Sri Lanka's Sharjah debacle; No need to panic, says manager (16 November 1998)

16 November 1998

Sri Lanka's Sharjah debacle; No need to panic, says manager

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka manager Ranjit Fernando said that there was no need to push the panic button on the team's poor performances in Sharjah, because only three months ago, they were a successful side in England.

"The Sharjah disaster is a timely warning for Sri Lanka. It showed how much improvement other sides have made, and how fast they are moving. The bottom line to our defeats was that we didn't play good cricket," said Fernando.

"Zimbabwe have improved their fielding to a higher degree and their bowlers have sorted out line to bowl. Their performances was wholly a team effort. India relied solely on Sachin Tendulkar. When he failed they struggled," he said.

"Everyone is utterly disappointed when the team performs badly. You can imagine how the cricketers themselves will be feeling. We must not be looking into extraneous areas when we do badly, but brush up our cricket more than anything.

"When you lose you always have various accusations levelled at you. There is no reason to pass the buck on to anyone but yourself. Despite the loss, I must say the players' behaviour have been excellent and team unity was of a very high order," said Fernando.

Sri Lanka lost twice each to India and Zimbabwe in the league stage of the Coca Cola Champions trophy to be eliminated from the three-nation final in Sharjah.

"I can't put my finger on anything in particular for our defeats. But basically we didn't bat well at all. Every player and The Management must take the responsibility," said Fernando.

"The lessons we learnt from Sharjah are :

Fernando said that he was not looking for any excuses for the defeat, but emphasised the preparations for the tournaments in Dhaka and Sharjah were hampered by bad weather.

Looking ahead at the World Series Cup in Australia which will come up in the first week of January, Fernando said that there were a couple of things to be sorted out first. He did not rule out the possibility of Sri Lanka retaining a left-hand/right-hand opening combination with either Romesh Kaluwitharana or Marvan Atapattu going with Sanath Jayasuriya. Sri Lanka unsuccessfully tried out a left-hand combination with Jayasuriya and Avishka Gunawardana for the first two games.

Fernando said that Mahela Jayawardene who bats at number three in the Test matches, should be considered for the spot in the short game as well. Jayewardene's presence will also enhance the fielding.

Injuries to Muralitharan, Chandana and vice captain Aravinda de Silva were also cause for concern before the squad to Australia is picked.

"Muralitharan has not recovered from the injury to his bowling arm. He is still unable to bowl. Chandana is having problems with breathing. He is constantly short of breath, and he is under observation although there is nothing to be alarmed about. De Silva, who pulled a leg muscle while batting during the Zimbabwe game is not 100 percent fit," said Fernando.

Muralitharan was not part of the 14-member squad although he was sent to Sharjah for physiotherapy treatment under the watchful eyes of physio Alex Kountouri. Provision was made by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board to include him in the squad with the permission of the organisers if he recovered sufficiently. Chandana was ruled out of the final and returned home, and was replaced by Russel Arnold.

Sri Lanka play Australia and England in eight preliminary round matches of the World Series Cup, and if they qualify, play in the best of three finals. The tournament is scheduled from January 10 to February 14.

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