Sri Lanka in Australia: There's more to it than what meets the eye (23 February 1999)

23 February 1999

Sri Lanka in Australia: There's more to it than what meets the eye

Sa'adi Thawfeeq

So the Aussies have yet again won another World Series Cup title.

It was their 12th triumph in the 20 years of competition which from Benson and Hedges has now become the Carlton and United, by title. Only three other countries have deprived Australia of winning it on eight other occasions - West Indies (6 times), England and Pakistan, once each.

Winning to Australia is everything. It has become priority number one. So at the expense of any other side they are prepared to go to any lengths to achieve it.

That Sri Lanka happened to be in the way, is only a mere obstacle for them. By inviting Sri Lanka as the world one-day champions they knew they could fill the stands. Beating them made it even more convincing, that Australian cricket was right up there.

For cricket to attract the sponsorship it does at present, the sport must be a very successful one. Thus, the Australians will strive hard to achieve that lest they lose the lucrative sponsorships to other sports like basketball for instance.

Thus, it is not only the Australian cricketers who make life uneasy for any visiting team, but the public and media also contribute in a big way towards keeping their cricket on a higher pedestal.

The events that marred the recently concluded Sri Lankan tour Down Under, were part of the well laid out plans to ensure the world champions didn't play to their potential. Australia did it to them quite successfully in the 1995-96 tour, and they have done it again.

The aftermath of the 1995-96 tour is all history now. Sri Lanka seething with fury to the treatment meted out to them during the tour, gained sweet revenge by defeating Australia to take the World Cup at Lahore two months later.

By infuriating the team again, the Aussies have fuelled the Lankans up once more. Whether they will be able to deliver a similar blow remains to be seen when the World Cup commences on May 14 in England.

Whilst accepting the fact that the events on and off the field didn't allow the team to concentrate on playing cricket, but spend most of their time on issues outside it, one cannot totally put down these circumstances to their deplorable performance in the competition.

Sri Lanka won only three of the ten qualifying round matches and were easily knocked out of the finals which was contested by Australia and England.

There was a total lack of discipline all-round. It seems the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has different sets of rules for different players. With so much of money to go around with these days, and wives of some players thrown in for good measure, most of the players' minds were not focussed on cricket, but elsewhere. Taking wives on tour and what effect it has on team performances is something the BCCSL could do well to investigate.

Another matter which the BCCSL must clearly look into is the retaining of injured players on tour. This is not the first time it has happened. The reason could be either the team physio's report on an injured player is questionable or that the BCCSL doesn't care.

As much as if a player is injured he doesn't get selected, similarly, if a player cannot recover within two weeks and if he cannot play a meaningful role in the competition, he must be sent home.

Although the tour performances cannot be used as a yardstick to the totally different conditions in England, nevertheless it exposed to a great extent the deficiencies of the team.

The salient points to emerge out of the tour, was that the team still required the services of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga to win matches, Adelaide was an exception when the brilliance of young Mahela Jayawardene turned the scales in our favour against England.

That Sri Lanka cannot depend on half bowlers for success; and the fielding standards had dropped drastically, that it has exposed the limited resources of our bowling.

A professional team can lose matches, but consistency should be maintained. Since the tour of England, Sri Lanka has participated in three tournaments in Dhaka, Sharjah and Australia and failed to qualify for the final in any of them. They have won only four of their last 16 one-day games, losing 12.

There is no doubt the potential is there, but one needs to focus the mind on cricket. A lot depends on the players' cricketing attitude and commitment.

The few positive things that emerged out of the tour for Sri Lanka was the maturity of Jayewardene as a top class batsman and Upul Chandana as a fine one-day all-rounder. Jayewardene not only became the first Sri Lankan to score a century in this competition for 15 years, but proved in the manner he got his runs at Adelaide that he is a long standing prospect for the future. He has made two centuries at international level, and both have contributed towards victory. His other noteworthy knock was the 167 he made against New Zealand in the inaugural Test played at Galle last year.

Chandana who has been a fringe player for some time due to the presence of Kumara Dharmasena, seized the opportunity given to him in this competition to make useful runs in the late order and contain the opposition with his fast leg-breaks.

Opening bat Avishka Gunawardana and fast bowler Ruchira Perera also made their mark in the few opportunities they were given. Fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa's fitness continued to be an enigma, but the most disappointing aspects were the poor form of Roshan Mahanama and fast bowler Suresh Perera.

There was a big hue and cry raised over the non-selection of Mahanama for the tour to England last year. He was left out on poor form. Due to pressure brought on the BCCSL, Mahanama was sent to Australia to sort out his batting technique. What good that visit to Australia has done can be guaged by his performance with the bat in the World Series competition, where he averaged 12.71 from seven matches. Even at the age of 32, Mahanama continues to be an outstanding fielder, but fielding alone will not find him a place in the team.

Suresh Perera was a big disappointment. He showed a lot of promise of developing into an all-rounder on the England tour. But according to reports reaching us, he was nowhere near that form in Australia and was the only member who did not appear in any of the matches.

Runs Runs Nett Highest Lowest P W L Pts Scored Avg Concd Avg R/R Total Total HS BB

Australia 12 9 3 18 2880 5.06 2559 4.27 +0.79 310/8 145/9 154 5/33 England 12 5 7 10 2499 4.24 2532 4.47 -0.23 302/3 110 126* 5/32 Sri Lanka 10 3 7 6 2132 4.32 2420 4.99 -0.67 303/9 99 120 3/27

Hundreds (6)

154 (129 balls) - A.C. Gilchrist, A v SL (Melbourne) 131 (118 balls) - A.C. Gilchrist, A v SL (Sydney) 126* (118 balls) - G.A. Hick, E v SL (Adelaide) 120 (111 balls) - D.P.M. Jayewardene, SL v E (Adelaide) 109 (119 balls) - G.A. Hick, E v A (Adelaide) 108 (129 balls) - G.A. Hick, E v A (Sydney)

Century Partnerships (10)

1st wicket 151 - A.C. Gilchrist (131)/M.E. Waugh (63), A v SL (Sydney) 145 - D.A. Gunawardana (75)/R.S. Kaluwitharana (68), SL v A (Melbourne)

2nd wicket 139* - M.E. Waugh (83*)/R.T. Ponting (75*), A v E (Melbourne) 116 - R.S. Kaluwitharana (54)/M.S. Atapattu (82), SL v A (Hobart) 104 - S.T. Jayasuriya (50)/M.S. Atapattu (34), SL v A (Perth)

3rd wicket 190 - G.A. Hick (108)/N. Hussain (93), E v A (Sydney) 121 - A.C. Gilchrist (154)/R.T. Ponting (61), A v SL (Melbourne) 115 - M.E. Waugh (85)/D.S. Lehmann (76), A v E (Sydney)

4th wicket 154* - G.A. Hick (126*)/N.H. Fairbrother (78*), E v SL (Adelaide) 112 - D.S. Lehmann (71)/D.R. Martyn (57), A v E (Melbourne, 2nd final)

Five wickets or more in an innings (3)

5/32 - M.A. Ealham, E v SL (Perth) 5/33 - S. Lee, A v SL (Melbourne) 5/40 - G.D. McGrath, A v SL (Adelaide) Best for Sri Lanka: 3/27 - W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, v A (Hobart)

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