The need to review the reviews

by Rex Clementine

Many things in our cricket have fallen apart; including common sense. Here’s a case in point. Jerome Jayaratne has been a career coach and his loyalty has been with Sri Lanka Cricket for over two decades. His thesis on coaching was recognized by the International Cricket Council and that’s the one that modern day coaches follow. For some strange reason, SLC opted to take him out of coaching and put him in administration. They wanted to accommodate a British national as head of the coaching department. It didn’t work out. Sanity prevailed and Jerome has returned to coaching.

That’s not the only area where we have lacked common sense. Our choice of reviews over the years have been appalling.

It is now up to the likes of Jerome and Head Coach Mickey Arthur to do a review on Sri Lanka’s recent use of reviews. Statistically, we would fare badly compared to most nations. It is common knowledge that Sri Lanka in recent times lost quite a few series due to poor fielding and below par fitness levels. Poor use of reviews too has contributed heavily towards this. Maybe, the Bangladesh series is an opportunity for us to correct this.

When Sri Lanka were whitewashed by England 3-0 at home in 2018 it was a bitter pill to swallow for most fans. Galle had been a strong fort for Sri Lankan cricket and for ages given the scorching heat there, the Englishmen barely lasted three days. But in 2018, they won in Galle and went onto complete an emphatic series win.

No doubt England played some terrific cricket but Sri Lanka committed hara-kiri with their poor use of reviews. Often, Sri Lanka would have exhausted both their reviews even before the team’s number one bowler – Rangana Herath had been introduced to the attack. The main culprit of poor use of reviews was Niroshan Dickwella.

The point was conveyed to the team management then but it was difficult to convince them. They seemed to be more hooked onto the idea that the bowlers were not creating any opportunities. No wonder they didn’t last long.

Now, Dickwella is one of the brightest talents around and there’s no doubt that he should play in all three formats of the game. But, he needs to watch his enthusiasm for reviews. Often, when urging the captain to go for a review, his immaturity and compulsive nature become too evident. Every appeal, according to Dickwella it seems, should result in the umpire raising the finger. He has forgotten the golden rule that reviews are there to rectify the glaring blunders.

It’s a catch 22 situation for Sri Lanka. Your wicketkeeper is in the best position to tell the captain whether to review or not. It appears often that Dickwella rather than weighing the merits and demerits of an appeal, goes with the gut feeling and urges the captain to consult the third umpire.

The captain had to be firm with Dickwella driving home the point how vital reviews were and the negative impact their improper use was having on the team.

It’s a pity because Sri Lanka was one of the countries that used reviews so well when it was introduced first. Playing against India when Decision Review System made it debut in 2008, Mahela Jayawardene had an amazing success rate compared to his counterpart Anil Kumble.

Given how poorly the Sri Lankans have reviewed in recent years, it is not a bad idea to give bowlers, captain and the keeper bit of training on the matter. It may sound bizarre but what else could you do when you have given away so much of advantage to the opposition due to poor reviews.