Sanath Jayasuriya is fit- so he can keep playing till 2015 world cup-Rumesh

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA

Cricket: Former Sri Lanka ace paceman Rumesh Ratnayake paid a fitting tribute to his former teammate and colleague Sanath Jayasuriya, saying that Jayasuriya could go on, not only till the 2011 World Cup but even beyond up to the 2015 World Cup due to his supreme fitness.

Jayasuriya is the only surviving member of the present team who made his debut Test tour to Australia where Rumesh Ratnayake excelled as a fast bowler taking six wickets in a Test match played at Horbart. Jayasuriya did not play in a Test on that tour. The 44-year fast bowler Ratnayake had played in 23 Tests and taken 73 wickets.

Ratnayake, who is the Asian Cricket Council Cricket Development Officer, was a keen follower of the HongKong - Sri Lanka Cricket Academy limited over cricket match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium recently, as Hongkong comes under his purview, said that he was one of Jayasuriya's detractors, saying that he should have hung up his boots in 1994. But now, he regrets the mistake that he made.

Sanath sprang back to contention like a boomerang to continue batting in his own inimitable style to thrill the cricket loving public around the world.

Excerpts of the Interview...

Q: Tell us something about cricket in HongKong and its progress?

A: It is focused on Chinese, but mostly expacts play the game. So it's not like a game played over here which they see all the time. Most of them see it only on paid television which most of them do not have. Most of this team is made of Pakistanis, so there is a lot of talent in that sense. Their priority is more for their jobs rather than playing cricket. Even though, a country which is not a Test playing nation HongKong is quite focused on cricket. Their administrators are doing a good job in refocussing on cricket, even though it is not a recognised sport in HongKong.

Q: In what capacity are you in the Asian Cricket Council?

A: I am the Cricket Development Officer. It is in Malaysia, but I am based in Sri Lanka and make frequent visits whenever the need arises. ACC has 22 countries in Asia, which are non-Test playing nations which we develop. So I am handling five of those countries and HongKong happens to be one of them which we develop. I have to see to the overall development. I am not the coach, the coach happens to be Aftab Habib who is from England. He was born in England with a Pakistan origin.

Q: If you are offered a coaching stint in your country would you accept the offer?

A: In fact , an offer was made, but I did not take it. I did not take it last year, and that doesn't mean that I have given up the idea of coaching in Sri Lanka. May be, in a few years time, if I am offered again, I might reconsider. It was due to various reasons which I had discussed in the past. Things can be different in a few years time, if I am offered it again.

Q: Is there a school cricket system like in Sri Lanka.

A: Yes, there is, but not on the same level we have in the sub-continent, not on the level of Sri Lanka for sure. But we are trying to get some locals involved. Those are the Chinese. How we deal with Hongkong is different from how we would deal with Nepal and how we deal with Malaysia, Maldives and Bahrain. So, for each country we have to design a plan differently, and it's interesting.

Q: What are your impressions on Twenty/20 cricket that has been introduced?

A: I might be controversial in this. I look at it in a very different way. I think if we look at our history, what has happened is that 50 overs game has improved Test matches. Not only fielding, overall_batting, bowling and fielding all three departments. So, the skill level has improved in Tests because of "50 overs". I think the skill levels will improve in the 50 overs as well as in the Test, because of Twenty/20 cricket, because there are lot of innovations in batting, we thought the bowlers won't have a chance, but the bowlers are coming out with different tactics to counter attack the batsmen. So the skill level, may be batting, bowling or fielding will improve totally or tremendously, in Twenty20 and we'll see a another generation of uplift in the game altogether.

Q: Will it be harmful playing Twenty 20 at junior or school level?

A: I think you have to have that balance of knowing what they could do. Now you have to go along with world cricket and if it demands, Twenty20, we should introduce that to the schools also, so that it progresses. May be at under 13 level we should start with a Twenty20 so that we will improve the skills of the boys. Scientifically, we have come to know that a student's grasping knowledge is best at the age of 5 to 13. So if we can skill them up from that age with all the skills, and then progress them up to the one day and two-day cricket gradually, I think that will give them a good balance. Then everybody is within a situation whether they are skilful enough to play a game, maybe a short one or the longer version. We must not take one for the other, we must not take the Test matches, two-day games just because of the shorter version of the game, nor should we take the shorten form of the game out for the two-dayers. I believe the progress is from the shorter form that one will develop the longer game.

Q: What are your observations on the recently concluded India - Sri Lanka series?

A: I am sure most of the players would be disappointed that we did not win the ODI series, although we won the Test series. We shouldn't forget that the Indians are highly skilled. Saying that, if I had taken it the day before the First Test, I would say we are man to man stronger, because Ajantha Mendis, coming in was a huge impact on the Sri Lankan game. So, having Murali and Ajantha Mendis is a huge bonus. We should not worry of the outcome of what has happened. We have lost the one-day series.

Anybody can win or lose the ODI series. But, we might have to rearrange our batting order.

We have the right ingredients and people to bat, but may be, the right people are not batting at the right positions. So, that might be the only thing which we might have to do_rearranging the batting order so that we will have more depth. What I personally felt was batting second was an issue for both teams. I am not making excuses. When the Indians batted second, we saw them flopping.

Q: How do you rate our fast bowlers?

A: We have good depth in fast bowlers. It is really good to see Maharoof coming back and it will add more strength. Malinga coming out of injury would be interesting. He had a serious injury and he has had a six months rest.

Looking at even the development squads, we have depth in fast bowling. However, we must not be overawed by having the depth in one area. It should be overall depth. I must say the team that we have is a team that we should groom up to win a World Cup. Even though we lost to India, it was a good time to lose a series at home at this point of time rather than losing a series, say in 2010 or 2011. So this should be like a lesson which we will learn to do well in the next few years up to the World Cup.

Q: There have been a lot of speculation about Sanath Jayasuriya's inclusion in the team. Do you wish to comment on that.?

A: I wrote Sanath off in 1994. That was one of the biggest blunders that I made from a selection point of view. And now I will not write him off. If he says he is going to play the 2015 World Cup I won't be surprised if he does so. The simple reason is that he keeps himself fit and strong. Fitness is not the only thing that Jayasuriya looks at.

He keeps himself in the game when he is not practising, and he is out there at the nets batting. Coupled with that commitment hopefully, he will not get injured, I won't be surprised to see more of his heroics in the future. It is always a bonus and an asset to have Sanath in the side. So I will not make that mistake again.