Archives

Sa'adi Thawfeeq

The Amateur Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AAASL) is setting a dangerous trend by allowing the national athletes who are divided into two factions to train separately for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games and Asian championships.

The Susanthika Jayasinghe led group is going to Kuala Lumpur and the Sunil Gunawardena faithfuls are to train in Bangkok. Maybe there is only a limited accommodation for athletes that both countries can take. But it is clear as daylight that the manner in which the athletes have been picked for training, that they are running in different lanes.

Whatever the differences both camps have with each other, when it comes to representation at national level all athletes should be united if Sri Lanka is to succeed at international competitions.

It may be that athletics unlike cricket or any other team sport is more of an individual sport, but there are events in athletics like the relays where team work is essential for success. Also, only when the national team trains together can the superstars pass on their knowledge and help out the lesser talented athletes to rise to international standards.

Much of the Sri Lanka cricket team's success is because of the high standard of discipline and camaraderie that exists among the players, that has made them such a forceful unit in world cricket today.

The binding force in the team's success has been the coach Dav Whatmore. That Sri Lanka still figures among the top three cricket nations in the world despite the fact that they had lost big guns like Arjuna Ranatunga, Asanka Gurusinha, Roshan Mahanama and to a lesser extent Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratne (both of whom appear only in Tests) is because of a good coach.

How much our close neighbours India would give to have a man like Whatmore in charge of their team? When the Indians were here last year, they wrote reams about Whatmore's achievements and were quite taken up by the manner in which he had helped to bring Sri Lanka cricket to a level of competitiveness on the international field. They raved about the physical condition of the Sri Lankan players in contrast to those of the Indians. All this despite having a foreign coach of their own in New Zealander John Wright.

Thus, it is imperative for a national team to be successful in one sport, there should be co-ordination, camaraderie and discipline within the ranks of the players, without which there can be no success. There is a saying that united we stand, divided we fall. If the sport is to be successful, all the athletes must cast aside personal differences and unite as one with the sole intention of bringing glory to the country. There should be no room left for bipartisanism. In this aspect, the AAASL and the Ministry of Sports have a very vital role to play, if degeneration of the sport is to be avoided.

The Queen's language

Television stations who sign up superstars to do commentary for them on high profile sports like cricket should think twice whom they include in their team. The on-going Sharjah Cup series in Sharjah features former cricketing greats like Tony Greig, Barry Richards and Ramiz Raja, all of whom are fluent in the Queen's language and make listening to them a pleasurable experience.

The man who doesn't fit in there is our former captain Arjuna Ranatunga who is cutting a sorry figure for himself in the commentary box. We respect Ranatunga as a player and for his knowledge and experience of the game. But that's as far as one can go. There are two basic ingredients in awarding commentary contracts to an individual: (a) language and, (b) knowledge of the game. Ability to play the game is not one of them. Therefore, it is a sad reflection and an indictment to the game to have such individuals in the commentary box.

What is quite evident when Ranatunga commentates is that he is unable to express what he wants to express to the viewer. His opinions are not being conveyed to the viewer adequately which, as a result, breaks up the whole monotony of the commentary.

We believe that such contracts are done by the television company in conjunction with the local Cricket Board. Thus, both parties are responsible for such appointments which reflects badly on the country’s image. We hope the interim committee takes serious note of this when future contracts are signed.

The Tiger Woods of cricket

There is little doubt that a Waugh(less) Australian team will still be one of the favourites to win the World Cup in South Africa next year. When the Waugh brothers Steve and Mark were dropped, there was a big hue and a cry from several quarters to recall them. But no. The Australian selectors took a bold move and stuck by it. They did something which our former national selectors under the chairmanship of former Test opener Sidath Wettimuny did, when they left out two of our batting stalwarts Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga from the one-day side because they felt that one-day cricket was no longer a game for the veterans, but for the young and agile. The move although quite critical at that time has paid great dividends and Sri Lanka find themselves among the top three nations in one-day cricket today.

It seems the Australian selectors' bold move is beginning to pay off following the success of Ricky Ponting's men in South Africa. They beat the Proteas in their own den by a convincing 5-1 (1 tied) margin in the seven-match one-day series which brought forth the following comment from the South African captain Shaun Pollock: "Australia have raised the benchmark of how cricket should be played. They are the Tiger Woods of cricket the way they have played over the last few years."

Australia's superiority under South African conditions gives them a head start over all other countries when they begin their defence of the World Cup next year.

Sri Lanka's chance to emulate the Australians will come when they make a tour there in October.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager