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| Sunday, 16 June 2002 |
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The big 'Test' by Srian Obeyesekere The Old Trafford Test will to a large extent be the yardstick to summing up how good or how bad Sri Lanka is playing away from home. Stepping up a campaign from nine Test wins on the trot, the majority which have been on familiar home conditions, Sanath Jayasuriya's islanders have run into trouble on English soil. Trailing 1-0 having been thrown into the dumps of a 111-run innings defeat in the second Test at Edgbaston, Old Trafford will literally be a last ditch attempt for the Sri Lankans to retrieve from humiliation. But this third Test which at the time of writing has not got off the ground, will stretch much further in terms of definition. The result will tell whether the Lankans have got through the tough Test of being able to hold its own away from home. Indeed, salvage will be the name of the game at a venue considered `friendly' to the Lankans in terms of conditions. More of a sub continent nature, known to suit spin Old Trafford will be looked to with much anticipation by Jayasuriya and company for tweak wizard Muttiah Muralirtharan to exploit. As much as for the fact it is a track known to be quite un-English to the English. Memorable of all that famous Test dating back to the 1960's when England, boasting of the likes of Ted Dexter, Peter May and Brian Close, buckled to the leg spin of Australia's Richie Benaud who led from the front. In perspective Jayasuriya and his team can consider the conditions the best to be asked for to win and draw the 3-match series. But even as the Lankans count their chances of jinxing England who have not won at Old Trafford in the last 16 outings, coach Dav Whatmore's echoed sentiment of better accountability from the Lankan players must rhyme. As much as to the team to the new management back home bent on guiding the destinies of Lankan cricket. Whatmore's urging, based more on the pathetic batting display by the frontliners than the bowling, significantly strikes a chord with the warning by new Chairman of Selectors, Guy de Alwis that names will not count in selections but performance alone. Alwis, a former Thomian who donned the gloves for Sri Lanka matched by blistering batting, has indeed started with a bang. The chief selectors message must ring a bell. The England tour so far has left much to be desired. But for that batting display in the opener at Lords, the Sri Lankans have been found wanting in most all departments of the game. The batting has lacked the discipline demanded at that level of the game. The frontline, except for isolated performances from Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva, has not clicked as an unit. While credit must go to the English bowlers for the swing generated from the Edgbaston pitch, the Lankan batsmen helped get themselves out by some rash strokes. The Lankan bowling too lacked in terms of line and length while been heavily outplayed by their counterparts for speed. The fielding too was scratchy. Dropped catches, misfields and throws a setback. The English sojurn has also reflected the `one man' odyssey of Muralitharan without whom the bowling has been threadbare giving teeth to the belief that without him Sri Lanka is incapable of bowling out a team twice. Reflectively, Chairman de Alwis' demand that results have to be produced to stay in the team is timely. No player can expect to enjoy patronage of the national team if he is not delivering with bat or ball. Australia has shown by example that there is no room for failure. There was no room for Shane Warne when he did not deliver with the ball in the year 2000 legendary as he is making room for a relative colt in Steuart McGill. Out went champion captain Steve Waugh from the one-day team where heroics of the 1999 World Cup did not stand him in good stead as did twin brother Mark. Back home competition runs high with youngsters knocking on the door for recognition. Maybe not of the likes of a Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis, Keerthie Ranasinghe, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva or Rumesh Ratnayake who stirred the blood for their exuberance straight from school to the national team. But for sure there is an abundance of talent in an age where expertise is at hand unlike those early days to guide. It is time Sri Lanka takes a cue from the Australians in selections where there is room only for form and consistency. That the new selection boss will back words with action which for a start has `batted' right in bringing back discarded batsman Avishka Gunawardene to the one-day squad in England. Gunawardene, who had raised his game in striking a balance opening the batting with Jayasuriya for sometime in the build-up to the 2002 World Cup in South Africa, suddenly lost his place after the committee headed by Michael Tissera took over from from T. B. Kehelgamuwa some months ago. Notably, the left handed Gunawardene, the better from weight reducing homework under the supervision of physio Alex Kontouri and greater application when he was beginning to find his way, had to fight for a recall from the `A' team. At the same time batsman Indika de Saram from Tamil Union could consider himself unlucky consistency in the recently concluded domestic season which fetched him a back to the wall century in the semi final against SSC and three half centuries was not good enough for a call up for the `A' team when some juniors to him foundd favour. There can be nothing more disheartening for young hopefuls than not finding due recognition after performing. There have been many who have suffered at the hand of errant officials. One of the best examples being Royalist Sumithra Warnakulasuriya who discovered that it was not form but to be a `blue eyed boy' the criteria. It is hoped there will be such sorry stories in the future. That selections will be guided by merit and only merit. |
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