Downward Spiral In Cricket Needs Immediate Attention.
Posted on February 4th, 2019
Top spin by Suni
4th Feb 2019
In any sport where motivation perhaps is the key word, cricket being no exception, in Sri Lanka cricket, apart from the enthusiasm to secure positions in the forthcoming elections for obvious reasons there seems little else towards correcting the downward spiral the present Test squad seems to be hurtling into.
It is frustrating to watch the many areas the team needs supplementing in and foremost the captaincy appears to be painfully lacking in the motivation that previous leaders have shown. So it is no surprise that the Lankans have been subjugated, intimidated and virtually demoralised as a team after the Indian and Australian Series’ where India was outstanding and the Sri Lankans are now heading towards further disaster in South Africaat the hands of their top order pacies probably smacking their lips awaiting their arrival. Synonymously the captain Chandimal only seems to have wayward rhetoric and meaningless jargon about how to recover from the problems rather than leading by example.In all probabilities he would perform better if he was replaced by someone more capable and better equipped to lead.
Sri Lanka have provided platforms for Australia to recover from their ” Indian drubbing ” and create unprecedented entries into the record books simply through ineptitude, lack of application or being categorically unfit to play at the highest level of the game and has brought to discredit what their memorable predecessors did in the recent past and have now been reduced to a team of disoriented players and if there were levels of relegation similar to soccer and other sports league in all probabilities they would surely be at the lowest .
History has proved that aggressive fast bowling was a key factor towards winning matches but it has also proved that there have been batsmen capable of countering and withstanding its perils in scintillating fashion but perhaps in the modern game, circumstances and conditions may be different and Australia has proved its effectiveness by brutally demoralizing Sri Lanka and sent them to the canvass in a manner of speaking. It is an issue which needs immediate attention where all things considered the team is heading for dire straits unless remedied.
Areas which need remedying appear to be – a captain who motivates and strengthens the team by example and being judicious, forthright and perceptive in decision making. Conditioning, both physical and psychological fitness and the capacity to play the rising ball without offering one’s helmet and body armour as buffers and misjudging the trajectories and bounce of a rising ball as Karunaratne and Perera did at Canberra ending up in hospital where the bat as a defensive and offnesive weapon seemed to have been pre-empted through hesitance and indecision. (The ICC probably needs to implement more stringent rules about the use and misuse of the bouncer beyond what already exists as indiscriminate bouncing these days seems rampant.)
The overall quality of players selected on performance and merit rather than on favouritism needs prioritizing as in the past and have been been winners not losers with tails between their legs which is gut wrenching for the fans and for the morale of Sri Lanka cricket in general.
Hopefully the downward spiral the team is in will be corrected before total disaster strikes this near to the World Cup.
February 4th, 2019 at 4:24 pm
It is too late for this year’s World Cup.
The main problem is lack of a good and consistent captain since Sanga (2011). That is the main reason for the collapse. There is infighting within the team, total lack of motivation and lack of coordination.
Then there is lack of new talent being inducted into the team.
Cricketers were not paid their dues from April 2011 until 2015. That was also a huge economic reason especially for poor players. Many would-be players may have left in disappointment.
Players useless for ODIs are kept in the team. Dinesh, Mendis, Lahiru and Dananjaya are useless ODI players. They must not have been included in the ODI squad.
Cricketing ills started long ago and they cannot be fixed quickly. At least 5 more years are needed to fix them. Realistically, not much hope for the WC. South Africa may at last win their illusive WC win.
February 4th, 2019 at 6:06 pm
We should not forget achievements in the recent past with respect to test cricket. Our test ranking is much better than ODI and 20/20 ranking.
1. Beating Pakistan in Middle East ( series win), it was a record until very recently. Even the days of Sanga we did not achieve it.
2. Beating West Indies in a certain venue where no other Asian team has ever won. Couldn’t do it even with Sanga, Mahela.
It is all got to do with the very recent joker as the chief selector. He sent his friend’s son ( a badminton player) replacing Lakmal ( due to injury) ! He appointed Malinga captain which is a disaster.
February 5th, 2019 at 3:25 pm
Sweeping changes have been made for the South Africa tour. Chandimal has opted out of international cricket. An obvious decision. Youngsters have been introduced. However, it is too late for the ODI team and our search for young talent through the Test squad to the ODI team (which is customary).
Sangha and Mahela have joined Sport Minister Harin Fernando to uplift cricket. A welcomes development. We finally have a Sport Minister who is willing to work with (not against) sports persons.
February 6th, 2019 at 12:31 pm
Despite the adversities, Hathurusingha and Chandimal should have been treated differently as it is demoralizing and unfair for a coach and player of their capabilities and track record to be humiliated. To err is human and if they have erred they need to be corrected and given a second chance as Hathurusingha is capable of better accomplishments and so is Chandimal.
Axing them is no real solution as it is the entire team which is to blame for the huge lapses.
not just the coach and captain.
February 6th, 2019 at 2:16 pm
Agree with Sunil Mahattaya.
Everything started by Mathews being openly criticized by the coach. Although his criticism was 100% justified after Mathews being fat and unfit running out 3 batsmen in one match, Mathews has better connections to revenge.
His opportunity came after 51 day political turmoil with sudden changes of kicking out old selectors and replacement with new muppets headed by a joker.
Look at the new selection. How can his firend’s son , a badminton player still there. We saw his capabilities recently. There are many other players such as Tissara Perera and Dasun Shanaka who should be trained to play tests.
February 7th, 2019 at 4:44 am
Atapattu says
අපි උදාහරණයක් ගනිමු. චාමික කරුණාරත්න. එයා ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් ගහන්න සූදානමින් හිටියාද ? මගේ ප්රශ්නය ඒකයි. එයාට පළමු ඕවරයේදීම කඩුල්ලක් ලැබුණ එක හොඳයි. එයාට ලකුණු 50 ක් ගහන්නත් පුළුවන්. ඒත් එකෙන් කියැවෙන්නේ මොකක්ද? ඒක හරියට කණා පල්ලමක් වගේනේ….එයා හරියට ශ්රී ලංකා ‘ඒ’ කණ්ඩායම වෙනුවෙන් වත් පුහුණුවීම් කරලා තිබුණාද ? එයා සූදානමින් හිටියේ නෑ. මේ වෙලාව්දී ඕස්ටේ්රලියාවට ඇවිදින් ටෙස්ට් තරගයක් ක්රීඩා කරනවා කියන එක එයාගේ හීනෙක වත් තිබුණේ නෑ….එහෙනම් සැලසුම් කොහේද ?
කිසිම සැලැස්මක් නෑ. හැම දේම හරියයි කියලා හිතන් ඉන්නවා. ඒත් ඒ දේවල් (ටෙස්ට් තරගක් දිනනවා කියන එක) එහෙම වෙන්නේ නෑ.