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Sports

Right time to do the right thing
By S.R. Pathiravithana
When we were young the school cricket season was drawn up in two segments – third term cricket and the real season. The third term runs from about October to the December holidays while on the first week-end of the first term starts the real season which culminates with the big-match.
The third term is really for team build-up – taking on lesser talented schools so that you do not lose matches in the meantime and the first term is for the players to come out and do their act.

The present phase in Sri Lanka’s national circuit looks somewhat similar. First they went through a series against a third string West Indian team where they finished ten days of cricket playing time in barely six days and then are following it in similar fashion against the fledgling Bangladeshis.

The first Test against Bangladesh finished at 11.20 a.m. on the third day after the major portion of the post tea lunch session of the second day was washed out. Had there not been a break on the second day, play may not have carried even on to the third day as it took less than an hour’s play for the Lankans to polish off the remaining six wickets (normally you don’t describe the last six wickets as remaining wickets). With hopefully a better wicket at the SSC grounds, hopefully, the visitors may be able to dish out more palatable cricket rather than the weak-kneed uninteresting stuff which is dividing the game of cricket into two unbridgeable segments.As a result of this disparity another series of linked drawbacks have inundated the cricket administrators who have now moved on to an Oasis in the desert.

Nevertheless leaving alone the cricket administrators to solve the problems at the top let’s move on to the query, did the Lankans make full use of the opportunities that were afforded to them to gear themselves to the hazardous tasks ahead in the middle, where they will play more on foreign territory. True enough we did win the matches up-front making short work of the opposition, but did we do enough to satisfy our inner selves? That is the question that we must find answers to.

For instance during the series against the West Indies the accent was on pace and during the first Test the accent was on spin on a wicket that started on the first day itself. However in the finished series and the one going on, did our batsmen have complete command over either attack? Seemingly no! The majority of the top order batsmen struggled. The only occurrence in the comfort-zone during the West Indies series was the 150 scored by ever improving Kumar Sangakkara on the ground where he learned his ABC in cricket.

Another niggling factor is the current form of Sri Lanka’s captain Marvan Atapattu. In the four innings against the West Indies Atapattu made 1&28 in the first Test at the SSC and 17 & 19 at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. The worry is not getting out for one. Then in the only innings that Sri Lanka batted at the R. Premadasa Stadium, he made 18 even though he was unlucky to be ruled out. Now the problem is not about getting out before you get into your double figures. It can happen to anyone. But the worry is that now on four occasions he had got out after getting into double figures. That is bad for the record of a batsman of his calibre and class. This anomaly has to be rectified.
Then in bowling during the West Indies series it was the time tested duo of Muralitharan and Vaas who bowled Sri Lanka home. The other bowlers looked mere trundles.

However at present where the seam combination is concerned there seems to be not much of a worry with Malinga and Dilhara Fernando who bowl in the 130 plus range joining veteran Vaas. With a little more exposure and confidence these two also should grow to be frequent wicket takers. The only weak-link in the whole episode looks to be Muralitharan’s spin partner -- Rangana Herath. In the series against the West Indies he ended up with only one wicket.

Then in the next game when the Bangladeshi batsmen – Omar, Bashar and Ashraful had got things right up to a certain extent Herath looked more than ordinary. After Ashraful’s injudicious shot against Herath which was quite uncalled for at that juncture he was seen capitalizing. In the ensuing collapse Herath ended up with figures of 4 for 28. Just to prove how the captain sees his importance in getting a side out, Herath only bowled only one over in the second innings while Muralitharan ran through the side to claim six for 18.
The next question is can Herath be the fitting partner for Muralitharan?

Instead of Herath sitting in the dressing room was Upul Chandana who had even taken a match bag of ten wickets against the strong Australian batting machine on their own soil. The cupboard is not bare! In addition to this there is Sajeewa Weerakoon (left arm orthodox spin) who is among the wickets in representative cricket whenever he performs. In his last outing, he had a match bag of thirteen wickets against the South African ‘A’ team who have arrived in the island with quite a formidable side. Besides the above mentioned, there also is right arm leg spinner Malinga Bandara who is enjoying a very interesting stint with the English county Gloucestershire. This exposure itself is sure to have given him some extra confidence in himself and his own abilities and the selectors should look to exploit them to the maximum rather than putting all their money on a flat footed horse.

The near future for Sri Lanka cricket seems quite interesting. At present they have fallen from the fifth slot to the seventh in test rankings and during the next nine months they should look to romp back into contention. Right now unlike any other time before they seem to have the right combination in both departments and it is up to them to see that the right eleven takes the field in every match that they play.

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