Sports
School rugby captains must think like leaders, not managers
By A Special Sports Correspondent
The two semi-finals of the under 19 Inter-School President’s Trophy rugby tournament produced two finalists after well-contested games with Isipatana and League champions St. Peter’s booking their slots for the final showdown at the Sugathadasa Stadium on September 10 (Sunday).
The second semi-final between arch-rivals St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s produced a nail-biting finish with the lads from Bambalapitiya pulling through with a 16 points to 11 win at Havelock Sports Club. What must be lauded is that St. Peter’s have remained unbeaten this season and have a strong bench when compared to other teams. We saw how the Peterites were reinforced time and again in their semi-final game with able reserve players who stepped in and continued with the momentum on the field. Joes played well, but their downfall was probably the yellow card given away by skipper Navin Marasinghe in the 57th minute of play. Joes survived without their skipper for ten minutes and even managed to level the scores 11 all with a penalty by Ivano White. What must be mentioned here is that Marasinghe is such an asset to the side as an attacking player, but his role as captain must be questioned. Last season too he was the danger man and the main ball carrier, but this year the Joes could have done better if he improved his reading on the game by moving to the next level as a thinker and leader on the rugby field. It will serve the game well if coaches also concentrate on molding captains and instilling leadership qualities in them. But then again some may argue that there are distinct differences between leaders on the sports field and managers in the corporate sector. Abraham Zaleznik writing for the special edition of the Harvard Business Review of 2004 states that managers’ goals arise out of necessity rather than desire. He adds that on the contrary, a leader adopts personal active attitudes toward goals. He continues to add, “They look (leaders) for the opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates, firing up the creative process with their own energy. There is enough here in Zeleznik’s writing for school rugby captains to pick up and get inspired. The school rugby authorities also can seriously consider introducing an award for the best school rugby captain during each season. There were a few occasions in the past when rugby authorities had an award for the ‘best-disciplined schools rugby team’ during invitation tournaments, but sadly the authorities didn’t continue with this award and made it a permanent feature during the awards distribution ceremonies at school rugby tournaments.
St. Peter’s did well to clear their semi-final hurdle in the President’s Trophy Knockout Tournament against St. Joseph’s with a 16-11 win at Havelock Park on Sunday.
In the other semi-final Isipatana did well to defuse a charge by Zahira; the first half producing an even contest with the lads from Maradana scoring first and taking the fight up to the Green Shirts. Zahira were trailing 13-10 at the breather. Isipatana then swelled their score with a barrage of tries in the second half; Navin Kanishka’s chargers crossing the Zahira goal line on four occasions after the turn around to seal the game. The winners ran down as many as six tries during the entire game and most importantly found an addition to supplement the place-kicking duties of Rinesh Silva, who has suddenly encountered issues with accuracy when kicking at goal. Skipper Kanishka rose to the occasion and chipped in with two conversions; most importantly taking away some of the pressure from Silva’s shoulders. Isipatana coach Saliya Kumara will vouch that one cannot ask for a better set of three quarters and it’s just about fine-tuning their skills before the big one on Sunday. Players in the likes of Heshan Randimal, Shahid Zumri, Chamindu Chirath, Iroshana Gamage, Shehandu de Costa, Kalindu Silva, Rinesh Silva and Nisaja Jayaweera have backed their skipper Kanishka with large-hearted performances this season.
Zahira must be applauded for coming so far this season having earned a promotion to Division 1 Segment A rugby after working its way up from Segment B last season. The other team that did exceptionally well this season was D.S. Senanayake which was quite unlucky not to make it to the knockout stage of the school rugby season. They too earned a promotion to Division 1 Segment A after playing in Segment B last season.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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