The performance of the national cricket team during the World Cup was a bitter pill to swallow with a ninth-place finish, no place in Champions Trophy and several embarrassing defeats.
As you were trying to figure out what had befallen a proud cricket nation, came the shocking defeats in the Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai as Sri Lanka crashed out with defeats to Bangladesh and UAE.
Against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Under-19 has been losing in recent years and it wasn’t much of a surprise. But how can you lose to UAE? A country where a few academies are functioning as their feeder system unlike ours where there are well-organized schools’, district and provincial level competitions for up-and-coming players. This is simply not on. Did we pick the right team? Was there favouritsm in team selections?
Strangely, for the last two decades and half, Bangladesh has been hiring Sri Lankan coaches and building their cricket. As for us, we are neglecting our own and have been hiring foreign coaches. The system that we have in place for age group competitions in schools are recipe for disaster and it needs an urgent look in.
There are new set of selectors and there’s bit of criticism that they are young and most of them have been engaged in the ongoing First-Class competition. It is true but it is a foregone conclusion that with new responsibility they will retire from all forms of cricket before concentrating in their new roles.
The new selection panel’s policy will be interesting to see. Selection was one area that needed urgent attention and a change. The previous set of selectors launched on a youth policy alienating half a dozen seniors from white ball cricket and then when things backfired they started complaining that skill levels in the country were not on par with what’s found in other parts of the world.
Well, if your skill levels are not so great, then it’s your responsibility to get most out of what you have. Not chuck them out completely.
The white ball teams need bit of new thinking. It’s time to identify a new captain and give him a long run so that he can turn things around. Kusal Mendis fitted in during the World Cup, but you always wonder whether captaincy is his cup of tea. He’ll be better off concentrating as a specialist batsman. Keeper, premier batsman and captain, there’s too much on his plate and he’s no K.C. Sangakkara.
One advantage of having a young set of selectors is that they understand the modern game having retired recently.
Sri Lanka’s ODI outfit that competed in the recent World Cup did not meet modern demands. While most teams opted for an aggressive finisher at number six be it Suryakumar Yadav, David Miller or Glenn Maxwell, Sri Lanka preferred a Test specialist.
Upul Tharanga’s predecessor also found fault with the team’s fitness standards during the World Cup. It is not as if he had started picking teams this year. He had been in the job for three years and had ample time to implement his policies. Fitness is non-negotiable and it should remain that way. There is no point in weeping after the horse has bolted.
Another key area the new selectors need to place a premium on is fielding. Those 16 dropped catches that Sri Lanka spilled during the World Cup hurt them dearly.
The fielding woes has not only affected the senior team but has rubbed onto the Under-19 side. Like the big boys the junior team is also unable to address batting collapses. They can’t play pace and spin and that is a worrying sign. Measures need to be identified to address these issues if Sri Lanka were to become a force in the global game yet again.
Instead of the authorities brushing aside these worrying signs, they need to address these issues to avoid more humiliation moving forward.
Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya also has been handed a key role as he has taken over as Consultant of the High-Performance Center. However, given the debacle the team had during the World Cup, you expected a bigger role for him where he addressed key areas worrying the senior team.
A new set of selectors is not the only answer for the cricketing woes facing us. The board should have looked at changing other individuals too holding key positions for the last three years have been disastrous.
They should have read the warning signs when the team played three ICC Qualifying Tournaments in three years. They missed a trick and as a result the team is going to miss out on the Champions Trophy. A sum of US$ 500,000 that the board would have received as participating fee has been lost and the pride of a decorated cricket nation has been brought down.
Sri Lanka can not go the way the West Indies went. Let’s bite the bullet and address the cricketing woes for our fans deserve better.
