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| Saturday, 18 December 2004 |
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Is the future bleak? The alarm bells have started to sound with the failure of some of the younger players whom the national cricket selectors have identified as potential for the future, to perform during the current domestic season. Everyone knows that our domestic cricket can hardly compare or get closer to even the Ranji trophy tournament in India because it has been abused by the presence of too many vote-catching clubs. The standard of cricket dished out at the Premier tournament has been reduced to virtually next to nothing. Given these circumstances what has become a worrying factor for the selectors is the failure of players of the calibre of Jehan Mubarak, Thilina Kandamby, Michael van Dort and Ian Daniel to name a few, to make big runs even against feeble opposition. Mubarak averages 11.15 (highest score 33), Kandamby 26.66 (hs: 55), Vandort 27.00 (hs: 59) and Daniel 37.20 (hs: 96). What the selectors fear is if this trend continues, the future of Sri Lanka cricket is going to be rather bleak after the current crop of players quit. Ten to 15 years ago, not a weekend passed by in domestic cricket when it rained centuries. It is not the case today where there is paucity for hundreds. As a result of the circumstances, the selectors were caught in a catch-22 situation and had to eventually opt for proven talent which allowed a few national cricketers to be on the flight to New Zealand despite disappointing performances on recent tours abroad. Vice captaincy The Sri Lankan vice-captaincy has never been an issue although now and then it has cropped up at discussions whenever Mahela Jayawardene fails to deliver. The problem with Jayawardene according to Ranjith Fernando, the former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper/batsman is that he needs professional advice to make a few adjustments to counter the moving ball when playing outside his country. Jayawardene's record abroad has been the bone of contention. Although he enjoys an overall Test batting average of 48 and a one-day average of 30, his performances outside his country sees him average 36 in Tests and 24 in one-dayers, which is certainly not good enough for a batsmen of his talents and calibre. Jayawardene is capable of more than that and it has nothing to do with his technique or anything like that. A few adjustments here and there under a watchful and trained eye should see him at his prolific best. The sooner he gets over it the better for him so that there will be less talk on whether he is holding onto his place in the team purely because of his status as vice captain. The coach John Dyson may not be everyone's favourite cup of tea as a cricket coach nor the methods he adopts acceptable to all the players. But in his own inimitable way he has turned the Sri Lankan team into a combative and fighting unit. The changes that have taken place in the past five months are reflected by the results produced by the team. They have won 13 of their last 17 one-day internationals (which includes winning the Asia Cup and Pak Tel Cup finals and making a clean 5-0 sweep of the series against South Africa). In the Tests they have beaten South Africa for the first time in a Test and in a Test series and drew the two Test series in Pakistan with a win and a loss. These results have enabled Sri Lanka to soar to second place in the ICC one-day rankings and fifth in the Test ratings. Unlike in the past this team is showing the ability to hang onto a Test match for longer periods of time whereby creating situations to win by doing so. Dyson's tactics has been to make the players responsible for all that is happening on the field. He is gradually inculcating the Australian recipe for success where each of the players has to become independent thinkers. "They need to think about the game while they are on the field all the time, read the game on the field, assess what's required of their skills and apply that knowledge," said Dyson. "From what I've learnt from Sri Lankan cricket in the past they have been somewhat spoon-fed. If you look at the Australian side for example, they think about the game so often. They are not held by the hand throughout every step of the match." No doubt it is a very big change to undergo but at least the signs of improvement are there. If Sri Lanka cricket needs to move forward there should be continuity on what Dyson has introduced. That is why he should be given the nod when his 20-month contract comes up for renewal at the end of the New Zealand tour. |
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