Corrected and cleared Senanayake starts off well

It was good news for cricket in Sri Lanka that right arm off spinner Sachitra Senanayake was cleared by the International Cricket Council to bowl again in international cricket.

Senanayake was reported for a suspect or an illegal action after the England tour and had to go through the process of being worked with, corrected, tested and finally cleared to bowl again.

But the question was to watch whether he will continue to be as effective as he was before being called and reported. But being thrown in to the deep end days after being cleared he started off well getting two early England wickets in the game in Palekele.

There is no doubt now that the selectors will send him to New Zealand for the one-day series. He has been named in the 30-man squad from which the final squad will be picked for the 2015 World Cup co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

Senanayake among the wickets

Senanayake was among the wickets and won many matches for the country before being reported. In addition to his wily and effective cocktail of deliveries that baffled many a batsman, he was also a big hitting right hand batsman and safe fielder.

Senanyake along with left arm spinner Rangana Herath will lead Sri Lanka's spin attack in their push to win the 2015 World Cup next year.

But Senanayake will have to do a lot more bowling before getting back to his devastating old form.

The fine and one match suspension of England Captain Alastair Cook because his side bowled an over short in the one-day international in Sooriyawewa has been the talking point by cricket fans these days.

The consensus is that this rule is too harsh. True this rule becomes effective if a player infringes a second time. While not challenging the International Cricket Council on this, it would be good and it is not too late for them to reconsider the rule.

See their heroes in action

After all cricket fans come to see their heroes in action. And the England Captain too would have had his supporters and they would have been disappointed that he was not taking the field.

The consensus was that Cook could have been fined his full match fee and even his series fee and his team doubled charged and he allowed to play.

When a Captain goes off the team, it completely bowls out the thinking, the balance and it completely unsettles the team. The stand in captain in addition to playing the role of a puppet stays unsettled and will find decisions hard to make on the field.

In Cook's case with his side in losing streets and his batting form to say the least wretched, his critics would have let out shouts of joy when it was announced that he would sit out one match.

Morgan takes over captaincy

His critics Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen who are adamant insisting that left hand batman Eoin Morgan should take over the Captaincy would have been praying that Morgan who captained the next game in Colombo would succeed so that their call could gather strength.

But Cook, although he would have been praying for an England victory to stay in the hunt of winning the series against Sri Lanka and boosting their confidence what with the 2015 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia looming, would have been hoping that Morgan would not succeed and that is how it happened.

But Cook had the vote of the England Selectors and now that he has been confirmed Captain for the World Cup he should be at ease to play his natural game with confidence and regain his lost batting form and improve his captaincy, that certainly needs improving.

In a game that England had to win in Pallekele to stay alive in the seven-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, again Cook had the mortification of seeing himself being dismissed cheaply for 20 runs by a straight ball from Senanayeke.

Cook unable to play straight

That Cook is unable to play a straight ball is a sad indictment on his technique. He has been dismissed LBW many times sweeping and missing or not being able to offer a straight bat to straight deliveries.

Batting coach Mark Ramprakash will have to do a lot of work with Cook in the nets and get him to shed that bad habit.

The fifth one-day game in Pallekele was poised for an interesting finish after Sri Lanka rallied to make 239 runs in 49 overs if the game continued. But before England could begin their chase, the rains came down in buckets and stalled any further play and the game had to be resumed on the rest day.

When play resumed on Thursday, there was bright sunshine. The covers were of and as play began to progress it was apparent that the wicket had improved and become favorable to batsmen.

On the first day when Sri Lanka were asked to bat the wicket was slow, taking a lot of spin with the ball not coming on to the bat and allowing for run making stroke play.

Difficult circumstances

But in the difficult circumstances Kumar Sangakkara 91, Tillekeratne Dilshan 35, Angelo Mathews 40 and Thisara Perera 27 batted with great determination to help the team make 239.

Medium pacer Chris Woakes using all assistance that the wicket and the conditions allowed bowled very cleverly and intelligently to scalp 6 for 47 in 8 overs. He was an example.

Had the game finished on the first day, Sri Lanka's 239 was good enough to beat England and wrap up the series 4-1 because the wicket was becoming difficult for batting.

But on the second day, after the loss of Mooen Ali for 4 and Cook for 20 at 35, an enterprising stand of 104 between the man in the runs James Taylor 68 and Joe Root who later went on to slam an unbeaten 104 paved the way for an England victory with five balls to spare.

Another lucrative partnership

After Taylor was dismissed Ravi Bopara joined Root and another

lucrative partnership of 86 runs ensued and although losing Bopara 28, Eoin Morgan 5 England got home by 5 wickets making 240 for 5 in 49.1 overs.

The stylish and young right hand batsman Joe Root again played an innings of great responsibility and maturity. He did not play and blind shots like Mooen Ali did but batted in the manner born to get an unbeaten century to his name.

When this column is read the sixth one-day game in Pallekele will be over. If England wins the series will be all square at 3-3 and the final game in Colombo on Tuesday will be a blockbuster. But if Sri Lanka wins then the final game will be of academic interest only.

By the way enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.

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