Sports
When failures boast of success
by Rex Clementine
Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, lamenting the sorry state of Sri Lankan cricket, has recalled how the game was run during his tenure as Sports Minister in 2014. His boastful claims reminded us how disastrous his tenure as the Sports Minister was.
One of the first things that Mahindananda did soon after assuming duties as Sports Minister was to pack the Cricket Board with his Royal College buddies – Eshana de Silva and Sarinda Unamboowe.
Aluthgamage has a remarkable ability to handpick square pegs for round holes.
SLC constructed a brand-new cricket stadium and extensively refurbished two other grounds ahead of the 2011 World Cup while Aluthgamage was the Sports Minister. Questions were raised over the manner in which funds were spent on those constructions. There were calls for a probe. Curiously, they fell on deaf ears. The computer hard disks at SLC went missing under mysterious circumstances. Mahindananda did not take action against SLC, for the Cricket Board was full of his or his political master’s buddies.
Mahindananda has bragged that during his tenure as the Sports Minister the national cricket team was ranked number two. If not for his unnecessary meddling with running of the sport, Sri Lanka could have gone on to become number one. Don’t believe us. Ask the then captain Kumar Sangakkara, who at one point claimed that Mahindananda was all out to discredit his reputation.
The then Head Coach Trevor Bayliss was known for maintaining a very low profile but not even he could help exposing serious deficiencies in the game, and publicly wished cricket administration were without political interference. Mahindananda was like a cat on a hot tin roof at that point. But a majority of Sri Lankans agreed with Bayliss’ well-observed comments.
Bayliss was replaced by Geoff Marsh, a fine sportsman and a coach who had the rare distinction of winning both the Ashes and the World Cup, first as a player then as a coach. The Island covered both his assignments in UAE against Pakistan and the tour of South Africa in 2011. The way he developed the team, especially the young players, was quite remarkable,
South Africa is such a hard place to compete in. Usually, Sri Lankan teams would lose there, inside three days, mostly by an innings or other heavy margins. But Marsh made a complete turn-around and Sri Lanka won the Boxing Day Test match in Durban. The press hailed Marsh as the man who could bring back the glory days of Sri Lankan cricket. At the end of the tour, Mahindananda did something nobody expected. Guess what. He had Marsh sacked! The tough Aussie proved he was made of sterner stuff; he successfully sued SLC, which had to pay him a hefty amount by way of compensation. All this happened while Mahindananda was the Sports Minister.
Don’t forget that during Mahindananda’s tenure as the Sports Minister, Sri Lanka Cricket went bankrupt; it could not even pay players, coaches, employees and contractors so much so that the government had to bail it out. Thus, Mahindananda’s excesses became a burden on the poor taxpayer.
More recently, Mahindananda did what he is adept at—having egg on his face. He claimed that the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup had been fixed. The players were up in arms and wanted their names cleared. It was a great game of cricket and the better team on that day – India – won. The ICC issuing a statement said that it had no reason to believe that the 2011 final was corrupt. ICC Anti-Corruption chief Alex Marshall also refuted claims that Mahindananda had reported his suspicions to the ICC in 2011. A bull in a China shop is less troublesome than Mahindananda.
All in all, Mahindananda’s five-year tenure as Minister of Sports was a disaster. It is laughable that he is now offering unsolicited advice to SLC, which is at least a democratically-elected body. While he was the Sports Minister, his cronies were going places, and corruption and waste were rampant at SLC. Officials were spending money like drunken sailors hitting town. No wonder the board went bankrupt.
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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