Reinstate Mathews as Captain
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Our National Cricket X1 is presently in disarray, after the voluntary resignation of Angelo Mathews as Captain. His main “bone of contention” in resorting to this surprise move is, I presume, attributed to the dismal performance of his teammates at the recent Zimbabwe Test and ODI Series. My personal assumption, however, is that, at this Tournament, our players took it easy against the Zimbabweans and almost underestimated their potential and capabilities. They actually took this Series as practice matches in preparation for the fixtures against the Indian X1. But unfortunately, all their dreams were shattered when the unpredictable Zimbabweans, surprisingly, emerged ODI Champions, leaving the Sri Lankans in a quandary and in utter shock. Their counterparts, the Bangladeshis, who were once rated underdogs in most International Fixtures, is sure to go places in the future, under the able guidance of their Sri Lankan Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe.
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The replacing of skippers, like the changing of pillows, is not a panacea in resolving this vexatious issue, for the betterment and development of cricket. Even the successor to Angelo Mathews, has not had any remarkable effect. The humiliating defeat suffered at the hands of the unpredictable Indians, in the 1st Test played at Galle, was rated as one of the worst defeats ever suffered by Sri Lanka in the annals of Sri Lanka Cricket, while the 2nd Test too, headed towards suffering the same fate.
Angelo Mathews is one of the most experienced and recognised players (both locally and Internationally) and should therefore, be reinstated as Sri Lanka’s Skipper, if Sri Lanka Cricket is to regain its past glory.
Rowan Aniff
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Kotahena