Sports
Cricket needs to address discipline issues
by Rex Clementine
There’s a lot of respect for Virat Kohli’s batsmanship but still, lot of people don’t like his attitude. But if you ask the Indian press about his work ethic and diet routines, you will realize that what makes him the player he is, the discipline that he has brought into his lifestyle. India last played a Test series here in 2017. The team hotel’s gym opens at 6am apparently but when King Kohli is in town, the gym has to be opened at 5 in the morning. Butter chicken and naan roti are north Indian favourite menus but the Delhi born Kohli keeps them away when he’s involved in a series – home or away.
How much we Sri Lankans hope that we get a cricketer with that kind of work ethic. We did have one by the name of Kumar Sangakkara and that’s why he reached the peaks that no other Sri Lankan had ever reached. He was the only Sri Lankan batsman to be ranked number one in Tests for a record period of time.
Mind you this was at a time when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting were going all guns blazing. But none could match Sanga’s consistency. Such a shame that some of his best years were spent at Surrey and not in Sri Lankan colours.
The Danushka Gunathilaka episode in Australia shamed an entire nation. As we tried to point out time and again the system was too soft on Danushka when he got into trouble in the past. We are not a nation that is capable of nipping things in the bud. As if what happened in Sydney weren’t bad, this week two other players are in the news for the wrong reasons. This time it’s the Royal boys.
Chamika Karunaratne was fined US$ 5000 (peanuts for someone with an IPL deal) and then handed a suspended sentence of one year. The incident that had got him into trouble wasn’t mentioned but he is said to have pleaded guilty to the charges. According to reports, he is supposed to have picked up a fight at a Brisbane casino. Let the young man be reminded that Australia is not the kind of place to pick up fights at casinos. If he wants to know why let him go and find out how David Hookes died.
Less than 48 hours after the announcement of Karunaratne being fined came the news that his Royal College colleague Bhanuka Rajapaksa was withdrawing from the three match ODI series. Rajapaksa said in a twitter message that he was withdrawing to recover and refresh both physically and mentally. He also added that he had been playing with a few niggles and went onto say that being away from home had been a strain mentally.
Surprisingly, the board gave him the cold shoulder. Ideally, it is they who make these announcements and not the player. So, there are lots of questions coming out of the episode. Here’s a player who has not cemented his place in ODI squad and he’s withdrawing putting his place in the World Cup squad in jeopardy.
His health conditions must be respected, of course yes. But could we have saved the trouble by doing all this before going to Kandy. The talk at Maitland Place though is something different. That is the board wasn’t too keen to give him an NOC to play league cricket in another part of the world. This may have been Bhanuka’s way of teaching the board a lesson.
Seriously, no individual is bigger than the game. The board must put their foot down and make sure that their players behave. Sometimes the board is helpless as Royal College boys run to uncle Sagala. Others of course have the blessings of Harin aiya and Namal aiya.
We have been at times too soft on players. We have got a lot to learn from people like Rienzie T. Wijetilleke, the former board chairman. He was a banker and not a cricketer, but he knew the value of discipline.
When Kaushal Lokuarrachi was involved in a hit and run, Wijetilleke put his foot down and taught him a good lesson. More than the punishment you admired his statement. When the press asked for a comment, he said that accidents can happen, but you cannot run away from it. You’ve got to own up your mistakes. All respect to ex-President Chandrika Kumaratunga for proving to us that bankers also can run a sports body. All what you need is discipline, transparency and honesty. Wijetilleke had them in plenty. And he chose his running mates carefully; S. Skandakumar, Sidath Wettimuny and Kushil Gunasekara. There couldn’t have been a better team than that.
During the World Cup, Sri Lanka’s players were too relaxed. Partying and late-night outs are not new when players go to places like Australia, England or New Zealand. It has been happening for ages. As someone pointed out, the drinking culture in Sri Lankan cricket dates back to Sathasivam’s time.
The difference between Sri Lankan players who went on tours then and now is that they practiced the 11th commandment – do it but don’t get caught. Nowadays they are not only breaching contractual obligations but are proudly announcing them on social media too.
Jeffrey Vanderay, Kusal Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Niroshan Dickwella are all serial offenders and sometimes watching them closely will tell you a lot about their conduct. How else would you explain Dickwella not having a Test match hundred after nearly 100 innings? Some of the ways he gets out while on 90s are ridiculous. And he has no remorse about it whatsoever. If Duleep Mendis had been the Manager, he would have not allowed the batsman to enter the dressing room. Had Abu Fuard been there, he would have told Dickwella to take the next train from Galle and go back all the way to Kandy and wouldn’t have played him again. Amal Silva is a case in point.
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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