Sri Lanka Captain Angelo Mathews walking a tight rope
 ‘Sri
Lanka’s new Cricket Captain Angelo Mathews will do well to understand
that he is walking a tight rope. It is every sportsman’s or woman’s
dream to captain Sri Lanka in his or her chosen field of sport.It is not
every sportsman or woman who is bestowed with this honour. And when that
honour comes along it should be grabbed and guarded jealously, with
consistent performances and success.
Once Mahela Jayewardene, easily the best and most successful Captain
produced by the country since gaining Test status, stepped down after
two innings as captain of Sri Lanka Cricket, many were the aspirants
knocking on the door.
There was a lot of canvassing going on by other aspirants for the
Captaincy with less credentials. But thanks to Jayewardene and the new
Selection Committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya, who did not succumb to
pressure and ignored all other claimants, Mathews was appointed captain.
Personal form poor
But since taking over, although it must be admitted that his tenure
has been short, his personal form with bat and ball and success rate has
not been what it should be and in addition was sentenced and slapped a
two-match suspension for no fault of his.
But what was alarming and what Mathews must take note of was the
booing of a section of the crowd at the Pallekele Stadium on Sunday when
Hashim Amla and Jean-Paul Duminy were milking the bowling.
During that period, he opened the bowling and was hit around the Park
and he missed a caught and bowled and the Lankan ground fielding was
village green level. With the third game being lost after his comeback
as captain and the spectators expecting another defeat at the rate Amla
and Duminy were going, the booing began.
Two match ban
When Mathews was serving his two-match ban, stand in skipper Dinesh
Chandimal grabbed the opportunity and led the team to two wins against
South Africa in a five match one-day Dialog Cup series.
When Mathews returned for the third game, expectations were that he
would give continuity to the winning trend. But losing the third
disappointed the spectators and they vented their feelings when things
pointed to another likely defeat in the fourth game.
But thanks to a ‘cow’ shot by South African skipper Abraham de
Villiers when the South Africans were cruising, turned the fortunes Sri
Lanka way and with Mahela Jayewardene, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Kumar
Sangakkara playing from out their skins saved the blushes for Mathews
and a series win.
But what was alarming was that a section of the spectators were
shouting remarks in Sinhala such as – Mathews give it up and hand it
over to Chandimal etc. But the win and the series victory silenced his
critics, but for the moment, I guess.
Would have got the message
But we are sure Mathews would have got the message. He must remember
that winners are heroes and losers outcasts. He must always endeavour to
perform with, bat, ball and as captain if he is to stay in the
saddle.Also another curious aspect was to watch Kumar Sangakkara from
behind the stumps setting the field. Accepted that Sangakkara was doing
it with all good intentions. But when that happens it belittles the
captain and exposes his inability and takes away the good work done by
Mathews.
Sangakkara was continuing to do it and there was no one to send a
message to the captain to ask him to tell Sangakkara not to make it
obvious to all. Had Sangakkara wanted field changes he could have
mentioned it to Mathews.There were two other captains, the most
successful Mahela Jayewardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan and also Dinesh
Chandimal who was a stand-in captain. Had they too followed Sangakkara
and set fields it would have looked a comedy.
These observations have been made with all good intentions and we
hope it is taken in the spirit in which these observations have been
made and not to belittle or humiliate anyone.
Pallekele stadium a picture
Before the first Sri Lanka – South Africa DIALOG CUP third one-day
international at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Friday,
when the heavy rains ceased we took a walk round the ground to see for
ourselves the maintaining of the ground and its surroundings.
And we were amazed to note the meticulous care that has been taken to
maintain it as, one if not the best international cricket playing
stadiums that can hold its own with the best in the world.
We were previously at Pallekele covering the 2011 Twenty20 World Cup
matches. That was quite a long time ago. During that time other local
matches had been played.
To mark the visit of the South Africans, the areas surrounding the
ground had been well manicured. The playing area was like a billiard
table top. True that the ground and the wicket were kept covered because
it had been raining.
Ball sped to the boundary
But once play began and when batsmen played shots the ball sped to
the boundary. Proved that the ground had been well rolled. The wicket
too played well, which is points to the new curator.The credit for the
wonderful maintainance of the ground should go to Lieutenant Commander
Pemarathna of the Sri Lanka Navy who is the Officer-in-Charge at the
Pallekele Stadium and Manager Niroshan Rajapaksa who has been appointed
by Sri Lanka Cricket.
The Sri Lanka Navy was handed over the ground for security and
maintainence on December 1,2011 and since Pemarathna partnered by
Rajapaksa have scored for the game by keeping the ground in great shape
which looks a picture.
Although some believe the Pallekele Stadium was built to resemble the
Centurion at Pretoria in South Africa, it certainly is not. There’s a
vast difference between the two and South African Captain Abraham de
Villiers said so. Centurion will be Centurion and Pallekele Stadium will
be Pallekele Stadium and the twain will never be the same.
Interest to historians
As to how the Pallekele Stadium came into being will be of interest
to historians. The pioneer was Lakshman Kiriella when he was Minister of
Sport and Tourism. But for reasons unknown, the project stalled.It was
then that President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was passing that way had
noticed the shell of the proposed stadium. He then ordered the former
Chairman of the Cricket Interim Committee D. Somachandra de Silva to
begin work on the Stadium immediately. According to De Silva, a former
Sri Lanka Captain and leg spinning all rounder, the President had told
him that Kandy had produced several outstanding sportsmen and women and
that they deserved a stadium to international standard.
Co-hosting World Cup
With the 2011 World Cup looming and with the International Cricket
Council insisting that new stadiums be built for the co-hosting of the
tournament, De Silva set the wheels in motion and to make a long story
short, the picturesque Pallekele Stadium now stands sentinel.The stadium
is now in the safe and competent hands of Lieutenant Commander
Pemarathna and Niroshan Rajapaksa and if what we saw is an indication,
then the Pallekele Stadium can only get better and better.
Kandy has not only produced outstanding sportsmen and women. It has
also produced knowledgeable and frightfully keen sports enthusiasts
which is an indication because every international cricket match is
patronized by a full house, as was seen in the two games that the South
Africans played there on Friday and Sunday.
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