T Chesterfield: Spinners Tales (11 Jan 1996)

SPINNER`S TALES (January 1996)

Having, last August, escaped those frosty highveld mornings (and evenings) for the daily open-air sauna known as Colombo, did have its advantages. Apart from putting an end to the lingering, uninvited flu; the results of which is a steady nibbling at the depleted medical aid, it gave me a chance to bathe in the warm glow of nostalgia. And part of that nostalgia was talking well into the night with Lalith Kaluperuma, an off-spinner who toured here 13 summers ago with the Sri Lankans during the grim days of the rebel era. Although, behind their backs their disparaging sorbiquet was "Tony Opatha and friends" after their main tour organiser, Kaluperuma was more interested in the game`s future (and present) than talking about "dead events" of the a rebel tour. Unlike most sports, cricket has the ability of having a good chuckle or two at its own expense; a game which loves its past and, for some unfathomable reason, is worried about its future and uncertain about the present. But the past, ah . . . that`s a different matter. Just look at the gleam in Martin Locke`s eye as the the umpires and players dash for the pavilion as the thunder growls and snarls and lightning bounces off the rocks. During wet days in the tests we are treated to a parade of past events that allow the announcers to wallow in the glory of last summer`s success if only to escape the current travails that ails the national side. The favourite footage is the 1992 World Cup semi-final between South Africa and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground. We know all about that sad Sunday night in Sydney, don`t we. Last August, however, Kaluperuma`s eagerness to talk about the present, and the future, was as manager of the Sri Lanaka under-24 side, he had a youngster whom the national selectors hoped to groom as a wicketkeeper-batsman for the senior squad. Disapponted he couldn`t play the youngster in the three "tests" and two one-dayers against Dale Benkenstein`s tourists, Kaluperuma invted me to watch a middle-net session organised for the senior squad the next day. It was the first time I caught sight of an energetic, baby-faced wicketkeeper who was to fill in as reserve for the Pakistan tour. And how he enjoyed hitting the ball that sauna-like morning. Well, he didn`t impress enough to make the Pakistan tour, and almost missed in going to Australia, but Romesh Kaluwitharana, had to convince the tour management that he was the batsman they needed to open the innings in the limited-overs matches. Conservatisim abounds in the senior ranks of some sides, more so among the Sri Lankans. After all, Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva have seen all the best young talent wither in the tough test and limited-overs international arenas. So, it needed a lot of persuasion to get him selected for the Australian tour let alone to get coach Dav Whatmore to allow him to open the batting. The rest is history: sparkling, attacking batsmanship that has rocketed Sri Lanka into the World Series Cup final and up the ladder rankings for the World Cup, the start of which is now less than a month away. Anyone who can win two man of the match awards with innings of such exuberant strokemaking quality deserves to be noted. After all, scoring 50 off only 32 balls, and 74 off 69 balls, against a solid bowling attack is far from easy. Perhaps the ghost of the "Croucher" the great Gilbert Jessop, of England, who scored at an incredible rate of 79 runs an hour, has at last returned. The World Cup is certainly going to be fun.