Sri Lanka: This waning phase of our cricket (19 November 1998)

19 November 1998

Sri Lanka: This waning phase of our cricket

by Richard Dwight

The man in the street, the shop keeper and other ordinary well meaning people, having witnessed our cricket nose dive from the sublime to the ridiculous at Sharjah. Have within the limits of their understanding with the country at heart, begun to ask questions. Some of which are, as to whether our cricket in recent years was a spasm of brilliance, a flash in the pan, or was it exaggerated to the point of being over rated. Answers to these, are sought by those cricket fans, who are disillusioned and experiencing as well a sense of humiliation. There was the businessman, who said "it's a pity we lost, for when we win business flourishes, there is much trade in export and import and, when we lose the reverse takes place". Yes, cricket has become more than just a game. For it is associated with, and affects many people in so many different ways. Experience teaches us that it would be folly to ride on the back of cricket to achieve your own ends. If we are to humanly view mass current thinking, they are of the view, that there is no harm in losing a match or two, but to lose four successive matches in a row, making defeat a habit, without much effort, is not only disgraceful but demoralising as well.

Especially from a side which has earned the sobriquet World Champions and failing miserably to live up to their reputation. The reasoning of many is that there was a lack of concerted approach and purpose. That when we were in winning positions, conceded defeat by a meaningless blunder or two, our inexplicable poor batting, the dropping of crucial catches and the absence of off spinner Murali. These and other factors they say saw to it, that we in an undignified manner were pushed out from entering, the lead up to the final.

To us who have played this game a bit and are above the level of laymen, though not connoisseurs - strongly feel that cricket in its entirety is, and will always be a great and noble art. Often spoken of as a way of life, a gentleman's game, where the idiom'it's not cricket' still bears relevance and has meaning. This is why we want to believe, that in the final analysis cricket holds sway, it alone reigns supreme and is king. For how else could we explain the adverse circumstances and situations, wherein our reputed exponents of both bat and ball and fielders too, performing quite out of character in the most dismal sordid manner. Our cricketers were therefore, the agents of an unseen force,, 'cricket' and simply fitted in to bring about the end result.

All of us are very much aware that cricket is a funny game, full of glorious uncertainties, where at a given time the strong become weak and the weak are made strong. Cricket history is steeped with the evanescence of it all, the ups and downs of both individuals and teams.

It would therefore be prudent, not to yield to the temptation of sporting that cock - sure, propritorial swagger. Simply because cricket has a way of catching up to flatten you down, without even a single victory to crow about. In fairness to our cricketers, it must be said that most of them are unspoilt, shy and reticent, with modesty and humility their watch words. They recognise the fact that wining and losing is part and parcel of the game and have learnt never to be carried away by crowd adulation, which is fickle and at times false.

Let's lay the philosophical aspect aside and move over now to the action proper. Our play makers, Sanath and Murali were initially unknown quantities, unheard of. They revelled in the ignorance of our different opponents, for Sanath to become the most dreaded batsman in the first fifteen overs and Murali a wide turner of the ball to be among the wickets. The frequent exposure to foreign teams have turned them both into heroes. So much so, that they have become the prime targets, in that with meticulous care and study, Sanath has been kept in check to fail, whilst Tendulkar, Cronje and Kalis daring to leave the crease to effectively bash Murali around. Cricket is a waiting game, where one bides his time with patient, and so we are confident that both Sanath & Murali will sort things out to come out on top. The other factor is that despite achieving test status 17 years ago, the novelty of participating in international tournaments had not in anyway ebbed.

We are highly enthusiastic as ever and grab any invitation to play here and abroad. As world champions we shouldn't cheapen ourselves but be selective and skip a tournament or two. Far too much of cricket has left the players Jaded, giving way to a lacadaisical approach. With the world cup tournament not far away, one wonders whether at this stage it would be wise to play Australia in January. A defeat here as well may be hard to take and demoralise further.

There is no need to despair, we have a very talented set of players, who if they play to their potential and ability, we at home could say 'we might lose the battle but win the war.

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