By Dr Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Team is a very good One Day Cricket Team, but a very poor Test Match Team because they play Test Match Cricket in the manner one may play One Day Cricket especially with strokes such as a the reverse sweep and the ramp stroke, which is not in the MCC Manual.

Test Match cricket is for the traditionalists and is played in an organized manner and not a chaotic manner which the Sri Lankan team plays especially with shot selections, which leave a great deal to be desired.

Sri Lanka got Test Match status in 1982 and had fine players such as Roy Dias, Ranjan Madugalle and Sidath Wettimuny who were fine batsmen with technical correctness; especially the innings of 190odd runs made by Wettimuny at Lords in 1984 was an innings of technical perfection. He played within the V and played all the strokes especially the square cover drive and square cuts were a delight to watch, not to mention his perfect legs glances, this is the tape our young batsmen should watch and play correct cricket strokes, not One Day Cricket strokes, which has brought their downfall to date. I honestly think if Sidath Wettimuny is fit and willing to be the Sri Lankan Tam batting coach it will be great news for us. Even Roy Dias as a batting Coach will be great and one will never forget the 70odd runs he made in Sri Lanka’s First Test Match against England in 1982 where he played glorious cover drives to the English pace bowlers and showed why he was the primer Sri Lankan batsman of his time.

I must also emphasis the superb hundred runs made by Arivinda De Silva that got our magnificent World Cup victory over Australia in Pakistan in 1996 where he played all the cricket strokes with perfection and great style, which was a joy to watch. In my view it was one of the finest innings played by a Sri Lankan even if it may have been a One Day cricket Match rather than a Test Match, which is the panicle of the game of cricket.

What disappoints me is Sri Lanka does not have batsmen to combat the quality of spin bowling of Nathan Lyon who is a quality off spin bowler but not of the class of Murali or the late Shane Warne who was obviously different as he was a right arm leg spin bowler. Our Sri Lankan batsmen do not use their feet to the spin bowlers like the great Ian Chappell of Australia for example did against the great Indian spin blowers headed by the late Bedi and Chandrasekhar in the 1970s.

In conclusion, Sri Lanka should play much more Test Match cricket and the young players must be given a go rather than Angelo Mathews who is past his best being kept in the team just for his experience and Chandimal made captain of our national cricket team as he is the best player in our national men’s cricket team.

I will conclude that by have a living Cricket Academy like in Adelaide, South Australia and play first class matches against Indian State teams to make our young players more experienced and ready for Test Match cricket is vital.