Sidath adds balance to Sri Lanka selection thinking (22 August 1999)

22 August 1999

Sidath adds balance to Sri Lanka selection thinking

Trevor Chesterfield

Colombo (Sri Lanka) - In his day Sidath Wettimuny was described as a class batsman with a solid, if suave style. Which is just the sort of background needed to present a sound argument while explaining where he and his fellow Sri Lanka selectors are heading.

Perhaps best described under the motto of "short term aim, long-term gain and competitive spirit" the chairman of selectors was not only refreshingly frank, he also outlined the sort of policy which makes a lot of common sense: and for the good of Sri Lanka.

And the way he saw it was simple and direct with a slice of rare humour as well as firm backbone.

It is perhaps better explained by that old clich=E9 of having to break a few eggs to make the perfect omelette. There is also the defined philosophy of being able to take the heat while in the kitchen. Either way the theories are not new: what is, however, is how it is being implemented in Sri Lanka after months of dithering.

A selector in 1991/92 Wettimuny is not new to the job, or the controversies which go with it. What is new is his role as selection panel chairman and the unenviable job to refurbish the squads with talent and youth long overlooked.

"It was better that we make the changes now than say two years down the road when it would be too late," he commented referring indirectly to the selectors bold move to remove Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva from their positions of power and leadership.

You have to admire Wettimuny and his co-selectors for the way they have acted. They have a game plan and are prepared to push forward and ride out the bitter reaction of an estranged public who are acting with the sort of bravado you would expect from those with the mentality of mob rule.

South Africa went through a similar hysterical outburst in December and January 1992 when Clive Rice and Jimmy Cook were left out of the World Cup squad and the captaincy was handed to Kepler Wessels, that veteran from the trenches of international competition, to take over the role. There are those who still have not forgiven Peter van der Merwe and his panel for what they say was the cruellest cut of all. South Africa, having emerged from 21 years of isolation, were forced to admit, as has Wettimuny, long term planning outweighs short-sighted thinking.

Petitions were drawn up to force Van der Merwe and his fellow selectors to reselect the team and court action threatened if they did not. All was the result of an over-charged emotional issue. Three months later Wessels led South Africa's first World Cup side in a ticker tape parade through the streets of central Johannesburg during the first event of its kind in the country's history.

In Sri Lanka there is a clear enough argument of for how much longer would have Ranatunga gone on? And perhaps retard the natural growth of the side. Also there is place for neither impulsiveness nor sentiment and the selectors have had to run with what they believe is in the best long-term interests of Sri Lanka. And the way he outlined policy, it was clear enough that it was done with the 2003 World Cup in mind. The coach Dav Whatmore has pointed as out.

"We had to take stock of what had taken place in recent months so we feel that we should make the changes now than rush the job.

"I must say that what decisions we had to make were unanimous among the selectors," he admitted with a quiet smile. "Yes . . . and I guess it is always the case when making a few changes (breaking a few eggs), some are difficult decisions. But someone has to make them .

"They were not hardline decisions. More of a natural process which we have put into place and is something which I feel any selectors would have had to do at this stage."

It is the sort of unprejudiced reply expected of a man who has some forthright views of Sri Lanka's World Cup demise in England earlier this year.

"I must say that I, personally, wasn't too surprised with the result because the last eight to ten months we had the same problem. It was not something which just happened to us during the World Cup and we have 'suddenly woken up to it'."

Wettimuny felt the side had been jogging along in the same rut for too long and had become too complacent and standards start to slip. There was also the problem of the team having players who had passed the "best of their playing days". Which even the most ardent Ranatunga and De Silva fan would agree has taken place. Yet the chairman of selectors was all too aware of a need for balance.

"What we have also tried to do is create a form of competitiveness among our players. We feel there is not enough competition among our top players for places in the side," he commented explaining the philosophy behind the two teams squad policy.

"Hopefully within the next six months to a year to find our way around and find an ideal of say sixteen to eighteen players which can take us few the next few years," Wettimuny confided.

Source :: CricInfo