|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 13 July 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Sports | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
The Russel Arnold story by Malsiri Kurukulasuriya It is always sad to see a player of talent slowly drifting towards mediocrity through no fault of his. (I suppose it's true of any sport). Here I am talking about Russel Arnold, the cricketer. Arnold made his mark as a top order batsman for his club, NCC. He is devoid of the dash and elegance of our other early batsmen. He is a grafter, an accumulator of runs. He would have been an ideal No. 5 in our Test team with contrasting styles he would have made an excellent foil for Mahela. The left and right hand combination would have had a salutary effect on these two talented batsmen. But the selectors have really bungled here (the same way that Chandana was misused and under-utilised). Anyone who has seen Arnold bat knows he is a technically correct batsman. There is no way that he should be batting at No. 7 in the one-day side. He is a trier and a gutsy cricketer. He has tried to change his style to suit his position in the batting order. He has developed a good sweep and also learnt to drag balls from the off side to the mid-on area. All this is alien to his natural style. I would go even further and state that he should not be in the ODI pool. What awaits him on his return from Australia is easy to see. Like Kumar Dharmasena he will be gently eased into oblivion. Another talented cricketer killed by a series of incompetent "interim" selection committees. I wonder if there are any selectors in the current panel who have the guts to admit to an error and try to rectify the situation. As someone said "an error does not become a mistake until you fail to rectify it". Arnold is still young enough to turn his career around. The question is will he be given the opportunity? |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
