Cricket Board Elections hotting up, who will win?
 With
each passing day the eagerness to become the next President of Sri Lanka
Cricket which AGM to be held on March 30, is hotting up with each camp
making their claims, some of which may not seem to use the games’e
parlance “not cricket”! Contestant camps need to be mindful that their
enthusiasm to score points (or runs) does not end up tarnishing the good
name of Sri Lanka Cricket. It should not be seen as if a comedy is being
played out with allegations and counter allegations being made. The
contestants are the incumbent President Upali Dharmadasa, Thilanga
Sumathipala and Sumithra Perera. Not wanting to get involved in the
comedy that is being played out, we, who have followed the destinies of
the game and the making of Presidents, remain concerned that the game
and its administration is not ridiculed.
For the sake of the game
But for the sake of the game and its rich traditions, we hope that
the excesses that are being engaged in by each platform will end and
that the better man will be elected to take the game, the player and the
administration forward. Watching the unlike cricket game taking place
reminds us of what that great former President of Sri Lanka Cricket
Gamini Dissanayeke told us when he was President and the game and it was
on the up and up: ‘It is easy to do politics rather than run the Cricket
Board’. For the better man to be selected all the bickering will need to
end soon and good order will prevail and that the process of election is
clean.
How was Bangladesh going to fare?
When the First Test Cricket Match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
began at the Galle International Cricket Club Ground in Galle last
Friday, the topic of interest was: How are visitors going to fare? Would
the visitors be competitors, would they crumble, would they hold the Sri
Lankans or would they turn tables on the locals? To the credit of the
Bangladeshis it must be said they answered these questions with a
gallant and formidable display. When the Bangladeshi cricketers arrived
here, not much was known about their young players. Other than for their
Captain Mushfiqur Rahim and the dashing and daring Mohammed Ashraful,
the rest we were told had talent. Before going on to comment on the
outcome of the Test, we would like to open batting on the wicket that
curator Jayananda Warnaweera produced for the game. Wicket well rolled
and devoid of grass - The wicket seemed to have been well rolled, devoid
of much grass and from the looks of it the team winning the toss and
batting first was going to have a ball in Galle.
And like almost all wickets are bound to play, it was expected to
make batting a bit difficult favouring spin bowlers who were expected to
revel on a wicket that was going to crumble as the game progressed. But
the wicket fooled everyone. It would have also the curator.
From the first ball on the first day to the last ball on the last day
the wicket remained the same, being a batting paradise. Like my doctor
M.R. Anwer who is an ardent cricket fan said it was an ideal wicket for
limited over cricket, because thousands of runs were scored on it with
eight centuries. In the past the Galle wicket had helped produce results
either way. But not this time round. The wicket went to sleep and sleep
it did for the five full days of the First Test.
Match referee makes adverse report
On one occasion the wicket came in for censure from the International
Cricket Council when Match Referee former England opener Christopher
Broad made an adverse report after Australia beat Sri Lanka in a Test
match. Though many will not agree we would like to congratulate former
Sri Lanka off cutter Warnaweera for preparing such a wicket. Coming from
me who has played the game, I make bold to say that on wickets such as
this we shall see bowlers who are termed great, and those that become
greater.
A great bowler must be able to get wickets on any kind of surfaces.
Likewise great batsmen must score on any kinds of wicket. Then and only
then could they be called great. Our reputed new ball bowlers Nuwan
Kulasekera and Shamindra Eranga and two famous spinners Rangana Herath
and Ajantha Mendis were badly exposed. They become larger than life on
helpful wickets, but on the Galle wicket their invincible bubble burst.
Bowlers devoid of ideas
They seemed devoid of ideas how to bowl and lure batsmen to their
demise. They just could not outthink the batsmen. What was apparent was
that Herath and Mendis were bowling too flat most of the time.
Flight, which is so very important to obtain spin, to keep inviting
the batsmen to leave the crease more often, changing their line and
length and producing the unplayable delivery, was absent. Only once did
Herath lure a batsman out of his crease and that was Mohammed
Mahamadullah and had him stumped. But that was it and Herath
surprisingly went flat from then on. As for Mendis, he too has lost the
art of flight that brought him enormous spin and with it wickets. When
he came into the game his varied deliveries including the ‘carrom ball’
earned him the ‘mystery’ sobriquet.
Meal out of the Indian batsmen
In his first Test series he made a meal out of the Indian batsmen,
who were nonplussed, could not fathom his varying magic spin and none of
the batsmen played him with degree of confidence and earned him a
harvest of wickets. But apparently the one day game has made him lose
his flight, guile and spin.
He is now bowling flat and concentrates on more pace and sadly his
‘mystery’ tag has alas faded away. When this is read the Second Test
between the two countries would be on at the R. Premadasa Stadium, and
here’s hoping that the selectors would have added a leg spinner to add
variety to the attack. A two-way spinner can pose problems to the
batsmen. The leg spin and googly are two of the most difficult
deliveries that most batsmen would not like to face. Not very many
captains have trust and confidence in leg spinners.
Must have the courage to be different
We hope that Angelo Mathews in only his second game as captain will
have the courage to be different and ask for a leg spinner. When a leg
spinner strikes a length he becomes unplayable. Mathews must remember
that only those who dare, win. When Sri Lanka made a massive 570 for 4
wickets, with centuries from Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne and
Dinesh Chandimal, the consensus was that the Lankans were going to win
by innings unless rain stalled their push and the game not going on to
the final day.
But not only the cricketers, but also the cricket loving public did
not bargain for the wonderful fight back by the Bangladeshi batsmen led
by Mohmmed Ashraful, Captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Nasser Hossain. Rahim’s
double hundred was a truly great captain’s innings. He showed the way
with a massive and grand score. And the other two century makers took
the cue from him and in helping the side to 638 all out – a lead of 68.
Very correct batting technique
What was admirable in this Bangladeshi innings was that every batsman
showed very correct technique. They played straight and very rarely did
they cross bat which speaks volumes for their coach. My good friend and
SLBC radio cricket commentator the affable Ricky Simms told me that the
Bangladeshi coach Shane Jurgensen is only 36 years old, having played
for Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia. He was a right arm fast
medium bowler and in the 23 matches he played for the states he captured
23 wickets.
He joined Bangladesh coaching staff in 2011 as bowling coach and was
their interim coach to Richrad Pybus. Jurgensen has been a coach for 15
years at different levels. He was New Zealand’s bowling coach in
2010.For one so young Jurgensen has delivered which was apparent the
manner in which the Bangladeshi batsmen performed and he can take a bow.
Bangladesh can be proud of their coach.
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