Our cricket has not grown with the time, says Kumara Dharmasena
There are only a few cricketing personalities in Sri Lanka who have reached the pinnacle of cricket in their afterlife and ICC elite umpire Kumara Dharmasena is one such greats. The Sunday Times had the opportunity of taking a peek at his vast cricket knowledge which he explained in his own inimitable style.
The picture shows elite international umpire Kumara Dharmasena who has made us proud with his prompt action is being feted by another Lankan great Sidath Wettimuny in an earlier occasion. Here Dharmasena comes out with his observations in the present status of Sri Lankan cricket
Sadly Dharmasena thinks that Sri Lanka cricket has a cue missed in its development plans and we still are in the formative set-up in comparison to countries like India, England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Dharmasena explained, “The way we played cricket in the mid-eighties to the mid nineties to the present era, there is no big difference.”
He said it is the change of formats in cricket that made the real change. He said, for example, cricket in the 1975 onwards was the catalyst. First came the 60 vers and then it was reduced 50 overs and the format stayed. As a result the run rate increased. Then with the introduction of the T-20s the run rate increased further. He said: “That meant whenever the ICC introduced a shorter version to the game the net-run rate and the haulage increased. Spurred by that approach to the game the more conventional version of cricket also caught up with the ongoing trend. For instance 20 years ago in Test cricket average run-rate was around 2 runs per over. Now that has increased to 3.5 runs per over or even four at times.
Dharmasena said all over in the top rated countries like India, England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the approach to the game is similar, but, Sri Lanka cricket has opted to stay behind.
“As a country we are lacking in our technology or the tools that go with it. I don’t think that our cricketers, officials and the coaches are aware what is going around.”
Added to it, the curators are also not up to date, he said and added, they are not adopting new systems and that’s where Sri Lanka cricket is lacking, in comparison to the other countries which are on the upward trend.
Explaining his vision further, he said:
“Twenty-five years ago while going on an international cricket tour we had only one or two officials accompanying the team and they would be the coach and the manager. Sometimes one person did both jobs. Now see how many people are there making a tour? In a country like England, they have thirteen officials and in Sri Lanka it is the same. But, the question is we must ask why they are there? They are there to support the team. But, are they backing the team in the manner that they should and do they understand what their role in the touring party. This means they should understand what their real requirements in the international arena to be competitive and must prepare ourselves accordingly.
“Thinking of reality, our cricket has not grown comparatively. A simple example is, a few weeks ago, we Sri Lankans did well to enter the finals of the Under 19 Asia Cup. But, when it came to the crux of the matter, the difference was shown. Why? It is because of the exposure that the Indians receive. The Indian under 19 cricketers are played in the IPL tournament and they are also exposed in Ranji Trophy cricket. The other factor is how many experienced cricketers do we have taking part in our domestic competitions. I do not think most of the senior club cricketers are available to play in our own domestic tournament. Most of them are engaged in playing grade cricket in countries like England and Australia. We need them to take our cricket to the next stage. They have to share their experience with the younger generations. When I started my career at club level, I learned a lot from cricketers like Lalith Sagara, Priyalal Rodrigo and Sujith Perera, to name a few. They did not get the opportunity of playing overseas and I had the benefit of learning from them. In first class, we must capture that experience from them. Now in Sri Lanka do we have an environment as such?”
He said if the experienced cricketers could be taken into a category and were paid a suitable stipend; they might stick on in Sri Lanka.
“Likewise we must develop our coaching systems. Develop our domestic umpiring. We need only about ten to twelve clubs playing top grade cricket and it is necessary that every top division that plays first class cricket team should posses its own ground and the facilities that go along with it. “Because when I was playing club cricket, and was experiencing a loss of form. I used to go to the nets and practice till I was satisfied. Can this be done with a cricketer who does not have these facilities? At the same time curators have to prepare good wickets for the matches to be played on.”
Then when asked about his thoughts on club cricket and the provincial tournament, Dharmasena opined, “Club cricket has been the main stay in our cricket for the past one hundred years and it has to be properly tuned and developed. At the same time the provincial tournament should be the cream of tournaments where the country’s top cricketers converge at the same time. We also need to bring back the under 23 tournament to pump in the next generation of players to the next level of cricket and the sooner that we make these changes to our cricket, the faster our cricket will be on the right track again”.