Sending mixed signals

by Rex Clementine

Isn’t that strange on the year we celebrate the silver jubilee of winning the ICC Cricket World Cup, that we are in the brink of qualifying for the sport’s showpiece event in 2023. The wheels have come off faster in the T20 format as six years after winning the World T20, we will be playing a qualifying round.

There are some genuine efforts made to revive the sport and we can certainly do without some egoist know-it-alls.

The invitation T20 league comprising four teams is certainly a move in the right direction and it needs all the backing.

A Provincial tournament with 50 overs and four day formats to be played later on would have been perfect. However, there are some who want to avoid the Provincial tournament like the plague no matter how bad the situation is. The harsh truth is that an administration that’s antagonizing the clubs have little chance to survive. Hence the resistance.

However, the Provincial system is inevitable and it will be thrusted on the system as all bright brains agree that’s the way forward.

Each team in the competition comprises of 18 players. You wonder whether a five team event with 15 players each would have been better off. However, the times we live in are such that cricket in Covid days require extended squads.

They could have also done with better and  smarter selections. It has been said that the performance of this event will be a guideline for selecting squads for the home series against South Africa and the T20 World Cup that follows.

However, by selecting 35-year-olds what’s the message you are sending? Let’s say some of these players perform exceptionally and are you going to leave them out from the side for the two upcoming series?

You are placing yourself in a very uncomfortable position for you have just axed a host of seniors from shorter formats and good performance by some of the older players is going to bring undue pressure.

The choice of captains is also quite strange. Ashan Priyajan is not going to lead Sri Lanka in international cricket and by appointing him for leadership, you are not sure what you want to achieve. Charith Asalanka has captained the Under-19 side and has been earmarked as a captain in waiting. He’s also had decent outings against India recently and he should have been leading one of the sides.