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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