Whatmore - Sri Lanka On Course To Become Best Test Nation (11 Oct 1996)

11 October 1996

Lanka on course to become best Test nation by 2000: Whatmore

By SA`ADI THAWFEEQ

There is more in it than meets the eye.

This is how one could sum up the press conference the Sri Lanka Cricket Board held at its headquarters yesterday to officially announce the termination of Davenall Whatmore`s contract as coach of the Sri Lanka cricket team.

The media were issued a pre written statement from Whatmore which apart from stating the usual expression of thanks to all those concerned, read thus : "The reasons for my decision are personal and domestic``.

"I am sorry this media release is not as long as what it should be. But we do have a very important tournament coming up in three and a half to four weeks time, and all our energies are directed in that area to bounce back and play as well as we possibly can in an effort to win in Sharjah. So I am not prepared to expand anymore other than that,`` said Whatmore when asked to elaborate on his decision to terminate his contract with the Cricket Board.

"What is important is that the team should go on as in the last 1 1/2 years while I was there, and personally I would love to see that. Even though I am away physically and geographically from the island, I would personally like to help further that cause,`` said Whatmore.

"We are on the path to becoming the best Test-playing nation by the year 2000. I have done some of my part towards fulfilling that. It really is left now to the Cricket Board here to put things in place and give the players the confidence in reaching that target``.

"The thing I like about that statement is that it was reasonably well measured. Too often things role along that you can`t measure, but I think this was a really bold statement to make. I was very happy that it was made because it was a real challenge and something you could measure against,`` he said.

That statement was made by Ana Punchihewa, a former president of the Cricket Board who was responsible for signing Whatmore on a two-year contract with the Board in June 1995.

"The Cricket Board stuck its neck out in appointing me as coach because I had not really played a lot of international cricket. Most countries would go for names who played for many years in international cricket. I was coming more from a coaching angle. I was very pleased and very grateful for the Cricket Board for showing confidence in me and giving me a job that I would not have had the confidence to do had I not been at the Institute of Sports for four years,`` said Whatmore.

He added that he had given a thought to helping the Cricket Board find a successor to him, but said that presently, he didn`t have anyone in mind.

Whatmore admitted that he had signed a rolling contract with Lancashire and explained how it came about.

"The whole box and dice was begun and finished just under seven days. It began during the second Test match against Zimbabwe at SSC and was completed on the day I arrived in Kenya. There was no hint on my part of trying to find some other options months ago as some of the press here thought. It wasn`t the case,`` he said.

Whatmore denied that his contract with Lancashire was not about money.

"Lancashire and county cricket represents a whole new different challenge. It`s quite exciting, the amount of cricket that they play. The demands placed on a group of players is different to the demands on our group of players at the moment. Over a period of five months the amount of cricket that they play is a real challenge and quite a daunting task. Even as a kid back in Australia, I always took an interest in county cricket. I have an opportunity now to be involved at that level and to work with some equally big names. The club has a very long history of being a good one. I love to be part of it,`` he said.

Whatmore has indicated to the Cricket Board that he be released from his present contract (which ends on May 31, 1997) to enable him to take up his new position with Lancashire by February 1 next year. The Cricket Board will take up his request at its ExCo meeting Friday.

If they abide by his request, next month`s three-nation Champions trophy in Sharjah is likely to be Whatmore`s swan song as coach of the Sri Lanka cricket team. For, after that tournament, Sri Lanka won`t have any international engagements until March next year when they undertake a tour of New Zealand.

Cricket Board president Upali Dharmadasa and Sri Lanka team manager Duleep Mendis expressed their deep gratitude to Whatmore. Cricket Board secretary Tryphone Mirando and executive secretary Dammika Ranatunga were also present.

Great loss, says Ana

Former Sri Lanka Cricket Board president, Ana Punchihewa, said that losing Davenall Whatmore was "a great loss to Sri Lanka cricket``.

"I think we should have tried to persuade him to stay to see us reach the goal of becoming the best Test-playing nation by the year 2000,`` said Punchihewa, who brought Whatmore as coach to help realise his vision.

"I didn`t want to have a Sri Lankan appointed to that post because internal politics played a big role,`` said Punchihewa.

"We went for someone outside Sri Lanka for two reasons, one, because that person cannot be influenced by Sri Lankans and two, because Australia had modern techniques in coaching and training,`` he said.

"Whatmore fitted in very well with Arjuna (Ranatunga) and Duleep (Mendis) and worked together as a team towards a common goal. The results they achieved in the past 18 months is testimony towards that,`` he said.

Punchihewa`s crowning moment was when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in March this year defeating Australia in the final.

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