A defining moment for SL cricket

By Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

The Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage has appointed the new Selection Committee and now it is the responsibility for them to do a good job that will not disappoint players and fans alike.

Given that the next round of matches are just weeks away, time is of the essence. An immediate task is not only the constitution of the Selection Committee but also the appointment, by that Committee, of the Captain and a Vice Captain. And of course the squads.

At this juncture where the country needs to shake off the trauma of losing the World Cup, these appointments will define the nature and quality of the new awakening that is required of Sri Lanka Cricket. It is a great opportunity to refresh and renew the outlook of the well known and tested hands. Then there is the need to inject new, young and fresh talent that will reinvigorate the team. The latter should be done in a purposeful way.

It will generate excitement and bring to the fore hidden talent from clubs and even from the schools. There are risks to be taken but these are strategic risks. And there is no better time to do this than now, especially that Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena have signaled in no uncertain terms their willingness to create space and to serve the larger cause of cricket by making available their skills and mentorship.

This is the defining moment as the captain is appointed followed by the picking of the best for the three Test Match tours of England and the five one-day internationals.

Old wine in new bottles is not the panacea for our cricketing ills. There must be a renewed beginning for the dawn of a new era. And the new men who can take our game forward should be those whom the glitz of office cannot spoil. Men who will act without fear or favour as have done Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.

Long enough

There are lessons to be drawn from our World Cup performance. This introspection is essential. We need to address issues with all humility and in a spirit and admission that there is much to improve.

To begin with it will serve us well if we begin with the premise, if not admission, that the defeat in the 2011 World Cup final could have been avoided. The defeat should not have been, if the game plan and the strategy were sensibly thought out, amended as situations warranted, and executed in an unrelenting manner. Temporary setbacks should not have deterred us. Rather it should have spurred us into making smart changes to our bowling and made us more nimble on our feet.

We should have taken on the Indians with an open mind and with no preconceived defensive ideas. To think that the Indians were going to be psyched by playing surprise inclusion Suraj Randiv, those who picked him were sadly mistaken.

It is customary for captains, coaches, selection committees to resign after World Cups. It is no different in Sri Lanka. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the Selection Committee headed by Aravinda de Silva must be appreciated for taking a bow and stepping down. They realized that they could not deliver in the job they were entrusted with, and like true sportsmen and gentlemen, they concluded that their time was up, step down and create the space.

The first stroke that the new selection committee that the Minister will appoint will be called upon to execute will be the picking of the one-day captain. The new selectors will have to pick a captain who will have as his first fling or baptism, the Five one-day internationals against England in England and later the one-day internationals against Australia here.

The question now is who can and will lead. This is an important one as a leadership vacuum when the fires of Rome are burning, so to say, can be highly injurious to the spirit of the team, given also that the appointment of a Coach also revolves in that orbit.

Sangakkara has ventured to mention the potential in Angelo Mathews, Upul Tharanga, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga. There are many considerations that should go into this selection, chief of which will be the ability to lead as a Leader. Maturity, strategic thinking and tactical ability are key factors besides skill to motivate others and get the best out of them. A sense of history is also needed as would the ability to read on the go the "tea leaves"---in this case the "turf and the wicket" and a sense of anticipation of the opponents strategy and tactics.

The bottom line however is that the chosen one must , for starters, be a captain and a leader who can hold his place and lead Sri Lanka to win the other coveted prize in one-day cricket the Twenty20 that will be conducted in Sri Lanka in 2012. The selectors will not be faulted if they ask former captain and recent vice captain Mahela Jayawardena to answer the call of the country and lead the team for the one-day series in England and later against Australia and take it from there till the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup.

Being the gentleman cricketer, captain and vice captain that he was, we are sure he would be only too glad to respond to the calling and get back in the saddle again.

Opening batsman

If Jayawardena declines, we believe that opening batsman Tillekeratne Dilshan is a good choice to lead in the 'cowboy' game in England and against Australia, and tours later.

Dilshan in his first outing as captain led admirably against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe and when he looked certain to be deputy to Sangakkara, the selectors had a change of heart and appointed Mahela Jayawardena.

And it would be a strategic move to appoint Angelo Mathews as vice captain. He has the smarts to make it to the top with a bit of grooming. Young Mathews who could take over if need be for the next 50-over World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015.

The building of a team with the required psychology is essential. And much as techniques and tactics need to be fine-tuned there is a need to inject an uncompromising attitude that we will always measure up to be the better side. There should be no room left to concede that the other side was the better side and therefore we lost. World Cup winners should aim to be no less than the best of the better sides. That is the driver for success.