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| Saturday, 15 January 2005 |
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From the Press Box Getting the maximum One of the pleasing features of the one-day charity cricket match between a World XI and an Asian XI in Melbourne was the wicket-keeping of one of Sri Lanka's outstanding cricketers Kumar Sangakkara. The Channel Nine commentary team led by former Australian Test captain Richie Benaud went rave over Sangakkara's wicket-keeping, which until then had not been as conspicuous as his terrific batting. That Sangakkara has improved in leaps and bounds on his glove work behind the wicket speaks of the player's total commitment towards the game. But at the same time it has also brought forth more headaches for the selectors in trying to fit him into a batting position in a Test team which could be beneficial to him as well as the side. There is no doubt that Sangakkara is arguably Sri Lanka's best player of pace and his place at no. 3 is justified. In the same breath it can be argued whether the team benefits the maximum if he is asked to keep wickets for a long period of time and then asked to bat in that position. With his exceptional talents Sri Lanka must get the best out of Sangakkara as a batsman. But the question is whether he will be able to perform at his best if he's had an arduous time behind the wickets? The retirement of Romesh Kaluwitharana pushed Sangakkara into the limelight as a Test wicket-keeper. When the selectors picked Sangakkara as no. 3 batsman and wicket-keeper for the New Zealand Tests, we were told that he was the one of the fittest players in the side and that he was quite comfortable adjusting to the requirements of the team. Former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper/batsman Ranjit Fernando who has followed Sangakkara's career from the time he joined NCC as a 20-year-old said: "Wicket-keeping is all about mental concentration. Physical fitness has nothing to do with mental fatigue". Fernando is of the opinion that on the long term Sangakkara should bat lower than at no. 3 to allow him time to recover from his wicket-keeping duties. He suggested that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Mahela Jayawardene switching places with Sangakkara and going to bat at no. 3. "While the player's point of view should also be considered, the team's interest is very important in making changes," said Fernando. With currently there being no strong contenders to match Sangakkara's credentials as a batsman cum wicket-keeper the onus is on the selectors and the team management to decide what is best for them. This problem does not persist in one-day cricket where Sangakkara is required to bat between nos. 3 and 5 and has to stand behind the stumps for a maximum of 50 overs or sometimes even less. Cricketing expatriates Talking of Sri Lankan expatriates, former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Asanka Gurusinha who is here on holiday rattled off a list of names of past Sri Lankan players who are resident in Australia. They could easily make up a national Test and one-day squad. For the benefit of readers we give the names of the players with their number of appearances for the country. On top of the list is Ravi Ratnayeke (22 Tests/78 ODIs) followed by Gurusinha (41/147), Saliya Ahangama (3/1), Susil Fernando (5/7), Yohan Goonasekara (2/3), Sanath Kaluperuma (4/2), Athula Samarasekara (4/39), Sanjeewa Weerasinghe (1/-), Manjula Munasinghe (-/5), Kosala Kuruppuarachchi (2/-), Lalithamana Fernando (-/1), Marlon von Hagt (-/1), Chamara Dunusinghe (5/1) and Roshan Jurangpathy (2/-). Two other outstanding cricketers who did not make it to national level Kapila Jayasuriya and Sujeewa Kamalasooriya were also named. Sadly Kamalasooriya who came to Sri Lanka on holiday became a victim of the tsunami and expired. Apart from Jurangpathy (Perth) and Kamalasooriya (Adelaide) the rest reside in Melbourne. |
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