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Africa build for the kill Starting on a relatively stable 263 for 6 yesterday, Sri Lanka quickly ran into one of its regular crashes and tumbled to 280 for 9. It was then that the smiling and the wide-eyed Muralitharan came into hammer five boundaries and a six to put some of the other batsmen to shame. Moreso, the record-breaking spin bowler provided a back-up for the reliable veteran Tillekeratne to complete a patient century. A record 43-run stand for the last wicket carried Sri Lanka to a fairly respectable 323, much better than its pathetic display on an uneven pitch in the first Test where the visitors were thrashed by an innings in two and half days. Pace bowler Makaya Ntini grabbed three wickets today to finish with the best figures of 4 for 81. When the powerful South African batting machine began its response to Sri Lanka's modest total, the start was nowhere as impressive as what was seen in the first Test. Graeme Smith emerging as the new Jonty Rhodes fell far short of his first Test brilliance and was dismissed with the score at 45. The damage was done by Dilhara Fernando who also disposed of the veteran Garry Kersten at 71. But that was as far as Sri Lanka could go. Powerful opener Herchelle Gibbs was joined by the inform all rounder Jacques Kallis and they did not have much difficulty in lifting the total to 183 for 2 at close. Aussie
tour: will Hair dare again? The appointment of Hair for Sri Lanka's first game on December 17 came as no surprise to Sri Lankans as the Australian authorities are known to maneuver off the field tactics whether it is practice pitches, match venues, traveling arrangements or the appointment of umpires to upset their opponents mentally even before a ball is bowled. However, some cricket analysts express concern that the BCCSL had done little by way of effective steps to prevent the appointment of Hair officiating in Sri Lankan matches. As there was increasing speculation that Hair will be appointed for a Sri Lanka game, the BCCSL should have written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the ACB not to make such an appointment as the umpire himself has indicated that he will not hesitate to call Muralitharan for throwing if he officiates. Even two weeks after the appointment of Hair was made public, the BCCSL continues to remain silent. Is this how the BCCSL looks after the interest of their champion off spinner who incidentally is also an employee of the Cricket Board? However, the Chief Executive Officer of the BCCSL Anura Tennekoon when contacted by The Sunday Times said he objected to Hair's appointment at an ICC meeting held some time back in London but was told by the ICC that such objections could not be made since the umpire was an ICC umpire. The ICC meeting held in London was in June-July at which time the ACB would not have thought of appointing its umpires for a triangular in December. Cricket Board sources last night denied claims that Sri Lanka was not doing enough to protect Muralitharan from Hair. They said ICC rules clearly laid down that the host country had the right to appoint ICC-approved umpires and no other country could interfere. They said there appeared to no serious problem at present and if such a problem did arise, Sri Lanka would take all the necessary steps to protect its world famous bowler. At the 2000 ICC knock-out trophy in Kenya, Hair was appointed to officiate in a Sri Lankan game. However, at that time Thilanga Sumathipala who was the President of the BCCSL lobbied strongly with the ICC and ensured that the umpire will not officiate in a Lankan game. In 1998 during Sri Lanka's tour to Australia the Cricket Board was well prepared to face such a situation with skipper Arjuna Ranatunge being well briefed in advance about the matter. On that occasion, it was Ross Emerson and not Darell Hair who called Muralitharan for throwing. However, the situation was handled well with skipper Ranatunge sticking his neck out and taking charge of the situation while the BCCSL Secretary Saliya Ahangama was also at hand for assistance. Earlier this year when the ICC selected the elite panel of eight umpires Darell Hair who was Australia's number one umpire was omitted and instead Daryl Harper another Australian was included. Although the ICC did not give any reasons for Hair's omission, it was evident that cricket's governing body omitted Hair due to his uncompromising stand on Muralitharan's bowling action. It was the ICC-appointed bowling advisory panel that gave Muralitharan the green light after his action came under scrutiny in 1995. Thus it would be ridiculous if an ICC appointed umpire calls the bowler again for throwing. It was for this reason that the ICC left out Hair from its elite panel of umpires earlier this year. As a result of this, Australia's number one umpire will never get an opportunity to officiate in a test match. Thus if the ICC is firmly behind Muralitharan and supporting the bowler and not Hair why can't the BCCSL protest to the ACB on Hair's appointment? In the event Murali overcomes his hernia problem and plays and umpire Hair calls him for throwing Mr. Anura Tennekoon and Mr Hemaka Amarasuriya Chairman Interim Committee will have to answer and not the the ACB or ICC. Still
room for improvement, says Sri Lanka coach After being put into bat by South Africa captain Shaun Pollock, Sri Lanka reached 263 for six at the close, with veteran left hander Hashan Tillakaratne nearing his 10th test century on 82 not out. "It was a bit better, I thought," Whatmore said. "We were very keen do a bit better than what we showed in the previous test. There's still room for improvement. "The area that I'm unhappy about is getting good starts and then getting out. I'm happy with the runs we scored but I thought we could have scored them with perhaps a couple of wickets less appearing on the scoreboard." Whatmore said Tillakaratne's performance was very much in character with the 35 year-old's reputation as a fighter. "Hashan has been batting quite well over the last few months and it didn't really surprise me that he resisted the opposition for quite a while. He like's playing long innings and looked like he was enjoying it out there. His contribution has been very valuable and we hope that there's a bit more in his batting tomorrow," he said. South Africa coach Eric Simons was left to rue Jacques Kallis's costly drop at second slip off Pollock's bowling when Tillakaratne was on 35. "If Jacques had held on it might have been a different story, but they're still in a situation where things can go boom, boom tomorrow morning and be out for under 300," Simons said. "If you win the toss and put the opposition in you do want to bowl them out for under 250. "We didn't do as well as we have before in my time in charge in terms of sticking to game plans. It's notable that someone like Shaun (Pollock) was the most successful by sticking to the game plan. "He was able to dry up the runs by hitting the right areas and he picked up two wickets and had the catch dropped as well. We tended to lose the plot a bit too quickly and get frustrated." But rather than criticise his own players, Simons was happy to credit the Sri Lankans with a much improved showing after their innings and 64-run defeat in the first test at the Wanderers on Sunday. "We're certainly not depressed about what's happened. Today a lot of credit must go to the Sri Lankans. They've gone away and thought about things and they've come back today and played really well," Simons said. Cricket
Board chief clears his position The statement said: "Selectors of our National Cricket team have faced considerable criticism for blooding young players at the expense of experienced players who are presently unable to perform at a degree of consistency required of them at International level. A lesser known fact is that out of our established players, only Dilhara Fernando is below 23 years of age. Comparatively, most other Test playing nations have blooded 2 or 3 players below the age of 23 years. This leaves Sri Lanka with a future replacement void, a dilemma that will surface in about four years time, if not corrected. He further said that he was personally supportive of giving young players an opportunity to show us their skills at International level even if it is at the expense of experienced players who are currently out of touch or partially fit. A National Sports Body will be falling short if it allows talent to fade away into oblivion without as much as giving them a chance to blossom to their true potential. Please recognize that every young player capped this season has without exception performed up to expectations. Performance and not rhetoric should be the guiding principle in judging selections as we build a World Cup winning team for 2003. Thus the Selectors choice has so far proved this. |
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