Sports
Cricket desperately needs another Sanga
by Rex Clementine
The Cricket administration headed by Shammi Silva is getting roasted these days for the mess they have created and the humiliations the national cricket team has suffered. Together with them the national selection committee and Consultant Coach Mahela Jayawardene, who had a free hand to put cricket right, deserve blame for his failed policies and picking wrong personal. Players should not be spared blame either. They are equally responsible for the current mess.
It took one Virat Kohli to change the culture of Indian cricket. Fitness was alien to most Indian cricketers and when Kohli the fitness freak came into the scene not only did he dominate the sport but others started following his rigid routines. As captain, Kohli kicked out anyone who didn’t meet the fitness standards. Today Indian cricket is in a different level.
We had our own Kumar Sangakkara, whose insane training methods not only made him the highest run getter for Sri Lanka in both Test and ODIs but the world’s number one ranked batsman for a record number of weeks. Sanga left no stone unturned in his bid to go onto become the best in the world. As a result, from an ordinary wicketkeeper batsman he went onto become one of sport’s greats.
Why we have suffered the current mess is that nobody has taken a leaf out of Sanga’s book. Everyone is happy to live the comfortable life of an international cricketer. No one is willing to go out of their comfort zones.
Every time a young player graces the scene and shows promise, you are excited about the future ahead. But soon the team’s culture catches up with him and he becomes part of the problem and not a problem solver. You just hope that Sadeera Samarawickrama doesn’t go the same way for he was one player who was fully focused on his game.
Currently the culture within the Sri Lankan team is not so great. They are all happy go lucky men and no one is prepared to burn the midnight oil to become the best he can.
The term optional training should cease to exist if Sri Lanka were to become a force in the sport again. Optional training maybe a method that is good enough for professional outfits like Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, but it doesn’t fit in with our system.
When the training is optional even the reserves who are not supposed to play the game fail to turn up for training, The purpose of optional training is to keep the players fresh. But the system has been abused. To make training optional, the Sri Lankans aren’t covering themselves in glory. The 16 catches that they spilled during the World Cup is proof for that and Sri Lanka were easily the worst fielding unit in the competition.
It is up to the selectors to look beyond players who are not willing to make sacrifices. As for the current panel they have no idea about what it means to groom a player. They have much to learn from men like Michael Tissera, Duleep Mendis and Sidath Wettimuny.
There is a lot of talk about Sri Lanka’s skill levels not being up with rest of the world. Well, that may be true but the players who have been chosen need to show more commitment than this.
The manner in which Kusal Mendis threw away his wicket time after time was a bitter pill to swallow. When the captain sets such standards what more do we have to say about the others. You always had doubts about Mendis the captain. Is he matured enough to take up a role as big as the leadership. Captaincy doesn’t only mean having a good cricket brain and owning a place in the side. A captain also has to be the ambassador of his nation. Be an example for others to follow. Mendis has a long way to get there.
The team’s culture of blaming everyone else for their woes rather than themselves is insane. Yes, Shakib-Al-Hasan was wrong to appeal for time out and not to withdraw his appeal. But what else do you expect from Shakib? He has been always like that, a spoil sport.
However much Angelo Mathews tries to defend his action, let’s not be blinded by the fact that the fault is only the opposition’s. Mathews is a smart bloke and you expected much from him. That can be even forgiven. What can not be forgiven is him endorsing the captain’s refusal to shake hands with the opposition. That was the last straw.
That’s not the way Sri Lankans play their cricket. We have had a captain who recalled a batsman after he had been given out wrongly and another captain who saved a World Cup final from ending in farce after the match officials had got things completely wrong. That’s the Sri Lankan style of playing the game. We need to change. Our culture needs to change.
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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