Top Spin By Sunny

November 17th 2013
‚ ‚  When Sri Lanka’s‚ ‚ captain Angelo Mathews,‚ makes excuses‚ to the press‚ ahead of the third and final ODI against New Zealand here at Dambulla about the exclusion of prominent all rounder Thisara Perera‚ one of the best in the sport today in the limited over version‚ as acclaimed by many, something seems untoward.
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The whole business of his‚ lengthy explanation to the media‚ as to why promising all-rounder Thisara Perera was left out for the first two ODIs against New Zealand seems hardly convincing, almost as though‚  he was helpless in effecting the inclusion of Perera based on the willy nilly descision making of the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya who appears to be an experimentative bungler making unilateral choices beyond his comprehension‚ which Matthews’ language as well as that of the media‚ seems to attest to.

In this respect it seems apathetic that Matthews‚ appears‚ to have been‚ denied‚ ‚ the mandate to stand up to the selectors and present forcefully his choice of including Perera‚ In Sri Lanka-â„¢s last ODI series as his statement seems to suggest‚  as that perhaps may have‚ made a big difference in the outcome of the series which Sri Lanka now has to fight towards a draw.
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While on statistics alone Perera was more than deserving of inclusion as an automatic choice especially after his last performance‚ against South Africa‚  where he was was the third highest run getter and the second highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka‚  it seems mind boggling that players of lesser capability have been prefered over him regardless of the excuses towards justification.
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In the third ODI against the Proteas, when he hit a Robin Petersen over for five sixes and a four‚  Thisara Perera proved his mettle and there have been many other occassions when his performances have proved his entitlement to selection bar injury‚  as a sterling player where Matthews has admitted in his own words that “Thisara Perera is a match winner and we need to bring him back to the team” but has failed‚  to influence his previous‚ selection which appears to reflect not only his lack of‚ clout with the panel of selectors‚ but also the sorry state the selection panel seems to be in today clutching at straws towards a winning combination‚ if this can be expressed as constructive criticism based on some of the explanations offered by its members headed by Sanath Jayasuriya!
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Apparently‚ the selectors have sacrificed an all-rounder towards finding a good opener which defies all logic‚ especially‚ if Thisara Perera‚  was made a‚ sacrificial lamb‚ for the cause‚ as the choice of Dimuth Karunaratne as reported in the media was a poor one where he failed to perform.

The explanation that, quote “We were actually thinking of an opener. We have been trying to get an opener in for quite some time now and we opened with different combinations. The selectors decided on Dimuth by giving him an opportunity, because he scored a lot of runs for the -ËœA-â„¢ team and also in domestic cricket. So, we tired him out, but unfortunately in the last couple of games, he failed.”
end quote ~ is no reason for Perera to have been excluded‚  and the vagaries of the selection panel was also seen previously in the manner they persisted in including Kusal Perera in a previous series despite continuous failures with the bat‚ which was also a bad choice as‚ he was indeed a‚ total failure and perhaps high time the panel started paying more attention towards selecting players on merit and performance than on random‚ whims as appears to be the case‚ which could hurt Sri Lanka cricket!‚ 
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Justifiably Mathews has expressed his dissapointment that Sri Lanka has squandered the chances of winning the series against‚ The New Zealanders despite not being at full strength‚ missing four of their‚ top order‚ batsmen but leading the series‚  after winning the‚ rain affected‚ second ODI, decided on the Duckworth -‚ Lewis method.

But speculatively at least‚ had he insisted on the inclusion of players of the calibre of Thisara Perera in preference over the panel favourites in a manner‚ forceful enough‚ towards convincing the selectors‚ ‚ the end result could have been quite different despite‚ it now ‚ being‚ water under the bridge. But It would add insult to injury if the Kiwis walked away with the series.