Sports
The curious case of Sadeera Samarawickrama
by Rex Clementine
These days selectors are appointed on club loyalties or personal friendships. There was a move a few years ago to bring Marvan Atapattu as the Chairman of Selectors. One legend resisted. He didn’t want Marvan there. The reason being that there would have been no place to carry out his agendas with Marvan at the helm. Instead, he pleaded with the powers that be to install a puppet. Since then, we have all been treated with a puppet show. It’s been a comedy of errors! It truly has been.
We have had some fantastic chief selectors overs the years. There was Mr. Michael Tissera, who was instrumental in bringing Aravinda de Silva back into the fold. Aravinda had given up hopes of making a comeback, but Mr. Tissera offered him a chance on one condition, get fitter and bat at number four for Sri Lanka again. The rest is history.
That’s what a selector should do. International sportsmen have big egos and sometimes you don’t see eye to eye with them. Confrontation may work with some players, but not all. As Mr. Tissera used to say, ‘there are many ways to skin a cat.’
We also had Ashantha de Mel, who very smartly detected that Kumar Sangakkara will be better off as a specialist batsman in Test match cricket than wicketkeeper batsman and it proved to be a masterstroke. De Mel by the way was Chairman of Selectors when Sri Lanka became the first Asian nation to win a Test series in South Africa.
Then there was late Guy de Alwis, bless him, who feared no one. He took over at a time when there was undue political influence being placed on team selections. Guy resisted them all and had an honourable exit refusing to carry out the Sports Minister’s request. Guy de Alwis was a rare breed.
Graham Labrooy became chief selector in 2017. Out of the blue, he picked Sadeera Samarawickrama, who was 21 at that time. Sadeera had not scored heavily in domestic cricket. He wasn’t a permanent fixture in the ‘A’ team either. But Labrooy was convinced that he had seen all the right attitudes in young Sadeera.
A player who loved to attack, was excellent on the field, gave you the wicketkeeper’s option, trained hard and remained grounded. That type of young player like Sadeera was very much the need of the hour Labrooy felt as there were too many young players who were getting into trouble for their off the field activities.
Labrooy was proved right. During Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 2017 former great V.V.S. Laxman spoke so highly of Sadeera and so did Indian captain Virat Kohli.
Sadeera was fielding at short leg in the Delhi Test when he copped a nasty blow to his head from Kohli. Instead of retiring to the comforts of the dressing room, Sadeera carried on regardless. Kohli liked that attitude even though it had come from the opposition camp.
But there was a complete overhaul in 2018. The selectors changed, team management changed and there was a new Head Coach. Sadeera was given the cold shoulder.
It has taken Sadeera six more years to cement his place in the side. Quite strange indeed for in those six years our players haven’t been covering themselves in glory. We had tried many young players during that period with little success. Some of the promising players had got into trouble multiple times and had got suspended. But we even tolerated them time and again.
In the meantime, poor Sadeera suffered in silence. It goes onto show that how badly our selectors have managed the national cricket team. Anyone who watches Sadeera train or carries himself off the field should have got convinced that here is a player who needs to be preserved with. Sadly we did not. Perhaps, Sadeera didn’t represent the right club in domestic cricket.
A move from Park Road to the right Maitland Place club would have helped him to get a break and a permanent slot much earlier.
At halfway mark of the World Cup, Sadeera is not only Sri Lanka’s highest run getter but the sixth top run scorer in the competition.
There are often complains that our system doesn’t produce players who are capable to face the demands of international cricket. Sadeera has proved it wrong. There are players who can produce results at the highest level. Just that they need to be picked and backed.
At the age of 28, Sadeera has played just 27 ODIs. Had we preserved with Labrooy’s policies, Sadeera would have by now played over 150 ODIs and won us lot more games. Better late than never though. Now that Sadeera is here, let’s enjoy his batsmanship and his excellence on the field. You can be guaranteed that here is a player who will not get into trouble on or off the field. This kid is so focused on his game. Sri Lanka badly needs players like him. He can be our Virat Kohli.
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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