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| Saturday, 7 February 2004 |
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Play it in the right spirit Saadi Thawfeeq A week from today will arrive on our shores a very competitive and strong team from Australia to play a series of five one-day internationals and three Tests. Australia as everyone knows is the team that every country loves to hate and beat because the way they play their cricket - hard, with no quarters given or asked and, being the best in the business in both forms of the game for a lengthy period of time. Such tours to our country were few and far between in the past, but thanks to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test championship policy we receive in rotation visits from full member countries on a regular basis. Tours of this magnitude is something our cricket-loving public has been looking forward to purely because of the standard of cricket that will be exhibited between Sri Lanka and Australia will hopefully be of the top level. Further, this tour will not only have the focus and attention of all Sri Lankans but also it will be well monitored via the electronic and print media throughout the world. In the light of this, it should be the wish of all Sri Lankans that this tour will be played in not only the right atmosphere but also in the right spirit of the game. To achieve this, all Sri Lankans whatever positions they hold in cricket be it at Sri Lanka Cricket or in any other organization, they should be mindful of this fact and ensure that nothing is said or done to disrupt the smooth running of the tour. Needless to say this tour could be used by certain disgruntled elements with ulterior motives who will stoop to the lowest possible ebb to get maximum mileage of whatever private agendas they may have in mind. There is no doubt such elements are in existence in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that these elements will also be aware that any such disgusting actions on their part will only lead to one thing. Namely, to destroy not only the good image of Sri Lanka cricket, which it presently enjoys worldwide but also the good name of our own country. If such things do happen, all Sri Lankans we are sure will together stand up against them. In the recent past there has been many instances where individuals whether they are involved directly with cricket or otherwise, when trying to sort out their petty differences have unfortunately dragged Sri Lanka cricket also amidst their furore. It is sad that such incidents have happened. It will be even sadder if such things happened during the time the Australians are here. We hope that the tour will be free of such incidents and that it will produce wonderful and entertaining cricket. ######### Back the national team Now that the captaincy issue has been decided it is only right that everyone casts petty differences aside and rallies around the Sri Lanka one-day team and the Test team and extend their full support towards beating the Australians. It must be mindful of the fact that no set of selectors anywhere in the world will choose a team to lose a match. They are aware that they will be judged only by the performances of the players whom they have selected. The selectors without doubt will select a team to beat the opponents but things can happen to the contrary. Nowhere in the world can a team of eleven players who take the field have the approval of every citizen of the country. Today cricket is not witnessed by a handful of genuine followers but it has spread to the level of even a vendor, street hawker, three-wheel driver or a housewife. Everyone has their own opinion based on their personal feelings and knowledge of the game of who should play and captain. Thus like the umpires on the field whose decisions cannot satisfy everyone especially those who have the luxury of watching the match on television sets, the decisions the selectors arrive at when choosing teams too may not be to everyone's approval. ########## Best batsman The debate of who is the greatest batsman will continue as long as the game of cricket is played within the length and breadth of the universe. The outstanding form shown by India's top order batsmen in the recently concluded Test series in Australia has brought forth a debate as to who should wear the mantle of the greatest batsman on the planet in contemporary cricket. The few names that can be thrown into the basket are Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid from India, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden from Australia, Jacques Kallis from South Africa, and Brian Lara from West Indies. #########
The Pricewaterhouse Cooper's (PWC) ratings which is regarded universally as projecting the top batsmen in the world on current form does not have a single Sri Lankan batsman in its top 10 rankings released after the completion of the Test series between Australia and India and, South Africa and West Indies. Lara tops the list followed by Ponting, Dravid, Hayden, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Kallis, Tendulkar, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Richardson and Venkat Laxman. The highest position attained by a Sri Lankan batsman is 11th slot by Mahela Jayawardene, who had a fine series against England last December aggregating 334 runs (avg. 83.50). For the record the last time any Sri Lankan batsman was ranked in the top 10 of the PCW batting list was in December 2002 when Jayawardene occupied eighth position. Since then no Sri Lankan batsmen has been able to get into the top 10 which speaks highly of the vulnerability of their batting line up after the departure of Aravinda de Silva, the last of the top notch players who served the country from its inception as a Test-playing nation till the end of the last World Cup in 2003. Jayawardene has all the makings of taking over the mantle from De Silva as the mainstay of Sri Lanka's batting. All he needs is consistency at the highest level to achieve that. The Australian tour will give him another opportunity of achieving that task. |
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