Mahela's appointment premature? (12 July 1999)

12 July 1999

Mahela's appointment premature?

Sa'adi thawfeeq

The appointment of Mahela Jayawardene as vice-captain of the national team has astonished some in the cricketing fraternity.

Jayewardene at 22 years has no doubt emerged as the player with the potential to match the deeds of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga one day. He has the temperament and the talent to do it.

Speaking to knowledgeable cricket personalities a lot of them are of the view that Jayewardene's appointment is somewhat premature, the reason being that he has still to become a permanent member of the team.

We know the selectors have a thankless job at hand and we appreciate their concern to groom a future captain.

The burning question here is why Jayewardene was selected at this stage? Weren't there other established Sri Lankan players who merited such recognition?

Off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan is one of them. Muralitharan is 27 years and leads Tamil Union in the Premier championships. Being the only match-winning bowler, Muralitharan has become an automatic choice in the national side since breaking into the international cricket circuit seven years ago.

Fast bowler Chaminda Vaas is another player with good credentials. Only 25 years he led Colts to a memorable win over an SSC side captained by Arjuna Ranatunga in the inter-club 50-over final last season. Not only did SSC have Ranatunga, but also the services of six other national players. Vaas has been a permanent fixture in the national team since 1994 and his leadership qualities inspired Colts to lift the one-day trophy against favourites SSC.

We hold no grudges against anybody, but what we are trying to establish here is that Jayewardene has some way to go before becoming a permanent fixture in the national team.

Jayewardene's performances to-date since making his international debut two years ago, are impressive in both the Test and One-day circuit, but not consistent enough to guarantee him a permanent place.

Only seven months ago, Jayewardene couldn't find a place in Sri Lanka's 16-member team to Australia for the World Series Cup. He was later recalled as a replacement when Aravinda de Silva was injured and, played some useful innings including that memorable century against England at Adelaide to keep his place from there onwards for the World Cup.

Jayewardene could consider it a lucky break for had he not been summoned to Australia, one wonders whether he would have ever made it to the World Cup in England.

What the selectors must ensure and Jayewardene must be aware of, is that the post of vice-captain should be no guarantee for a permanent place in the team. One must perform to be accorded such an honour.

Jayewardene's international record in comparison to that of Vaas and Muralitharan and also to other vice-captains who have enjoyed this position in the past, is far behind.

The normal practice of picking a vice-captain is after the team is selected. With Jayewardene's appointment it seems the selection committee has done away with this practice.

We are not in agreement with the chairman of selectors' views that the captain and vice-captain come and go at the same time. Barring one exception - Mendis and Dias, the past selectors are answerable if at all why vice-captains have failed to succeed the captain.

Aravinda de Silva, who was Ranatunga's vice-captain is a good example. With his outstanding talents and mantle as a great player, de Silva was the logical successor to Ranatunga. He should have succeeded Ranatunga shortly after the 1996 World Cup. It is unfortunate the mantle of leadership did not pass onto him at the time and this may well have led to part of our World Cup debacle three years later.

Now that Jayewardene finds himself in this elevated position, he will need to perform, and prove that his promotion is purely on merit and nothing else.

We wish Jayewardene well and hope he takes all what has been said here in the right spirit.

Source :: The Daily News (https://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/)