Sports
Born a rebel!
by Rex Clementine
The year was 1979. West Indies during those stop-over tours to Sri Lanka before the country had gained Test status were playing a game in Galle. Sylvester Clarke, the fearsome fast bowler from Barbados floored Sri Lankan opener Bandula Warnapura with a vicious bouncer. Bandula is a fighter. He was unconscious for six hours. Then he recovered and two years later went onto become the nation’s first Test captain. Life has punched a cruel blow to him right now. Don’t be surprised if he comes out of this tough time and goes onto become the President of the Cricket Board in two years time when the elections are due.
Warnapura was never the player he was after being floored by Clarke. Prior to that, he had never ducked. He took on the fast bowlers. In fact, when Tony Greig skippered the MCC side to Colombo in 1977 in a radio interview he said that after Sunil Gavaskar, the best opening batsman in the Asian region was Bandula. His was a game of sheer elegance. He was a tough player.
This newspaper has spoken to every cricketer who went on the rebel tour to South Africa including the mastermind of the series, Dr. Ali Bacher. They all have their reasons for going on the tour and organizing it. Many of them echoed same sentiments; that they were victims of circumstances. Some others said that they were in the twilight of their careers and there was no hope.
Only Bandula spoke the harsh truth. He went there for the money. He was born a rebel, played the game, skippered the side and ran the sport like a rebel. He didn’t mind when we used the term ‘filthy lucre’. He in fact had been taken for a ride. There was no second tour to South Africa that Bacher had promised. He was left high and dry. Bacher wasn’t the only person who had taken Bandula for a ride. There were many others. Bandula took them all on the chin.
Bandula’s finest hour in the sport came during the 1979 World Cup. With skipper Anura Tennekoon injured, he stepped in as captain for the game against India, a star studded side. Sri Lanka overcame India in what was World Cup’s first ever shock. That went a long way in the nation gaining Test status two years later.
The specialty of his captaincy was that he was a players’ man. He would fight for his colleagues and would do much to make the youngsters feel comfortable. Sidath Wettimuny recalled how in his first appearance for Sri Lanka he was feeling nervous and the captain approached him and asked where he wanted to field. Sidath was told to go and field wherever you like!
The rebel tour had a massive toll on him; it ended his career and brought many challenges to his life. When he skippered the side to South Africa, he basically was taking on the top brass of the government. President J.R. Jayewardene was a former Board President and was the President of SSC at that time. His two deputies Gamini Dissanayake was the Board President and Lalith Athulathmudali was President of NCC. Lalith was the Cricket Board President in waiting.
These three smart politicians, not many dared crossing their paths. In Bandula’s own words, ‘they were very good friends, but bad enemies.’
That was like taking on Holding, Marshall and Roberts in their prime. Even those fine fast bowlers of West Indies wouldn’t have had such venom. Bandula was being hunted and trouble after trouble followed him. He never gave up though.
When the ban was eventually lifted, he did not mellow down. Business establishments wanted someone who raised the company’s profile rather than someone who spoke the plain truth. Cricket establishment meanwhile employed him but became increasingly worried about the independent manner in which he carried things out. In fact, when he left Maitland Place for Malaysia to take over a posting at the Asian Cricket Council, cricket bosses thought it was a blessing in disguise.
A few years ago, SLC wanted him to take up a key position. But cricket bosses were scared that they will not have control over the affairs if Bandula was calling the shots. Instead, they preferred a yes man. He never got the job and instead was taking part in reality shows as a judge while cricket was suffering many setbacks.
Bandula did have ambitious plans. With a few good men he wanted to contest the next cricket elections. He was getting his act together for his next biggest challenge when something totally unexpected happened. He is hanging in there and he needs to continue the fight. Cricket needs him.
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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