Lankans Crumble To The Aussies At Galle And The Need To Fight Back Imminent!
Posted on September 3rd, 2011

Top Spin By Suni

September 4th 2011

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There was no denying this Aussie win at Galle as crushing despite shades of glory by individual performances by Sri Lanka both with the bat and ball sans the zip needed by Skip Dil where even his Dilscoop seems t have deserted him and taken up by others, time perhaps to get his act together for a Lankan surge in the remaining games.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So what happened to the Lions at Galle? Where was their resilience and tenacity facing an Aussie squad who are lower than them in the rankings but seemed full of fire and charged up as they mowed the Lankans down in clinical fashion despite the fine bowling performance by Herath and the determined batting of Jayawardena and Matthews in the second essay which was not enough however to acheive a win which would have been unprecedented and a record breaking one where for a brief moment when Jayawardena and Matthews were at the wicket seemed vaguly reachable albeit not to be.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Almost coincidentally this was the formal baptismal of another emerging Aussie Captain who much in the same manner as his predecessor recorded his maiden win as skipper at the same venue Galle. Michael Clarke has got off to a flying start as Australia’s new Test captain in similar fashion to Ricky Ponting who also led the Aussies in beating Sri Lanka in Galle Seven years ago.Then it was Shane Warne who undid the Sri Lankans in second innings; and here it was Ryan Harris, whose five-for haul as the same by Nathan Lyon in the first innings saw the Lankans lose by 125-runs comprehensively. It was also Ricky ponting’s 100 appearance in a test match and quite a colourful record where the countinuity of Clarke’s success is yet to be proved with two tests to go!.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Suddenly however the spectre of badly prepared wickets seem to spring to mind in the aftermath of this Lankan loss as the possible real culprit albeit inexcusable as the Aussies eventually were the better team who weathered all the adversities and odds ~ bad wicket or not and beat the Lankans on their own turf which at times looked capable of sending a few batsmen to hospital. Kumar Sangakkara a normally confident batsman in reading each ball on its merits and a fine timer of the rising ball seemed totally nonplussed at the one that reared sharply in his face with no time to pull his bat away and paid the price as the unpredictable Galle Strip favoured the brave who in this case were the Aussies and bore testimony to what seemed a susopect wicket! The uneven bounce, the raising of dust and the unpredicrable nature of this particular wicket did appear to be a batsmen’s nightmare at times which the Aussies weathered quite equitably to the task commendably as the Lankans fizzeld out!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was a wicket taking spin on the very first day and a dust bowl unfit for marbles where the errant curator responsible needs to go back to the drawing board about how to prepare a good test wicket as this one at times looked quite suspect. WhenThe illustriuos Commentator Tony Greig also observed the shortcomings of the wicket from the commentary box there obviously is reason enough to ponder upon the whys and wherefores and whether this particular subcontinental wicket had in fact jinxed the Lankans !!.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, given the polished Aussie pace attack of Watson, Johnson and nagging pacie Ryan Harris as well as their new found spinner Nathan Lyon whose variations of pace and spin were relentless which the Lankan batting line up seemed to find quite daunting, added to their dismal and irresponsible batting in the first innings it was a mere matter of time before they eventually capitulated to the jubilant Ausises who had posted an unreachable target through a sheer concerted team effort which seemed sadly lacking in the Sri Lankann team

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The game was also a contrast in captaincies where Michael Clarke seemed brimming with confidence and the hapless Dilshan having failed again with the bat also, seemed lacking in confidence and zip to motivate his team to fight harder but hopefully a matter of time when he will show his full potential to lead from the front as he is indeed a brilliant player in all departments, a fighter and needs to muster up all his reserves in the next two tests and fight back to maintain Sri Lanka’s rating above the Aussies and more.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Next, on to beautiful Pallekelle on what is a wicket of reasonable contrasts and the possibility of the ”Slinger” ‘s inclusion widening Aussie furrows and perhaps a more balanced Lankan eleven based on performance and merit where Sri Lanka needs to sparkle and shine with better fortunes rather than flicker and fail again!

3 Responses to “Lankans Crumble To The Aussies At Galle And The Need To Fight Back Imminent!”

  1. mario_perera Says:

    Thank you Suni. I pen my own observations in this short comment ‘off the cuff’. I wish to be encouraging, but I find that difficult. The truth as it dawns on me, is that our cricket is in total disarray. The seniors are not performing (sure Mahela and Mathews clicked this time) consistently, and the new comers are not of worth. The old classification of test teams as comprising specialist batsmen and specialist bowlers is outdated. The lower order, in today’s cricket, must score runs, as the Australian lower order did this time. Sad to say our lower order of specialist bowlers cannot hold a bat! The fast bowlers are not fast, just toothless trundlers. The spinners are not effective, though Mendis and Herath do perform from time to time. Dilshan’s remarks at the end of the game are infantile. They are studded with ‘ifs’ and ‘should haves’…just puffs of air for the sake of it. Dilshan’s batting is of the ‘come or go’ cowboy style, and.he calls it his ‘normal game’! Sanga walks with greater determination towards the Union Trust Bank than towards the crease.
    the conclusion is pitiful. The old ones are getting old and on the way out, the young ones are getting in and getting out faster, after brief demonstrations of their ineptitude and deficiencies (examples-Chandimal and Jeevan).
    Any temporary solution ? Do away with this system of specialist bowlers and go in for all rounders. Even if they are non-performers in the end, at least they are known as such. When I see the likes of Lakmal. Welagedara, Mendis walking in to bat I know what to expect: that is…nothing. As for all rounders of some sort (even in name), we have Kulasekara, Tissara Perera, that short stocky fast bowler who can bat (forget his name: the one from De Mazenod) and maybe Tushara (the pacy of some time back). Spin all round options (once again for lack of better ones) are Herath, Randiv and Jeevan.
    Sorry, all this might seem ridiculous, but that is the best I can muster seeing the terrible situation of our test cricket. In the meantime the golden rule to inculcate to all specialist bowlers, is that that era is over. They must also learn to bat and that applies to Mendis, Lakmal, Wekagedara, the new leggie Seekuge and new pacy Pradeep..As for the seniors who go in and play their ‘normal game’ getting out fast, well, they have to rethink their place or at last their position in the team.

  2. geoff Says:

    Thilan Samaraweera should go. He holds no hope for future and denying a place to a youngster. Even if he comes back it will be inconsistent.

    HPW Jayawardena is another useless cricketer. Sanga is now 34 and we need another wicket keeper batsman for T20s, ODIs and tests. It is time to give the chance to a new wicket keeper batsman.

  3. Rohan8 Says:

    Australians seemed very determined to do well in Sri Lanka, it certainly hurts more to lose a test match than a one day game, because the side batting last provided they have very good batsman which Sri lanka does have the opportunity to draw the match or even win it. It is quite possible Sri Lanka could have won this match from an improbable position, if Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Matthews kept their partnership together for another 2 test match sessions. However the Sri Lankans didn’t seem determined enough to apply themselves in their own conditions compared to the aussies who are looking long term to be top tier cricket nation again like they were not too long ago. Hope Sri Lanka plays well in the next two test matches, because their loss at Galle wasn’t good enough. Aussies may be a good team who are doing well but in my opinion there was no excuse for Sri Lankan teams loss in Galle, which in the past had been a fortress for Sri Lanka against all touring teams.

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