Sri Lanka’s recent performance vs Pakistan in the ODI’s and Tests was one of the most hotly debated in recent times both selection wise and overall performance wise.
Captained by an all-rounder who personally I believe did a good job in playing sensible, smart and level headed Cricket when it mattered and most importantly got the job done with what he was given to work with.
There is suddenly a lot of unfair chit chat going around that Angelo Mathews was playing “negative”. And mind you, this insightful notion was of course created by none other than the Pakistani commentators who for the most part, throughout the series, were the ones being negative, sarcastic and highly biased in their critiques. Listening to their sometimes immature rudeness disguised within charm, it really made me understand that long gone are the days when Cricket was played by Gentlemen!
In case it has slipped the minds of the not so observant out there, the Pakistani commentators prove themselves master minds at dropping in the odd statistic or casual statement calculated to confuse and play mind games. They then sit back waiting for gullible minds to fall for their wily tricks and carry on in adding fuel to the fire! The most important part is that this very clever and shrewd mind game is aimed at being delivered to those with the inability to grasp the fact that they are being played with.
A simple word of advice – don’t get caught up in the smoke screens that others throw out about our Team. A lot more support and loyalty is needed and credit should be given when it has been earned. Instead of being led through the nose by what the Commentators say, anybody who follows the game and knows it will not agree with arrogant efforts at discrediting our squad.
If it had not been for Russell Arnold who had the backbone and the knowledge to stand up to Ramiz Raja’s continuous nastiness, then I would have been cringing even worse for every time that Ranjit Fernando took to the Mic and did nothing to boost our team and players efforts but rather talked around their being put down, doing his usual in dragging up statistics of an era long gone with batting styles, bowling figures and what not that have nothing to do with the form and style of the players in the current team.
To quote his favorite expression– “One must” tell Ranjit Fernando to kindly stay at home and stop embarrassing our team with his monologue of boredom and his love for stating the obvious.
It gets to a point where even though in my profession I need to pay close attention to what is being said, when Ranjit Fernando features in the commentary box I hit the MUTE button and save myself a gastric ulcer.
Angelo Mathews did not play a negative game. Angelo Mathews did not bat in a negative manner.
I agree with the idea that a more aggressive approach was needed in shuffling the bowlers and applying pressure on the opposing side whereby you make wickets fall not wait for them to. I do also agree with the general observation that his bowling needs a fair bit of focus as well. It would at this stage make sense that he concentrated more upon his batting and fielding and step back on the bowling for now making better use of his pacies, and oh, whilst we are the topic of focusing on Bowling – perhaps Lasith Malinga needs to spend less time with his hairdresser and more with a tape measure and chalk in getting his line and length worked out and also be a whole lot less flamboyant in his speed which only serves him to get put all over the Park!
You started off quite well in career young Malinga, now don’t make the error in thinking you’re irreplaceable. You have a super aggressive ability to shatter the confidence of many a well settled batsman and I hold you in high regard however thinking that one has it made and doesn’t need to keep disciplined is driving your entire style haywire and it is a shame really that your ego seems to be getting in the way of how you deliver.
Getting back to the hotly disputed common saying that our winning the Tests was compromised by Angelo Mathews playing safe, I say hats off to the Captain who did a super job in reading the pitches and conditions right, made allowances for the performances of those who were not in their finest nick, and found the mental and physical stamina to lead his team through from start to finish. Sri Lanka would have lost and lost in humiliation if Mathews had not kept a level head and played a technically planned game. Remember that he is not alone out there in the decision making process and what is often discussed in the dressing room or team headquarters is not privy to the rest of us! There are outside contributing factors and it seems to be very easy for Society in general to find a scapegoat that they love to lay blame upon.
Having said that, I do feel however that Mathews does need to regain his aggressiveness with the willow and not be as cautious as he currently is out there but in all fairness to him, it is a learning curve, there are no tried and true methods and I will not try to guess at the overall mental focus that is needed in his batting at 5 or 6 down.
He is at that slot my fellow Cricket fans because he has the nerve, the style and the fire with which to finish a match. Batting at 5 or 6 as most of you know is the crucial win or lose position. You either anchor the innings or you throw it away and as much fun as it is for all of us to see that ball being hammered all over the grounds, it IS that very style of thinking that gets you to do a Dilshan, as I affectionately refer to it, and get restless and do something silly in hitting out, which by the way is what the opposition is just hoping you will do! Personally, I feel that the recent comments against the Captains efforts are both inaccurate and unappreciative of how he shouldered the burden of this series.
It is not just a physical game dear fans but very much a management plan out there in action too. A Captain has to make the best out of what / who he is given to work with. Is he personally responsible for the off form performances and ego driven showiness of his Team mates? I gather not! He is but a guide not their alter ego or prop or groom. We are talking about the NATIONAL Cricketing side not an inexperienced group of school kids. At this level of the game, each man out there is wholly responsible for his own contribution. If you play close attention to his interviews, Mathews is the one Captain, who in a long time keeps endorsing the TEAM as a whole and praises their all-around efforts. Team management is what makes you an effective Captain and I do not mean in the line of how many commercials you star in or how many outside businesses you start up. If some of these Princes of the Camera and Enterprise oriented track could get their focus back on the job that they are chosen to do, then this Team will rise up again to being a disciplined, focused and result oriented squad for us all to have something to yell about. It is not up to just one man to carry it all and under the circumstances he did what he could.
Once again, I ask you bear in mind, this phrase PLAYING A NEGATIVE GAME was said by the Pakistani commentators who by the looks of things have done a brilliant job in creating this very negative thinking against Mathews and his Captaincy. Sorry, I too heard the comments and I too watched the matches and let me tell you, I used my own eyes and ears and give credit to Mathews for having done his job. If anybody cares to pay attention to Dav Watmore’s tactical game out there, you will see that he held Mathews with respect and kept advising the Pakistani squad accordingly.
I cannot for the life of Cricket understand what the commotion and hubbub is about in pointing fingers and laying blame at Angelo Mathews? If it had not been for his calm, methodical and planned out process which by the way is in collaboration with the ENTIRE Team and the Management, Sri Lanka would not have made it through respectably. A draw means you held onto your common sense and played through an Innings with a focused plan. It does not mean you have lost your courage. It takes more courage to curtail your emotion in playing the Game correctly than to just hit hard and look around!
