Another Mahela will be hard to find

Sri Lanka cricket could be having a new captain after the tour of Australia in December this year. The tour ends in January 2013. The Sri Lankans will play Three Tests, Five one day internationals and Two Twenty20 games. This will be the scenario if incumbent captain Mahela Jayawardene decides to quit after the tour ‘down under’. He made his intentions known when he said that he will make a call after the tour. But he will do so depending on the needs of Sri Lanka Cricket. He is not one to hang on to his captaincy.

Rather, his focus is to ensure good succession and clear the path for his successor. When he first took on the mantle of captaincy after a good run with the bat he showed strong signs of leadership and great promise. Captaincy honours did not take long in coming.

The baton was passed from Marvan Atapattu—a hard act to follow.

But once he had that baton firmly clasped in his hands, he brought about a renaissance in the game, with his intelligent, clever and shrewd captaincy.

Cricketing troops

Mahela was the General who led his cricketing troops from the front. He earned the respect of his players because he always served as a role model.

He studied and understood the strengths and weknesses of his mates and used them according to their talents.

His captaincy moto was ‘team and country first’. To him individual efforts by him or his team did not matter. Team effort was the bottom line. He demanded the best from the team and got it ungrudgingly by example.

During his reign, the game hit the top and made all other Test playing countries stand up and take notice and they respected and feared the Lankan team. His crowning moment was when he made a massive 374 in a Test on his ground, the SSC against South Africa.

He was aiming to go past Brian Lara’s individual batting record of 400 not out. Had he achieved that it would have been great for him, the game and country. But fate if not lady luck had decreed otherwise.

Then his other great achievement was leading Sri Lanka into the 2007 World Cup final in the Caribbean. Had the rains not reduced the 50 overs game to 38, a victory against the Aussies looked possible going by the manner in which his team performed in reaching the final.

That was also the final where the Aussie opener Adam Gilchrist

blasted a record score of 149 with a squash ball in his glove. Critics were baying for Gilchrist’s blood and even suggesting to the ICC to squash the Aussie victory and hand over the trophy to Sri Lanka.

But Jayawardene squashed it all by standing up for Gilchrist and Australia by saying that he did not see anything wrong with Gilchrist’s squash ball in the glove act. That was magnanimous of Jayawardene to whom winning or losing did not matter as long as he and his team played the game. He is the epitome of humility and politeness.

When Sri Lanka cricket was floundering like a ship in rough seas, he came to the game’s rescue by accepting the captaincy a second time round and with his able and god-given leadership qualities he has taken the game to the top again. Cricket will always remember him with pride and gratitude.

His next assignment is the Twenty20 funny cricket. He will once again lead from the front and if success does not come his way he need not be disappointed, because this is not what the game is about.

Jayewardene is a firm believer that the next fit man to take over the leadership is all rounder Anjelo Mathews. And it now up to Mathews to learn from the master, sharpen his skills and easily slip into the prestigious post of leading the country. Mathews’ has been in the captaincy seat and knows how hot that seat can be. He has the potential to be equal to the task.

It was great honour for game and country the winning of awards by former Sri Lanka Captain Kumar Sangakkara and former all rounder who played in Arjuna Ranatunga’ s 1995/’96 World Cup winning team Kumar Dharmasena.

Sangakkara won three awards – ICC Test Cricketer of the year –

People’s player of the year and ICC cricketer of the year.

Dharmasena’s feat of winning the ICC umpire of the year was great considering that he has stood in the middle only for three years.

When Sangakkara’s achievements are looked at, what comes to mind is what former all round sportsman and the pride of Kandy, the gentle giant M.Enver Marikar told M.J.M.Zarook, Gamini Perera and the writer while exercising our wrists.

Champ in the making

‘Look there is a champion in the making. He is a left-hand batsman and wicket-keeper of tremendous class and promise. Watch out for this phenomenon. His name is Kumar Sangakkara. The late Marikar who was the uncle of free lance journalist Hafiz made the prediction after watching the young Sangakkara in action in his formative years. How true.

Dharmasena from the time he quit the game and took to umpiring has had a great rise. He used his experience in the game to fearlessly and without favour to raise his finger. He knew he was performing a sacred duty and performed it that way. Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori won an award that he will always treasure and which was example. He won the Spirit of Cricket award. When I first saw West Indian Sunil Narine tweaking a ball I predicted that he would make waves and that is exactly what he has been doing to earn the award for the Emerging Player of the Year.

With Sangakkara and Dharmasena tipped to win awards at the ICC awards ceremony, the local media was eagerly looking forward to the event and to serve their readers. It is said that you don’t invite a guest and insult him. And that was exactly what the International Cricket Council did. They treated the junors like something the cat brought in.

Instead of seating the journalists, both local and foreign, with main audience, they were pushed cattle-like into a room with a TV installed and asked to watch the history making event. Now why this step-motherly treatment? The junors are good to give all ICC events the maximum publicity. But when it comes to the crunch, junors are shown the flip side.

Slap in the face

The ICC cricket awards sadly lacked the glitter and excitement that goes with such a high profile event. Had they watched the CEAT cricketer of the year award, and the thrill a minute entertainment and excitement that went with it, the ICC would have learnt. Above all there was no discrimination.

This has been the ICC style over the years it is said. Why junors have been taking this insult sitting down is inexplicable. To boycott the event would have been a slap in the face of the ICC. And that is exactly what one newspaper in the country did. They were an example and in boycotting the event and explaining to their readers they showed spunk that is sadly lacking in some journalists. Our congratulations to them.

What the other junors should have done was to have followed the example of the junors from that newspaper and boycotted the event. Had that been done the cyclops in the ICC would have learnt.

The ICC rides the high horse in everything else.

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