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| Tuesday, 5 October 2004 |
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When Lanka 'grassed' their chances by Elmo Rodrigopulle It is nice to be back from Old to Blightey and in the words of that perennial from the famous Tom Jones 'touch the green grass of home.' Reams and reams have been written on the ICC Champions Trophy. The ICC by now would be sitting back and realising their folly of conducting such a mega tournament at a time when it was not conducive to playing cricket in England. Most teams, especially those from the sub continent suffered and surprisingly in silence without a murmur. But now there is no point in complaining, but to sit back and think what might have been. As for the Sri Lankans, they had the opportunity of at least figuring in the semi-finals and who knows even the final and winning it, had their fielding, especially the all important catching been what it should have been at this level of the game. Two vital catches were grassed. First it was Nuwan Zoysa who fluffed England opener Marcus Trescothick at nine, and who went on to make a good contribution, and then the most important catch of all where Mahela Jayawardene dropped Andrew Flintoff when he was on one and who went on to blast the attack and score a century, which took the game away from us. To Zoysa and it is time that he was told that if he is to be persisted with and which persistence brings him a lot of money, which also becomes his all important bread and butter, like all others playing the game, that he must endeavour and improve his fielding, both on the ground and in the air. If he is unable to do this then there is no place for him. Today the game is so commercialised and professionalised, that there cannot be room for non performers. There are many cricketers kicking their heels and fighting to be included. And if those who matter do not work on Zoysa, and if he tends to lose his place, then the selectors could not be faulted for chopping him. Also he can be told. But he must make it his business to improve his catching. As for Jayawardene, he is not consistent in his catching. He has the ability to take blinders, and at the same time put down the easiest of catches. The two catches that were dropped by him and Zoysa are inexcusable. It is accepted that - catches win matches. But dropped catches will not necessarily mean losing matches, it can make wining that much more difficult. Windies upset all odds Having watched the West Indians closely, I tagged them the 'dark horses' and they lived up to that tag, and that they finally and deservedly won the heart-stopping final was great elation for me. Now that they have got back to where they rightly belong in the game - at the top-they must not look back, but proceed to get back to their former glory of the '70s and '80s. As for skipper Brian Lara, now that he has taken them to the "promised land" in the game, and now that he has got to the top, he must shed the captaincy, but continue playing as a batsman. He came in for a lot of criticism, most of it uncharitable. Now that he has slapped his critics, it is time to wave goodbye to the captaincy. Cricketers criticised Some of the Lankan cricketers had been taken to task and bashed for allegedly having a late night and going on a drinking spree at the end of the first day of the game against England at the Rose Bowl. During my stay at Southampton, I did not hear of any misbehaviour of the cricketers. Having been a player myself, I am sure no cricketer would have ventured to have a late night or go on a drinking spree, what when they had to continue an important game the next day. When I go on tours, I always stick to the advice given me by that great late Australian leg spinner Tiger O'Reiley who was one of the mainstays in the great Sir Donald Bradman's 1948 'invincibles'. When Sri Lanka toured Australia in 1987, 'Tiger' was a commentator for, if I am not mistaken, the 'Sydney Morning Herald'. In the Press Box in Sydney, I made my way up to him, and asked him: 'Sir, being a cricket critic how should I go?' He looked me hard and asked, 'have you played cricket? I said 'yes'. Then he proffered me this advice, which I still treasure and adhere to. He said: 'When the cricketers open the gate and walk on to the field they are all yours. You can praise them, you can criticise them and you can take them apart. But once they leave the field and what they do after that, is not your bloody business'. And that advice I still follow. That Sri Lanka tour was his final assignment for the 'SMH'. On that occasion all journalists wished the 'Tiger' well and presented him a book on cricket, initiated by that famous cricket writer Nick Coward, and I too penned my best wishes to the great man. |
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