Senseless lamenting over spilt milk

Sri Lanka team at a practice session in Pakistan 

By Sunil Thenabadu 

After the debacle in the T 20 series in Australia the acting head coach then, Rumesh Ratnayake lamented that it was bouncy pitches caused us the clean sweep. After the huge loss in the second test in Karachi it was lamented by the assistant head/bowling coach attributing to indiscipline and lack of control in bowling. 

The writer believes these are lame excuses by the bowling coach himself in this capacity for such a long time. We had gone with only four frontline bowlers. Dhananjaya de Silva is no part timer but used only sparingly. 

The writer needs to emphasise that the composition of the team was much to be desired with the inclusion of the third spinner in Lakshan Sandakan who very surprisingly included in every touring team but remains in the dugout. In his place another pace bowler who also could bat should have been included. 

In contrary to the comments made to the media by Rumesh, no one was erratic, had given runs easily, it was the accomplished Pakistan batsmen who dominated our bowling. However Rumesh had praised only Lahiru Kumara, adding no one else stuck to the plan. All other bowlers were highly criticised. But there was no seam movement on day two and three with the pitch drying out changing to be a placid wicket was the cause for the wicket-less period.

It is a pity that no credit was given by him to Lasith Embuldeniya still a novice apart from capturing four wickets in the first innings, bowled 50 overs on the placid pitch taking only one wicket conceding less runs per over than all other bowlers in the second innings. Placing the blame on the bowlers is not justifiable. The selectors should take the blame for not including another pace bowler instead of Sandakan. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was in a different stand accusing the senior players who failed to deliver. They all should have emulated the way the Pakistan batsmen. He blamed himself, Kusal Mendis, Angelow Mathews, for the batting failures in the two Tests. 

The writer believes it is time to axe the seniors who fail constantly which has been the root cause of our recent debacles Although many times Niroshan Dickwella did bat well but is yet to notch up a Test century unlike his many counterparts in other Test playing countries. Dinesh Chandimal is too experienced to be dropped, could keep wickets so is Kusal Janith Perera who was sitting in the dugout. 

Drastic changes should be made in the composition of the team. There is Avishka Fernando who is branded an ODI player who notched up a century and many other good scores in the concluded World Cup could fill in the number three slot. 

Then where is Roshen Silva who is very promising also with a Test century, Bhanuka Rajapaksa who has scored heavily in domestic circle only given a break at only 27 years of age to play in the shorter formats. He too could be groomed as a Test batsman like many others performed well in the domestic circle who have been overlooked. There are bowlers who have constantly performed well at domestic level. The talent in abundance is available. If Sri Lanka is to make any impact in Test cricket particularly in the ongoing ICC Test championships, composition of the team is so vital, drastic changes should be made, otherwise the viewer interest will dwindle further which would make our audiences to loom in this dying interest in the gentlemen’s game once hailed so highly in world cricket. 

The writer is based in Brisbane