, be levelheaded and stay grounded, and the game will give you the results. You have to be dedicated. Whenever I get the opportunity, I say this. Not every cricketer at school level will go on to play for the country. But I will guarantee that the game of cricket will teach you so many good things. If you take it in the right spirit, you may even be successful in another sphere — being a businessman, an entrepreneur or a professional. The discipline in cricket will teach you an insight into that. It’s a vast area that you will walk into.”
Delving into the more serious business that involves not only the cricketer, but the school cricket authorities also, Atapattu pointed out how important it is to produce cricketers – cricketers who could come good in the cricketing arena. Addressing the Coaches and School authorities he said, “There is no point in trying to produce cricket teams to just win matches. There is no point in training school teams to win trophies. At this time of day, what we need is to produce cricketers who could wear the national crest.
“In the past, cricketers in the calibre of Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Sanjeewa Weerasinghe graduated to the national team while still in school. Yet, we have deviated from that trend, and most school authorities are bent on winning at all cost. In that scenario, the loser is the game of cricket. Good coaches like the late Lionel Mendis produced cricketers for the next generation, and that is why most of his products went on to represent Sri Lanka with distinction — In short no body is above the game, if you treat the game well it will take care of you”