The Sri Lankans were the second team to arrive in England ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Dimuth Karunaratne’s team landed in London three weeks prior to the start of the tournament, giving them ample time to acclimatize to the conditions. Only Pakistan, who are playing a bilateral series against England as we read, arrived before the Sri Lankans.
The early arrival and carrying four additional players with the squad is supposed to be costing Sri Lanka Cricket an arm and a leg. The players are using a state of the art facility in London in the lead up to the tournament. This private facility was handpicked by Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha more than a year ago to give his charges the best possible training ahead of the sport’s showpiece event.
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Having given Hathurusingha everything that he asked for for the World Cup, SLC should have also given him the team he wanted. However, that’s all now water under the bridge and the Head Coach has to bring the best out of what he has been given.
There was a reason why Hathurusingha wanted to arrive in England three weeks prior to the tournament. Then he convinced the board that it was fully worth going there early. Across four World Cups in England, Sri Lanka have played 16 games and won only four matches. After a winless inaugural tournament in 1975, Sri Lanka upset a strong Indian side in 1979 to complete their first win in international cricket.
Having played three games each in the first two editions of the tournament, there were more opportunities as the format of the 1983 tournament changed. Sri Lanka played six games in this instance and managed to beat New Zealand in a thriller.
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Then in 1999, going into England as defending champions, Sri Lanka made a sorry first round exit having won just two games – that too against lowly Kenya and Zimbabwe.
So, Sri Lanka in World Cups in England do not perform well. They have some serious issues with a winning ratio of below 25 percent. Whether the team is going to make any improvements this time around remains to be seen. Such poor winning ratio does not do justice to Sri Lankan cricket for they have done quite well in World Cups overall.
The first three editions of the tournament of course were played during Sri Lanka’s formative years. They had not even gained Test status when they took part in 1975 and 1979 events. The one in 1999 was an exception as there were several reasons for the team to do so badly. Mind you, this was less than a year after Arjuna Ranatunga’s side had won a tri-nation competition in England that also involved a strong South African side.
Their tours to England since the dawn of the new millennium have brought them unprecedented success as the 5-0 whitewash in 2006 and the series win in 2014 would showcase. Perhaps in this World Cup, the Sri Lankans will be able to rectify a few things.
Going early to England is a brilliant idea but could Sri Lanka have chosen another base than London? They just play one game in London – against Australia on the 15th June. Their campaign will start in Wales where they play two games – New Zealand and Afghanistan. Then they move to Bristol, where they play Pakistan and Bangladesh. From there on, it’s all up north for the rest of the tournament in Durham and Leeds where it can be bitterly cold. Could a base in Manchester, Headingley or Chester-le-Street have been better?
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It helps that the team’s coaching staff have extensive experience in England. Jon Lewis, the Batting Coach was the Head Coach of Durham for several seasons while Fielding Coach Steve Rixon also has spent some time in England coaching Surrey.
The two ODIs the team will play in Edinburgh against Scotland and the two warm-up games against South Africa and Australia should be good preparation for the team ahead of their opening fixture against New Zealand at the Welsh capital Cardiff.
The team will look forward to the return of the likes of Angelo Mathews, Kusal Janith Perera and Nuwan Pradeep who are making a comeback after injuries.
The stage is set for Kusal Mendis to showcase to the world what he is capable of against some of the finest bowlers in the world. He was Man of the Match when Sri Lanka chased down 322 against India at The Oval during the Champions Trophy two seasons back. He was needlessly run out on 89 when a hundred was there for the taking.
The drives he played off Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada during Sri Lanka’s successful run chase in Port Elizabeth to complete a historic series win were highly spoken of in South Africa. It’s time that he lets the world take note what he is capable of as well.
