Pathetic display by the Lankan cricketers (2 June 1999)
The Sri Lankan cricketers disappointed their legion of fans with a performance that could be best described as pathetic in the World Cup cricket tournament now in progress in England
02-Jun-1999
2 June 1999
Pathetic display by the Lankan cricketers
Elmo Rodrigopulle
The Sri Lankan cricketers disappointed their legion of fans with a
performance that could be best described as pathetic in the World Cup
cricket tournament now in progress in England.
Being the world champions and with pride to protect, the cricketers
were expected to give a better performance. But they failed to do
this and the end result was that they were spun out of the
tournament.
In this debacle which was a calamity for the game in general, the
whole team and The Management must take the blame and not one
individual, because it must be understood that cricket is a team
game.
Many stories are being tossed about regarding the Sri Lankan
cricketers. It is said that some of the cricketers were having late
nights, there was dissension in the team and that the captain and
vice captain were not seeing eye to eye.
But Manager Duleep Mendis in an eve of match interview against Kenya
has denied these rumours as a figment of the imagination.
The cricketers were on the chopping blocks after their shocking and
dismal effort against the Indians in Taunton, which game they were
expected to win and keep their hopes of entering the super six alive.
But when the Lankans won the toss and sent the Indians in and after
Chaminda Vaas bowled opener Ramesh with a beauty of a delivery that
pitched middle and knocked back the off stump, what one saw from
there onwards was a leather hunt.
The Lankans were chasing leather with Ganguly and Dravid taking the
attack by the scruff of the neck.
Both batted intelligently and sensibly with ease and none of the
bowlers had it in them to dismiss them. Ganguly and Dravid were
simply magic on that day and nothing that skipper Ranatunga did could
dislodge them until Dravid was run out.
When it rained fours and sixes when Ganguly and Dravid were at the
wicket, what was expected was a similar effort from the Lankan
batsmen considering that the wicket was a batting paradise. But for
Aravinda de Silva who made 56 and Ranatunga 42, the least said about
the spineless batting by the rest the better.
Sanath Jayasuriya who was voted the 'Most Valuable Player' in the
previous tournament in Lahore, started the slide for Sri Lanka by
running himself out. There was absolutely no necessity for a run. And
with his dismissal went any chance of Sri Lanka even getting close to
sniffing at the Indian total.
The topic of conversation after the Indian debacle was whether
Ranatunga did right in sending in the opposition. It was apparent
that while the game progressed the wicket and the conditions were
ideal for batting.
Even the commentators opted for the team winning the toss to put the
opposition in. But it was later proved that even the commentators had
boobed. Let it be understood that no cricketer or even a curator
could tell for sure how a wicket would play. Although the curator
knows what goes into the preparation of a wicket, he can never be
spot on and say how it would behave. And it is a pity that Ranatunga
had to learn a bitter lesson.
Sri Lanka's tumbling out of the World Cup certainly deserves to be
probed as to what and where we went wrong. In defence of the
cricketers it must be said that while a majority of cricketers of the
other participating teams have experience in playing in English
conditions - they play in the county or league circuit - the Lankans
have none in these circuits. Ask any cricketer and he will tell you
that unless you have experience in playing in the varying conditions
that is England, it is not easy to get accustomed to.
The shocks of the tournament so far have been the shocking win by
Zimbabwe over one of the favourites South Africa and the diving out
of hosts England and Bangladesh beating Pakistan.
Some Englishmen and a section of the gutter press there must be
hiding their heads in shame now that England have been knocked out. A
section of their media, dug up garbage where the Lankans were
concerned in an attempt to psyche them and the other teams so that
their team will sail through.
But what has befallen England and its cricket is a calamity. It was
England that gave the game to the world. How they must be yearning to
lay their hands on the World Cup that has been evading them for so
long. England's defeat was poetic justice, Sri Lanka's was a
downright disgrace.
Source :: The Daily News