Just a wake up call

David beat Goliath in a contest which is described as a contest of strength versus spirit. Then if there was a probe it may have been revealed that as to why Goliath lost was because he had lost his inner fire that had given him his pre-contest reputation as awe-inspiring fighter.

In cricketing terms (especially in the ODI terminology) though being a tiny island in the world map which some of the cricket fans in the World may not be able point at once, Sri Lanka has fought itself to be a sort of a Goliath. With just a very short run in the cricketing highway Sri Lanka already had won the World Cup once and had become the runners-up of the same on another occasion while being a team that recorded wins against the top rung sides on a regular basis.

To take one more peep at recent history, it was not so long ago that Sri Lanka was named as one side that was good at playing the limited overs version in cricket than the more established Test version, but in the post ’96 era they managed to do considerably well in both playing fields. With sides that had a balanced combination of youth and experience Lankan cricket thrived until they moved up to top half rankings in both disciplines.

Our commentary this week we will only concentrate in the limited overs version as the next Cricket World Cup will be played in the Indian Sub-Continent three years hence.

As the green tree has opened out can we without any hesitation say that we are on the right track? Just prior to the West Indian assignment we did take on India and Australia in the Commonwealth Series and ended up as a poor cousin by the highway in spite of heralding mighty Australia’s downfall to India in the two finals. Nevertheless there is no argument that Australia has sorted out their top rung exodus which took place just prior to the World Cup and just after it and almost has lined up their regulars barring spinner – a search that may not be that easy for them as they are searching for a replacement for their champion spinner Shane Warne.

India on the other hand made an inglorious exit out of the last World Cup which thus saw the end of the reign of Australia’s legendary batsman Greg Chappell as their coach. Thereafter they began to re-group with services of home made temporary coaches, but it became a job well done till the arrival of South African Gary Kirsten. By the time Kirsten took over India had already won the Inaugural Twenty20 World Cup and the Commonwealth Cup and more importantly unveiling the canny leadership abilities of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who now has infused a new line of thinking to India Cricket. As the story goes they say that it was Sachin Tendulkar who encouraged the Indian thinking machine to choose Singh as the Twenty20 captain for the World Cup quest in South Africa. Besides Australia and India, England, Pakistan and South Africa are sides who have got their short term vision up to 2011 well intact as it’s seen.

Taking Sri Lanka into our view we wonder what happened to Goliath also has happened to Sri Lanka. Has Sri Lanka run out of the inner fire that once drove them to the helm in1996 and almost there in 2007?

It is time to ask the question if skipper Mahela Jayawardena who was once heralded as the world’s best one-day captain when he only was a ‘stand in’ for Marvan Atapattu has lost his grip at the top. Since Sri Lanka’s memorable show at the last World Cup their ODI performances have been far below average.

Besides winning 3-0 against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka has lost their series to every country that they have been pitted against since the World Cup.
The World Cup runner-up tag was still shining on their collars when they first lost to Pakistan. At that juncture Pakistan themselves were finding their feet after facing a double blow of an early World Cup exit and the mystery murder of their coach Bob Woolmer.

Thereafter it looked as if they had bounced back when they banged the day-lights out of Bangladesh in their next assignment, but, once again were badly exposed by a below-par show against England who themselves played bad cricket. But, mind you this series took place on our own soil. With this setback no one expected wonders from the local outfit when they left for Australia and they did live up to expectations by winning only two matches out of eight in the Commonwealth Series and added insult to injury by losing to West Indies who have had their own back-yard problems in cricket during the past decade.

Sri Lanka’s bleak record since the World Cup reads as twelve lost, eight won (including three against Bangladesh) and two no-results. This indeed is not a reflection of an awe-inspiring leadership.

What brought forth this situation to Lankan cricket?
One of the biggest mistakes done by the Lankans was the persistence of aging Sanath Jayasuriya to occupy one end till the half way run and then getting rid of him now. The best would have been if the decision was implemented right after the World Cup and then strengthen the top slot.
The result – There are no consistent performers at the top. Sanath Jayasuriya is now out and Marvan Atapattu was hounded out. Upul Tharanga after his initial sheen turned out to be a dull and drab performer not worthy of a national place at all. His last knock of forty against the West Indies was one of the worst seen by an international batsman in recent years.

At number three vice captain Kumar Sangakkara has fallen into a shell as a result of the ex-factors that has bugged him along the way. On top of it all he was also asked to open batting against the West Indies in Sri Lanka’s last outing. I wonder who is responsible for this? Then at four in spite of his skills skipper Mahela Jayawardena produced 1, 4 not out and 17 in the three ODI innings in the West Indies. For a person who has scored four fifties and a hundred in ODIs against the West Indies this is totally inadequate.

Besides this, skipper Jayewardene’s reluctance to play towards Sri Lanka’s strengths has been a minus factor. Had we gone with a combination of Vaas-Kulasekera and Bandara-Mendis combination the results against a side who is susceptible against good spin may have been good for Sri Lanka. At the same time the tales that vibe through the air on his personnel managing also has not been encouraging at all.

At the same time we also may ask what has been the contribution of Coach Trevor Bayliss who gets a fat lump of US$ 22,500/- a month. As we see he has neither been the strategy maker or the motivator of our team. In this scenario we once again ask what about having a home grown to look after our own affairs? Surely we can find some solutions to the prevailing problems in this aspect!

The next on line is a time-waste, but a good pastime for cricketers where the IPL is concerned. However there onwards there is the Asia Cup where the second or the third place has no bearing. Then it would be more gruelling when Sri Lanka hosts India for three Test matches and five ODIs before taking on Zimbabwe and Bangladesh for some intake of fresh air.

However before embarking into the future Sri Lanka’s hierarchy must have a closer look at the present status of cricket and take some meaningful decisions before the cookie just crumbles.