Sports

Sports

Time to give thought to one day team
A 3 - 2 defeat to the powerful Australians may not seem too bad. But is it a true reflection of the teams' strength? Particularly should playing overseas be taken into consideration. Another factor that must not be lost sight of is the 2007 World Cup to be held the West Indies. It is time to think of a nucleus and build the rest of the squad as the months progress.

The demands of one day cricket is such that speed and athleticism around the field is essential. This means that unless a player is exceptionally good in the batting or bowling departments or good in both, to be outstanding on the field is essential. It has therefore been established that there will be some specialists in this form of the game. Most often their life span may not be too long unless they can develop and mature into competent test players. Australian Andrew Symonds seems to be following that path. He has proved time and time again of being an outstanding one day player. Now the selectors are looking favorably at giving him a chance of playing in the long game.

Sri Lanka had a squad of fourteen players who were shuffled around in the five games against the Aussies. Eight of these players are now in the senior league. Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold and Romesh Kaluwitharana are the batsmen.

How much of one day cricket is left in these players? They certainly can go on for a much longer while in the five day game, should they be required. Do the selectors have any players in mind as replacements for whenever - maybe an year or a shorter period of time. Some players should be earmarked to step in when necessary.

This does not apply to batsmen only. It applies to all categories of players. It also applies to both the one day and test teams. On the bowling/ all rounder groups, another four players fall in the senior players list. They are Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas and Upul Chandana. The same applies - it’s time to assess their use-by-date and have their replacements ready.

Many international teams have suffered when a number of seniors have departed within a short space of time. This could well happen to Sri Lanka should they not look for players to step into the big league. They have to be aware that the local tournaments are not powerful enough to produce instant success at international level. Most of the players have to learn whilst on the job. So many have stumbled constantly along the way before establishing themselves. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane are the latest to go through that experience. Right now they seem to be just getting out of the hard days. The test series will indicate if that is so.

The Lankan selectors over the years have shown reluctance to leave out the top performers. Most often they take the easy route of waiting for them to retire. It certainly is not easy to take a player who has served the nation with sterling performances, that it is time to go. I believe it requires constant dialogue and indicating to the players the future plans of the team and their position and expressed contribution. Having said that the time may not be too far away when the selectors will have to take some tough decisions. They may not be the most popular but they must have the guts and conviction to take the decisions and stick by them.

Top