Sri Lanka Cricket Has Become Derelict and Meaningless as a Result Of Incompetence.
Posted on February 3rd, 2017
Top Spin By Sunny
Feb5th 2017
The incompetence seems to arise not from the players themselves entirely but the Chairman of Selectors and the Coach who appear to be making all the wrong choices as a result of which the team seems to be floundering and faltering like a rudderless ship.
Surely there was no reason others than personal whims and fancies and of course the hitherto unknown vendettas said to exist in the mindset of the Chairman of Selectors with some, to exclude players like Thisara Perera, Kusal Perera, Milinda Siriwardena and others who may have made a difference compared to some new players who have failed thus far despite the reality of team building after Murali, Mahela and Sangakkara etc. where the previously mentioned players could have indeed made a difference.
The coach Ford ( heaven knows what his true merits are for the position as he has done precious nothing for the team and should have been replaced long ago!) is certainly not a motivator who imparts skills in the manner of a Tom Moody or a Dav Whatmore under whom Sri Lanka flourished.
To all intents and purposes Ford ‘s a simple “chair warmer” for which he receives a fat paycheck I’m sorry to say! A Ignominy to say the least!!
Despite the reality that the likes of Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad, Dushmantha Chameera are out due to injury or personal reasons and Rangana Herath opting out of the shorter versions, players who could have made a vital difference there are players who are in fine fettle and upto the task but sadly pre – empted as Sri Lanka’s anguish continues and until the aforementioned lapses are corrected Sri Lanka will surely continue to fail.
The Coach and Chairman of Selectors are in definite need of replacement in conventional wisdom if none other and perhaps the President of the Cricket Board too is better off serving the Parliament as Deputy Speaker rather than officiating as President with no real credentials for the job whatsoever in like manner of a Donald Trump waving big bucks!!
Arjuna Ranatunga eat your heart out!
With the rest of the ODI Series looming where the T- 20 victories for Sri Lanka were a scant consolation as the opposition consisted of a virtual second string of South African players, unless drastic measures are taken such as the ones recommended, Sri Lanka are more than likely to be subjected to further defeats unless there is a resurgence of the will to win and outstanding brilliant performnces that Sri Lanka have been reputed for in the past but from where the energy will come from is left to be seen!
February 4th, 2017 at 9:41 am
The Cricket Administration has truly messed up Sri Lanka Cricket beyond the shadow of a doubt.
The incompetence stems from lack of cricketing insight and unqualified people being given responsibilities they cannot handle.The belief that foreign coaches are the best for the job has been disproved as a myth. There are many well qualified, knowledgeable persons with fine track records who could easily deliver and restore Sri Lanka cricket to a meritworthy level,. A good example is what Mr. Haturusinghe has accomplished with Bangladesh whose services may have better served Sri Lanks and there are many others who take their services to other countries and do well in coaching capacities.A point to ponder upon seriously!
February 4th, 2017 at 4:24 pm
It is not the fault of selectors alone. I agree administrators have made wrong decisions. The coach seems to be above it all! A critical look at the coach must be made.
One huge problem within the team is Angelo Matthews. Most relatively senior players have problems with this lousy captain (the worst captain in all formats since winning the 1996 world cup going by statistics). He does this disappearing act always when crucial matches come up. By then he had ruined it for a few key senior players already.
Some senior players like Thirimanne have opted out of the game for a while. Thisara and Kusal were unavailable for their own reasons.
The selectors then have to choose among what is left.
Then comes the selection problem. Tharanga and Chandimal must be removed from ODIs. They have a strike rate of less than 76% – pathetic in comparison to all dedicated batsmen in this format the world over. Only batsmen with a strike rate of over 80% should be retained. This low strike rate puts pressure on others to score fast and they lose their way too. The only justification to include them is to salvage a bad total. It makes no sense as by then the game is already lost.
Our domestic and school tournaments must focus on ODIs and T20s more. Test based tournaments take priority but very few players want to play test cricket. They cannot be forced to it. All good ODI teams have a very strong T20 or ODI tournaments to unearth relevant talent.
The changing taste of Lankan society is also affecting it. Unlike developed cricket playing countries, Sri Lanka cannot sustain a few sports at the highest domestic level. Sponsorship, talent, tickets, facilities, patronage and other enablers get divided. Cricket is today the game of the lower middle class mainly in Sri Lanka. Rugby is the game of the middle class, upper middle class and the upper class. That is where the money, effort, society’s support and sponsorship go to. A talented sportsman in a school will always pick rugby over cricket if available. This is not the case in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although talent is divided in developed countries, they have sufficient money, players and facilities to sustain all at the highest level. West Indies has been facing the Lankan problem since their greats left. We have to be aware of this overall development before pinning blame on anyone. This trend will continue unless cricket has more money in it domestically.
February 5th, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Blame Rajapakse.