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Sunday, 17 February 2013

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Cricket selectors did right in giving Mathews the nod

The new Sri Lanka cricket selectors headed by Sanath Jayasuriya and comprising Hashan Tillekeratne, Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, Chaminda Mendis and Eric Upashantha did well in appointing Angelo Mathews as captain of the Test and 50-over team. He will spin the coin for the first time when Sri Lanka play Bangladesh in the First of Two Test matches with the first one beginning at the Galle International stadium on March 8. When regular skipper Mahela Jaywardene said enough is enough after the Australian tour, speculation was rife as to who the next new captain would be.

Canvassing for the top post

With the selectors delaying the announcement, some with no credentials whatsoever were secretly canvassing for the top post. The selectors promised to be transparent and this they have performed, with the appointment of Mathews which is a good opening and an example. Also interesting was the appointing of the promising Dinesh Chandimal as vice captain to Mathews and captain of the Twenty20 team and Lasith Malinga as vice captain. It is the dream of every sportsman and woman to captain the national team. Now that Mathews has been entrusted with this high honour, he must strive to deliver and justify the trust reposed in him by the selectors.

Yearning for all-rounders

The game today is yearning for all-rounders. Mathews has been fortunate to be blessed with this attribute. He must now believe in himself and come good in all aspects. As a batsman he can smash any attack as he has shown. As a medium pace bowler he has proved that he can move the ball both ways and trouble the best of batsmen. As a fielder he has a safe pair of hands. Now it is up to him to prove his captaincy ability and skills and endeavour to lead the team from the front and with success and cement his captaincy for years.

Critics will abound

As usual he will have his critics. He can cock a snook at his detractors if he keeps performing. He will be under the microscope and he must perform and perform consistently. He becomes the first Cricketer from St.Joseph’s College, Darley Road to captain a national cricket team. The first Josephian to captain the national soccer team was Peter Ranasinghe. Other Josephians who played cricket for the country and come to mind are – D.S.Jayasundera, Malcolm Spittle, Malcolm Franke, Fairlie Dalpathado, Bryan Obeysekera, Chaminda Vaas,Thisara Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne.

Vaas finally gets his reward

It was encouraging that Sri Lanka Cricket has finally seen the value in Chaminda Vaas and offered him the slot of fast bowling coach. Better late than never it is said and cheers to SLC for finally realising the value of Vaas. Ramanayake who made way for Vaas has been moved to the Cricket Academy. Ramanayake performed an admirable and successful job and it is to his credit the finding of slinger Lasith Malinga who has made ripples in the international scene. With his peculiar action he has baffled and bemused world class batsmen.

SLC did well to grab Vaas. He should have been offered the post of bowling coach long time ago. The New Zealanders saw the ability and a winner in Vaas and were quick to appoint him assistant to Shane Bond and he delivered in style. New Zealand winning the Second Test and squaring the series is credited to Vaas.

Excuses will not hold water

Excuses to compare him with Ramanayake and say that he was demanding much more than Ramanayake will not hold water. He has proved himself and has the right to demand his price. Instead of dragging the issue, good that SLC took him on board before some other country bags him. It will be sad if he is lost to Sri Lanka cricket. He has what it takes to fine tune our bowlers to deliver.

Bowlers of the calibre of Vaas do not come dime a dozen. During his time he bowled his heart out for game and country and it was his demoralizing spell that brought Sri Lanka its first ever Test win and it came against New Zealand in New Zealand. Sri Lanka cricket cast a slur on his illustrious career when they left him out of the original squad for the 2011 World Cup in India. They recalled him for the final, took him to India and then benched him. Not done to treat a cricketer of his class that way. It would have been galling to him. Now that the former left arm medium pacer Vaas has got his rightful place, he can be relied on to deliver and produce bowlers of his amazing class who could instill fear on opposing batmen and help the country go places. The SLC must also see that they allow him the man he needs as assistant coach. It is important that both cultivate a good rapport and work with understanding. Vaas is easy to get along with.

At the next Ex.Co meeting it will be great if they could discuss having a psychologist with the team on tour. After the SLC – Jayewardene problem in Australia, which upset the player focus and concentration, had there been a psychologist he could have motivated the cricketers. When the cricketers took the field in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, it was obvious that they were not a team in harmony. Had there been a psychologist, the story could certainly have been different. Sri Lanka Cricket cannot make the lack of finances an excuse for not appointing a psychologist. Most international teams carry a psychologist with them, knowing its importance. It is time that Sri Lanka Cricket moved with the times.

Seneviratne good choice

The appointment of former Sri Lanka stylish batsman Jayantha Seneviratne as manager of the Emerging Team is welcome and a move in the right direction. Seneviratne has the credentials to handle this responsible job.

During his playing days for Nalanda and later for Bloomfield he was a correct and stylish right hand batsman and was rewarded with a Sri Lanka cap and the 98 not out he made against Pakistan in an unofficial Test in Lahore, is still remembered. Seneviratne had the good fortune of coming under that great cricketer and coach former Sri Lanka cricketer Gerry Gooneratne who produced classy cricketers at Nalanda and who later went on to play for the country.

Seneviratne also coached many Nalanda teams to emerge inter-school champions. He also served as a selector and also went to South Africa in managerial positions. A strong disciplinarian to whom cricket is everything, SLC could not have found a better man for this post.

Australia- India sizzlers

Beginning later this month will be the Four-Test series between Australia and India in India, which is going to be chockfull of interest with no quarter asked or given. The Australians will arrive after whitewashing the Sri Lankans in the three match Test series and the West Indies in the 50 over five-match series.

As such they will be oozing with confidence when taking on the Indians, but they will do well not to be complacent, because the Indians playing in their own backyard could be awkward customers.

Since the clashes between Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds in the 2008 series in Australia, where the ‘turbanator’ was suspended for three matches for racial abuse, but on appeal the ban was reduced and a fine for abuse was slapped.

But since, Symonds has gone out of the game. But there is the likelihood of Harbhajan coming back to torment the Aussies because he has been named in the squad of 15 for the first Two Tests.

With the Indian wickets usually favouing spin bowling, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni could go in spin heavy in which case Singh could be included. The ‘turbanator’ has played in 99 Tests for his country and will be eagerly awaiting to notch up a century of Tests. He has an amazing record against Australia with 90 wickets in 16 Tests and will be looking to add more.

Harbhajan was dropped from the Indian team that played England in Nagpur in December and is now oozing with confidence as his haul of 5 wickets for the Rest of India against Mumbai showed.

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