Sports
Cricket at crossroads
by Rex Clementine
This week’s court ruling giving thumbs up to changes be made to the constitution of Sri Lanka Cricket has been welcomed in cricket circles. Don’t want to sound like a doomsday prophet but you can bet your bottom dollar that the aggrieved parties will fight tooth and nail to ensure the status quo remains. People have already started fearing reforms like the plague.
One pities former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The ‘iron lady’ took on the cricket establishment two decades ago making sweeping changes. She spared none and brought in an interim administration headed by reputed banker Rienzie Wijetilleke. Soon the people whom Chandrika had angered brought down her government by effecting mass crossovers in the Parliament. It is rumored that ‘cricket money’ was used to topple her government.
There was again hope for cricket’s governance structure being changed when Naveen Dissanayake as Sports Minister in 2015 received International Cricket Council’s blessings for constitutional changes. Retired Supreme Court judge Prasanna Jayawardene had come up with a new constitution and cricket was facing a complete overhaul with the number of votes being reduced to 65. However, parties with vested interests again put a spoke in the wheel. Then President Maithripala Sirisena was told to take over the cabinet portfolio of sports to the SLFP from the UNP. That Sirisena did and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe instead of fighting to retain the sports ministry, simply gave in without a fight. It is for the political columnists to decide whether Ranil is a strong leader or a weak leader. But when he has overseen acts like the above even sports writers with little knowledge on politics can form their opinions.
Now President Wickremesinghe has another opportunity to ensure that history doesn’t repeat. A cabinet reshuffle is on the cards and a lot of pressure has been placed to remove Roshan Ranasinghe and his Secretary Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva. If the President is not a cricket fan let him be reminded in rugby terms that in the judiciary a try has been scored and now it is up to the executive to complete the conversion.
If Roshan Ranasinghe remains the Sports Minister a committee will be soon appointed to draft a new constitution as per the court instructions. It is paramount that people without vested interests become a part of this committee. SLC members and the petitioners can be interviewed when drafting the constitution, but they should not be part of the committee as reforms can not be dictated by aggrieved parties.
Sources said that Supreme Court judge K.T. Chithrasiri is expected to head the committee that will look into the constitutional changes. He is someone who is well respected and has some knowledge in sports.
A lot of people seem to have got carried away with the recommendations of Lodha committee in India that introduced sweeping changes to Indian cricket. However, Lodha committee’s recommendations aren’t infallible. While there are lots of good things in that report it also has flaws.
For example, if you take the northeast parts of India, it’s not got much of a cricket culture. The main sport in that region is football. With Lodha committee suggesting that each state having an equal footing whether it be votes or playing cricket a little heard team like Arunachal Pradesh entered the elite league. As a result, domestic cricket in India has been diluted. For example, Tamil Nadu recently became the first team in the history to score over 500 runs in a 50 over game.
The Lodha committee also banned politicians from having any role in cricket. However, some of India’s best cricket board chiefs have been politicians like S. Wankhede, N.P. Salve and Sharad Pawar.
It’s the same scenario in our backyard with the likes of Gamini Dissanayake, J.R. Jayewardene, Dr. N.M. Perera and T. B. Werapitiya being some of the politicians who have held office as the Presidents of the board.
However, if the committee decides that politicians should be banned from governing cricket, it should not be frowned upon. Let them also get rid of the rule that says that you need the approval of the sports minister after the selectors have picked a team. This rule is archaic.
The Lodha committee also recommended that more cricketers getting involved in governing of the game. Cricketers as administrators is a double-edged sword.
They may have the sharpest brains to work out the strategy to dismiss a batsman or script a run chase but that doesn’t make them brilliant administrators. Gamini Dissanayake had played little cricket but yet he was one of our most successful Board Presidents. So is Rienzie Wijetilleke.
The Lodha committee also had many good things and one of them was recommending having paid selectors. As a result, India’s Chairman of Selectors earns US$ 10,000 monthly now while rest of the selectors get paid US$ 8000 each.
Their hotels and transport are paid for, and they get a daily allowance of US$ 200 for expenses when they go to watch games. This means selectors now can not say that they are unable to get leave from work. Selection itself has become a full-time job. When that happens people who are worth their salt will come forward as selectors. According to the system we have in Sri Lanka, people who played more games than the wickets they took are in selection panels.
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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