National team has strong bench: Head Coach Gunawardene

Sri Lanka ‘A’ Captain Sadeera Samarawickrama with the Tri-Nations Trophy	Sri Lanka ‘A’ Captain Pasindu Sooriyabandara with the 4-day unofficial Test trophy	Sri Lanka ‘A’ Head Coach  Avishka Gunawardene

• Sri Lanka ‘A’ cricketers return after successful tour of UAE

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The Sri Lanka ‘A’ cricket team returned home yesterday after a successful tour of the UAE where they won the Explore Afghanistan Tri-Nation Series defeating Ireland Wolves in the final and then following it up with a 308-run win over Afghanistan ‘A’ in the one-off 4-day unofficial Test.

In fact Sri Lanka ‘A’ went through the tour unbeaten in all six matches they played (five in the Tri-Nation Series against Ireland Wolves and Afghanistan ‘A’) and the unofficial test.

Afghanistan had nine national cricketers in their side for both white ball and red ball matches and Ireland Wolves six national players in their side, while Sri Lanka had only Sadeera Samarawickrama who had played Test cricket.

This triumph by the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side follows their success in South Africa in August-September last year where they defeated South Africa ‘A’ 2-0 in the two-match 4-day unofficial test series and 2-1 in the unofficial ODI series.

Describing the ‘A’ team’s success in the UAE, head coach Avishka Gunawardene said, “If you take the South African tour we won the ODI series and both 4-day unofficial tests. It was the first time that the ‘A’ team had won in South Africa. But if you take the tour result wise the one to UAE has been the most successful. Considering all that, these players who have been around with the ‘A’ team for the last 18 to 24 months have obviously been improving and getting consistent as well. In the Tri-Series we spoke about how a lot of them had the opportunity to get big scores. Some of them got 60s and 70s and got out. That was one of the main things that I addressed before going into the 4-day game and we got 5 hundreds in that. There were a lot of positives that came out of the tour. To win six out of six is quite a good achievement considering the fact that the weather here has been very warm.”

How well these players who are the next in line to get into the national side have improved was displayed during the Tri-Series final against Ireland Wolves where they recovered from 43-5 to chase down 201 and win by five wickets.

“That shows the depth of batting and the confidence that the team had. Even when we were 43-5 the dressing room was calm because we had to get only 201 runs. It was just a matter of building one big partnership and we still had Dushan Hemantha and Tharindu Rathnayake who could also contribute with the bat,” said Gunawardene. “We lost wickets like every 2-3 overs. It was just someone going out there and getting set and getting those runs. At the end of the day it was a brilliant partnership between Milan (Rathnayake) and Pavan (Rathnayake).”

The pair put on an unbroken stand of 160 with each of them contributing 77 apiece to carry Sri Lanka home with plenty to spare.

“We had enough time to get those runs but having said that when we were 43-5, the message that was sent to the middle was to bat positively. We couldn’t play into Ireland’s hands by just grinding. The message to Milan was to bat positively and start leading. That was the only way we could come back.”

The top order collapse, Gunawardene put it down to poor shot selection and good bowling by the Irish bowlers who bowled a decent line. “We always spoke about that during the tournament with the hardness of the new ball all the teams had struggled initially because they kept a bit of grass on the wicket.”

From the time Sri Lanka ‘A’ arrived in Abu Dhabi the temperature had been rising and by the time they got to the 4-day unofficial test it had gone past 40 degrees and on the second day according to Gunawardene it was something like 43-44 degrees.

“When you are playing in that kind of heat we knew the wicket was going to get slower. That was probably the reason why in the second innings we had to work hard to get wickets. There was a little bit of spin but the wicket was slow so that the batsmen could adjust. It was a decent wicket with over 1,000 runs scored in 4 days.”

Highlighting some of the individual performances of the tour Gunawardene said, “With the hardness of the ball you have to make the best use of it and Isitha (Wijesundara) bowled pretty decent lines and lengths to take 10 wickets in the ‘test’. There was a bit of a cross wind which he made use of very well to move the ball away from the batsmen. It is nice to see fast bowlers like Isitha getting a 7-fer in an innings in South Africa and coming here in hot conditions which are not suited to fast bowling and getting a 10-wicket haul. He is one of those bowlers who, if he gets a little bit of support from the wicket, can be quite effective.”

“Dilshan Madushanka is a different bowler. He is almost there but I still think he has another 10-15% to improve his rhythm, his lines and lengths and all that. It was a good thing that we played him in the longer version because he could improve his lines and lengths.”

“The main reason why Milan (Rathnayake) was picked for this tour was to see how he fares with the white ball. He bowled quite well. I am pretty sure the selectors will start considering him given the added advantage that he can hold the bat and be a decent fielder as well.”

“Tharindu Rathnayake on his first ‘A’ team tour was very impressive, Sadeera who is trying to make a comeback got a decent run in the ODIs especially, Pavan (Rathnayake) has been consistent in the last few months with both ‘A’ team and in domestic. It was nice to see him getting runs in the final and a hundred in the 4-day test. Sonal Dinusha has been consistent with the ‘A’ team with both bat and ball.”

“The good thing is these boys have been with the ‘A’ team and knocking on the door. This is the best way to put pressure on the players who are playing in the national team. It’s a good sign for the future. It’s all about hanging there and when the opportunity comes to make the most of it,” said Gunawardene. “I am sure whenever there is an opportunity these boys will be recognised and their performances will not go unnoticed. It’s always nice to have a strong bench for the national team. The national team players know there are players behind them and they cannot take anything for granted.”

“Credit should also go to the selectors who have recognised these players as the next in line cricketers and given them a consistent run and kept them together. Especially the batting department, the batsmen have been consistent and doing well. From the openers to the middle order they have been scoring runs. Tharindu, Wanuja Sahan and Dushan Hemantha have been performing well in the spin department.”

The next tour lined up for the ‘A’ team is to Australia in July for two 4-day unofficial tests and three unofficial ODIs.