Sports
From mastermind to never mind
Rex Clementine in Bombay
When former captain Mahela Jayawardene was handed the reins of running cricket, everyone agreed that it was the right call. He was coming with some unprecedented success having guided Mumbai Indians to multiple titles in the IPL.
MJ was keen on working with the Under-19 side first, smart move you thought because that was exactly the blueprint Rahul Dravid had followed. Dravid had prepared the nucleus at youth level and by the time he became India coach, all the young players whom he had groomed at junior level were knocking on the doors of the senior side. Dravid has taken the Indian team to a different level while MJ has been an utter failure with Sri Lanka. What went wrong?
MJ undoubtedly is one of the brightest brains in our cricket. Arjuna Ranatunga once said that while captaining SSC, when he thinks of a move to dismiss a batsman, by the end of an over, MJ had come up with a better plan.
As Sri Lanka captain he was a godsend, always a step ahead. He had some brilliant players at his disposal, and he was smart enough to make most of them.
As coach though, why he got it wrong was because he relied too heavily on confidants. Key positions in cricket were handed to friends and on club loyalty. Most key positions of the national team be it the captaincies, post of Team Manager, Chairman of Selectors or ‘A’ team coach, no one beyond SSC were considered.
When Ashantha de Mel’s term as Chairman of Selectors ended, the names of several competent former cricketers were mentioned but MJ was hellbent on having incumbent Pramodya Wickremesinghe. MJ perhaps intended to control the selection process through one of his confidants.
But results have been disastrous. They launched a youth policy for white ball cricket alienating half a dozen seniors. Their fitness regime promising better results was used selectively. Initially, players who failed fitness tests were made ineligible for selection. But when certain players failed fitness tests, they played by a different set of rules. A bull in a China Shop is less troublesome than our Chief Selector.
Along with MJ, the selectors, Batting Coach, Bowling Coach, Fielding Coach and Physiotherapist the whole lot have to go.
Last year we faced an injury crisis in Australia. It is impossible to think that how a smart cooky like MJ failed to address the issue. The end result was that we were left with more injuries for this World Cup. How Lahiru Kumara breaks down after playing two games is inexplicable.
The MJ of good old days was a firm believer that there should be no political interference when it comes to team selections. But now he is a changed man. Just before the team departed for the World Cup, the selectors had called Dasun Shanaka to step down. It all changed dramatically in 24 hours and Dasun was back in the saddle. MJ did nothing. He kept quiet. He is a matured man and has now chosen to fight his battles carefully. How strange.
MJ was a vocal critic of our domestic structure and time and again he harped on the point that the number of teams competing in domestic cricket needs to be reduced. A system has been introduced to relegate teams and make First Class competitive again. But there has been some interferences. MJ sees no evil. He is a reformed man.
Much was expected of MJ when he took over. Instead of being ruthless and straight forward, like he used to be, he has compromised. That was his downfall.
Under his watch, discipline in the team has eroded drastically. What happened during the tour of Australia is a case of point. Instead of those players being punished and kept at arm’s length, in a bid to introduce a good culture to the team, they have been tolerated.
As for the board, they are under pressure for some time now. Not only has the performances of the national team hit new lows under their watch, but they also seem just not care and are unwilling to introduce remedies. They seem to think that press is their biggest enemy, and they are being supported by corrupt politicians and crooked lawyers. Cricket sadly has suffered. Unless we shake up the system and find remedies, our cricket is going to go the West Indies way.
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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