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| Saturday, 6 November 2004 |
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Sangakkara beware Kumar Sangakkara may be the most erudite and articulate Test cricketer that Sri Lanka has produced but within a space of four months he has been fined twice by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referees for offences on the field which is certainly not a good sign for a player of his stature. The 27-year-old left-hander is gradually blossoming out into a world class performer who should hold centre stage for the next decade or so as probably the next Brian Lara, but he should ensure that he disciplines himself on the field and not earn any more black marks against his name lest he becomes a marked man with match referees and umpires. Sangakkara's latest offence was for expressing his frustration at getting himself out towards the end of the fourth day of the Karachi Test against Pakistan which Sri Lanka lost by six wickets. Having scored a fighting century and struck two boundaries in the over, Sangakkara going for another boundary edged the ball to slips and was caught. He displayed his annoyance at being dismissed within a few overs before stumps by throwing his bat up in the air. The bat did not just land on the ground but broke the stumps at the striker's end. Had Sangakkara made an attempt to replace the stumps and the dislodged bails before he departed to the pavilion he may have escaped punishment. But in his moment of anger he just picked up his bat and left the field leaving the umpire and the fielders to restore the disturbed woodwork. Sangakkara was slapped a 30 percent fine by match referee Jeff Crowe, the former New Zealand captain for his action which amounted to an offence under Level 1.2 of the ICC's Code of Conduct which states: "Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings." "The penalty for a Level 1 offence shall be an official reprimand and/or a fine of up to the equivalent of 50% of the player or official's match fee." Sangakkara was fortunate that it was a Level 1 offence for on August 1 at the end of the Asia Cup final against India he was charged 100% of his match fee for a Level 2 offence. Had the present offence also come under Level 2, a repetition of the same levels of offence within a period of 12 months could have got him a match ban of either 2-4 Tests or between 4-8 one-day internationals. Sangakkara had two charges against him during the Asia Cup final against Indians Harbhajan Singh and Mohammed Kaif who both denied that anything took place in the middle during the inquiry, but yet the match referee on that occasion South African Mike Procter felt that he should be penalized. Sangakkara was recently referred to by a newspaper as 'the most educative sledger' in modern day cricket. Sledging is all part of today's game. Sri Lankan teams in the past had to take the brunt of sledging from other countries especially the Australians who are arguably credited with having invented it during Ian Chappell's era as captain. But with the passage of time Sri Lankans have also not come to take things lying down but given back something to the opposition to chew, thanks to players like Sangakkara. What this brilliant cricketer should do is to learn the trade the way the Australians do so that he is not caught wrong-footed and penalized. Cricketers and cream The modern day cricketer with cream applied all over his face or in certain parts of his facial appearance has aroused a great deal of interest among television viewers and spectators and sometimes even angered a few who think that they assume the appearance of circus clowns. It is not something new with Sri Lankan cricketers because they have been using it for quite sometime. Ajith Jayasekera, the former Sri Lankan team manager explained: "The cream is used by players to protect them against the ultra violet rays of the sun which can be harmful to the skin and cause skin cancer." "The cream is applied mostly only in areas that can get sun burnt like the cheeks, nose, mouth. Before the cream was introduced some players used to wear long sleeve shirts to protect their limbs against the sun. Some still do it even today," said Jayasekera. "With the amount of awareness created it is not only the cream that players have come to be introduced. New training techniques have seen present day cricketers introduced to ice baths and warming down at the end of a day's play as a method of rehydrating them against cramps," continued Jayasekera. "An ice bath opens the pores in the skin and prevents the player from getting cramps. Players have also been given a dozen bottles of water before they go to bed each day and they are expected to finish it the following morning before the start of play. These are some of the new methods of training which present teams are undergoing to keep pace with the demands of modern day cricket," he said. We hope Jayasekera's explanation will satisfy the curiosity of many who are at a loss as to why cricketers apply cream on their face. |
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