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| Sunday, 24 March 2002 |
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Absolute coach by Srian Obeyesekere Stocky built coach Dav Whatmore's stocks are rising by the day.
Everytime Sri Lanka wins a match it does. And as winning has become a
habit for the Sri Lankans, Whatmore enthuses. A coaches delight. And
indeed so for Whatmore, who finds a sojurn which started with the Sri
Lankan team first in 1995, grow over the years in Today, Whatmore's influence on Lankan cricket is what it was when he drilled a winning outfit under Arjuna Ranatunga in 1995-96 to Sanath Jayasuriya's team. A combination of youth and experience in which Whatmore has instilled the needs of meeting the demands of both Test cricket and one-day cricket. If his first stint harnessed Lankan cricket to dominating the one-day version to the rest of the world, Whatmore's second stint has seen a surge at Test level. Nine wins on the trot is a vindication in bringing back Whatmore. And the honeymoon has begun to grow as Whatmore's astute coaching manual has brought out a Sri Lankan outfit that can hold its own at both levels of the game. And like a hen that broods over its chicks he is at his arithmetics of assessing the team. As much as the association has knitted him in a glow from which a coach can be happy at the performances of his charges. It is in such a glow that the team is clicking as a team that must have given Whatmore the confidence of predicting that he was 'absolutely confident that Sri Lanka would continue the winning streak in the tours ahead.' His optimism bordering on the absolute. The coach soared high on Sri Lanka's Test fortunes to date when he said, "Winning 9 matches is an achievement. That record can't be taken away". A success he attributed to `allround performances by the team.' What was pleasing was that Jayasuriya's batsmen were improving on big scores. "Whether they bat first or second the team makes big scores", enthused Whatmore for whom the high point of this run making vein was that today the top order batsmen showed application. "I'm happy that the real desire of the batsmen is their showing that they have the real competitive spirit", qualified Whatmore. He said that the team's eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Asian Test Championship final in Pakistan was a moral booster for the tours ahead where he promised stiff competition. "The Pakistan game was the start of a long series of matches of competition", said Whatmore emphasising that `every game is important'. Asked how he assessed Sri Lanka's chances in the upcoming tour of Sharjah in April and the tour of England in May, Whatmore said, "I'm absolutely confident we can win." Sri Lanka will compete with Pakistan and New Zealand in the triangular for the Sharjah Cup which Jayasuriya's team will seek to win back from Pakistan to whom the Lankans lost last year in the final. But it is the tour of England that has already roused interest when the Sri Lankans travel to the mecca of cricket where a close series is on the cards as much as the tour is of historical significance to both countries. More from a Sri Lankan point of view it being the first fully fledged Test series against England away of three matches. But what must have Whatmore upbeat at the prospects of the series is the resurgence of both countries at that level of the game when he reflected on past exchanges which made it look somewhat even. "We won one Test on a spinning wicket back in England -(1998 at the Oval) - while they beat us 2-1 at home last year (2001)." But the coach was mindful of the fact that the Sri Lankans would have to adjust. Not only to conditions of the wickets, but climatically as well. "We will be touring during a harder time of the year in England. Climatically it is going to be very cold", he noted. Above all, the Test series is expected to draw much attraction with both teams having gone up the Test ratings. Sri Lanka a close fourth behind England in third place. Australia lead the standings with South Africa second. For the Sri Lankans it will be the country's rise at that level in the last two years that must generate that much of enthusiasm as England's about the same period. Sri Lanka won home series' against India, Zimbabwe and the West Indies on the way to an unbeaten sequence of 9 wins. England's rise has come under an Indain born captain in Nasser Hussain to whom the reins were handed after English cricket had almost rockbottomed. As to Sri Lanka's rise, Whatmore said he would not single out a particular player as being outstanding. Asked as to how he saw the recent batting performances by wicket-keeper batsman, Kumar Sangakkara in the pivotal number 3 slot, the coach said, " He is a very good player. He is averaging 40. He is at the start of his career." Asked to comment on Mahela Jayawardene, Whatmore felt the exciting right hander was still young and needed to work hard. " He has been averaging 40. But he knows he has to work hard. He's still learning the game." On Tilan Samaraweera, who broke into the team as a bowler, but cut a niche as a batsman to cement a place, the coach said, " He has been a very useful contributor. He has been among the runs and claimed wickets at important stages. He knows he has to work harder." As to the bowling department, Whatmore was pleased there was a balance. Asked whether recent comments on Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action might jeorpadise his career when Sri Lanka tour Australia later this year, Whatmore said, "These sort of things are not going to upset us. Unfortunately we can't stop people saying things. He (Muralitharan) keeps improving. In these conditions he has shown ability while more confidence and approach has helped him". Whatmore was reacting to recent comments by former Indian Test captain, Bishen Sing Bedi, West Indian, Michael Holding and Former South African coach, Bob Woolmer. While Bedi, a legendary off spinner had in an interview claimed Muralitharan chucked, Holding and Woolmer had been quoted by the Wisden Asian Magazine as agreeing with Bedi. However, Holding, who is a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) panel on illegal bowling actions which cleared Muralitharan, and Woolmer, had subsequently refuted the magazine claiming they were misquoted, and apologised to the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL). Coming to the Sharjah tour beginning on April 8, Whatmore said there was a possibility that Sangakkara might be promoted to open the batting with Jayasuriya. " Well he (Sangakkara) might open. We've got a couple of options at our disposal. There might be some flexibility regarding the opening berth", he said. Asked whether he would like to see master batsman, Aravinda de Silva in the squad to England, Whatmore said, "I don't take selection decisions". |
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a rich harvest. A
relationship with the team which was broken nigh 3 years after putting our
cricket on the right footing before returning to restore an image which
had suffered by his absence. If that was in controversial circumstances
due to the bungling of the cricket authorities at the time who did not
wan't Whatmore to continue the good work, the resigning of the Sri Lankan
born Australian in 1999 has reconfirmed Whatmore's commitment to the game
and Sri Lanka in putting back the country's cricket on the right track.
