Sports
Rugby’s obsessions and the big men who want their ‘cake’
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Rugby in Sri Lanka is slowly seeing a revival in terms of spectator interest. If one saw the increase in crowds at the last couple of deciding games of the inter-club league rugby tournament there is room to harbour hopes for the future.
Kandy SC attracted the greatest number of fans no doubt this season. And CR&FC was a close second; in terms of the power to attract viewers. All these statistics are vital from a sponsor point of view. Sponsors love crowds and for the game to have a huge fan base. The security forces and the police can vouch for the fact that there were crowds when they hosted matches at home venues. But in the past crowds at such matches were a mix of employees of the establishment plus visitors; in other words, the public. In the late 1980s and early 1990s fans went to watch Police SC in action because the law enforcement officers were represented at rugby by legends in the game; individuals who also went to represent the country at rugby. Sadly, despite some clubs like Police and Havelock SC having household names in rugby, the sport or these clubs failed to attract sponsors in their numbers like it happens in present times.
One of the biggest complaints against club rugby- many seasons ago- was that the game was slow and predictable. You see schoolboys playing fast open rugby and being nippy on the field. A few seasons later they step into the adult world of rugby. By acquiring employment these young school leavers start to enjoy food and beverages which were not on the menu at home or school. This new lifestyle makes players gain in girth. We still don’t see hundred percent solid muscle in the structure of players. But that’s beside the point. Now we see bulky players running fast and the message they give is that ‘the bigger you are, the better you are at rugby’. There is no way this is going to happen. It is disheartening to know that there are some players who maintain that they can follow new training routines aimed at raising performance, but cannot compromise on the 100 kg weight they carry at present. One player in the present set-up who went against this tide is Kandy SC’s Srinath Sooriyabandara (Soori). He lost so many kilos and revolutionized his game. “Soori” is also one of the oldest players featuring in the domestic tournament.
If you see some of the best runners in the game of rugby union they are a lot smaller. Players must work on speed and power, not necessarily getting big. But Sri Lankans-both players and spectators- are obsessed with size. There are other things in the sport of rugby that your must be obsessed with like stadiums, gyms, rehab work and infrastructure development. There was a time when Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) was boasting about the island’s player base being over 100,000, but then where was the quality in these players?
There are so many obsessions connected with rugby. At one time there was an obsession to plant oneself in Kandy and play for the Nittawela Club. Still Kandy SC is a fantastic institute to represent and be part of because it has not lost its rugby fans. But other clubs like CR&FC and CH&FC have the clout to attract new blood and influence crossovers. As players, each year, ask themselves the question ‘what’s there for me in this offer made by a club that wants me’ the focus has shifted from club loyalty to player welfare. And on a positive note, players are well looked after for their skill and commitment; rugby is semi professional at present in this country and the three forces teams and the police are also good paymasters compared to clubs like Kandy, CH, CR and Havelocks.
In the good old days, there was an obsession for players to work on individual skill. Players like Hisham Abdeen, Chandrishan Perera, Saman Jayasinghe, Tikiri Marambe, Priyantha Ekayanake and Sudath Sampath to name a few were hell-bent on starting individual training before the coach stepped on to the ground and started team sessions for everybody. Today, rugby is more team work and thanks to that the selfish player no longer exists! Rugby today is monotonous and brutal and might not necessarily produce sparks unless there is individual brilliance; like a streak of lightning. There are both the good and the bad associated with rugby in terms of the sport moving away from its old ways and embracing what’s new.
We look forward to rugby on Saturday and Sunday because there is entertainment value in the game again at domestic level. Clubs are now coming up and raising their game. Sponsors are sticking with the game and the institutes that nurture the players. This rugby set-up will be complete if we can pump some blood into the national team and make the cream of the island’s player be available for national duty.
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]
