Sports
How cricket can help overcome Lanka’s foreign reserve woes
by Rex Clementine
There are some concerns about the national economy with former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe raising alarm about diminishing foreign reserves. Listening to the UNP leader one recalls the pithy local saying, ‘bale thiyanakota mole ne, mole thiyanakota bale ne’ (when one has power one has no brains, and vice versa). Under his watch, men in three piece suits put professional banker robbers to shame; they walked away with billions of rupees in the form of fraudulently obtained Treasury bonds.
The great game of cricket helps take a man’s mind out of his troubles and if properly utilized, and could solve our foreign reserves crisis as well.
The upcoming six-match limited overs series will see Sri Lanka Cricket earning as much as US$ 12 million as television revenue. SLC sources inform us that maintaining several bio-secure bubbles for players, coaching staff, match officials and ground staff will be costly, but the board is sure earn a profit of at least US$ 10 million.
Indian cricket is a cash cow and if our government is able to negotiate with Narendra Modi’s government and play an extended series, we may be able to overcome our foreign currency woes to some extent. Cricket’s most powerful man at present Jay Shah, the Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India, is the son of Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and PM Modi’s right-hand man.
Imagine India playing five Tests, seven ODIs and seven T-20s in Sri Lanka, something that has been never ever tried before. That’s close to 40 days of cricket and SLC’s profit will be so huge that it will be able to pay for the PCR tests on the poor scribes.
A little known fact is that BCCI has bailed SLC out many a time. There have been instances where BCCI came down hard on us as in 2008, when the SLC stepped out of line. Those running Indian cricket from Madras reached out our Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge and wanted the administration changed. The board was sacked in less than 24 hours and India honoured its word by sending down their team for a bilateral tour. That was the moment, the world got to know about someone who answers to the name of N. Srinivasan. Lessons were learnt. Never cross the path of the man fondly known among cricket fans as Srini mama.
That Minister Lokuge ran the affairs of the cricket board through his Ministry Secretary and entered into a television agreement with a blacklisted company is a different story. True to form, the company defaulted payment. It was yet another investigation that the Yahapalana government swept under the carpet.
That Sri Lanka will not win a single game in this six-match series is quite a possibility. Many have said that this is a second string team but then, India is far more experienced than Sri Lanka. Two of their players have featured in more than 100 ODIs while three others have played in more than 50 ODIs. For Sri Lanka Dhananjaya de Silva with 50 ODIs under his belt is the most experienced. Kusal Janith Perera could miss the series due to a shoulder injury.
The result of this series will matter little for those who are running the sport. More importantly, they would want to see the series being completed, for the windfall from this tour is important to be invested in the development of the game and running it.
At times, you feel compelled not to do everything that India wants you to do. But we have so much to gain by having India on our side. Even bigger boards like England and Australia have fallen in line with India. However much you dislike the Big Three concept, you have got to bite the bullet, set aside your ego and move with times. That SLC seems to be doing cleverly in spite of its many failings.
One is reminded of Kerry Packer’s last words to Australian cricket chief Bob Parish and his Secretary Alan Barnes before he took them on, ‘Gentlemen, there is a wee bit of whore in all of us. How much do you want?’
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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