Sports
Let’s find solutions to problems, not scapegoats
by Rex Clementine
The Asia Cup final last Sunday was a bitter pill to swallow. While 35,000 adoring fans turned up at RPS paying through the nose to witness a good game of cricket, most streets in the country were deserted as millions of ardent fans watched the proceedings on television with keenness hoping for Sri Lanka to defend their title. Alas, it was all over in two hours. Sri Lanka had been shot out for their lowest total at home – 50.
The final was an anti-climax no doubt. Rather than discussing conspiracy theories and offering the game to India on a platter, let us address the real issues facing our cricket. Every time we play India in recent years, they expose the vast gap between the teams. They have moved far ahead while we keep blaming the usual suspects.
On every occasion where we lose a big final or by a massive margin we find scapegoats. It used to be all Kumar Sangakkara’s fault at one point. Then we moved onto Angelo Mathews. The blame was placed in the doorstep of Chandika Hathurusinghe more recently. This time around we found a scapegoat in Dasun Shanaka.
It is incredible that the selectors thought that the captain needed to go with just over one week left for the team’s departure to India for the sport’s showpiece event.
That is exactly what they have been doing during their tenure of over two years – finding scapegoats. Some of our heaviest defeats in the sport both in red and white ball formats have come under the current set of selectors. Instead of finding solutions and addressing the real issues, the selectors have found whipping boys and passed on the blame.
Chairman of Selectors Pramodya Wickramasinghe made a hue and cry about players’ fitness and then got rid of half a dozen seniors from the white ball formats. He then made players ineligible for selection if they failed fitness tests. You wonder what has happened to those rigid fitness routines now? Dare we say the team that he picks for the World Cup will at least have two or three players who do not meet minimum fitness standards.
India’s success is not just due to the IPL. There are various other aspects like some terrific athletes like Virat Kohli coming through and pushing all sorts of limits. Although fitness standards have been lowered since Rohit Sharma took over as captain, India have overall high standards in fitness. India’s strength always has been their spin but nowadays they have backed their quicks and if you wonder how come someone like Mohammed Shami can not find a place in the side, Mohmmed Siraj answered those questions in the finals.
There is so much at stake in Indian cricket and you don’t find players overstepping the line whereas we have multiple discipline issues ranging from drunk driving, brawls at casinos and even players being arrested on overseas soil.
Much needs to be done to put our cricket in order and threatening to sack Dasun Shanka alone will not solve our problems.
The same set of selectors were responsible for appointing Dasun as ODI captain knowing all too well that he didn’t own a place in the ODI team. During the contract crisis with Kusal Janith Perera on warpath with the establishment, the selectors wanted a compromise candidate and Dasun Shanaka fitted that bill. KJP was given the cold shoulder. Bloodless cricketing coups aren’t a new thing in our country and from Bandula Warnapura onwards many captains have suffered the same fate.
The selectors had so many chances to get rid of Dasun if they wanted but they were playing political games. Obviously, they didn’t want to go back to Angelo Mathews, the rightful heir to the throne. Wanindu Hasaranga is of course too independent and will be tough to control while the selectors have had differences with Dhananjaya de Silva.
Having waited this long, when the nation is angry following the Asia Cup final debacle, the selectors thought that Dasun is their fall guy for they needed someone.
Thankfully sanity prevailed. With the World Cup just around the corner, this is not the right time to change your captain and you’ve got to wait till the World Cup is over.
As for Dasun, there’s so much he can work on to ensure that he doesn’t become a mere passenger in India. He can start with tightening his defence. However, he seems to be too busy doing PR acts apologizing to fans for the losses.
Whatever said and done, under Dasun’s leadership Sri Lanka have reached back-to-back Asia Cup finals. On both occasions Star Sports and the organizers were hoping for an India-Pakistan clash but Dasun has spoilt those plans. Having done that now it is time to make some contributions with the bat and get noticed or face the axe after the World Cup.
If Dasun doesn’t perform with the bat in India, the selectors should ask him to step down. While doing so they themselves can tender their resignations for their flawed policies is a reason why the game is not moving forward.
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]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
