Tennekoon assigned to improve batting skills

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Former Sri Lanka captain and prolific middle-order batsman Anura Tennekoon has been entrusted with the task of improving the batting skills of our cricketers.

Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee secretary Adel Hashim said at a media conference held at Hotel Taj Samudra on Tuesday that as an immediate measure Tennekoon has been assigned to take care of the batting.

"We all know the situation of our batsmen at the moment. We are in serious trouble both at national and 'A' team level. The need to improve the batting skills of our batsmen has been identified.

Tennekoon has been entrusted with that responsibility," said Hashim. "The replacement batsmen who are there are not putting enough pressure on the national players. The replacement should be able to match up to the person whom he is going to replace."

Tennekoon was a sound technically correct right-hand batsmen of the pre-Test era and was a master accumulator of runs with tons of patience, which sadly the present day generation batsmen lack. He is at present the managing the Sri Lanka 'A' side.

In addition to the batting, Hashim also stated that they were also on the look out for a specialist spin coach.

"We have put in place a series of coaching structures from the head coach right down to grass root level. We have identified that provincial coaches is very important because cricketers who represent the country today come from all corners of the island, most of them from the outstations.

If you don't nurture this area we probably are doing an injustice to our future generation," said Hashim. "With the arrival of Tom Moody as national head coach we had a series of discussions of how we can help improve our support services for the players. It is a key area. We are looking to recruiting two additional physiotherapists so that the department is further strengthened to compete with the needs of today's demanding schedules," he said.

Pitches

Hashim said the standard of pitches in the country had deteriorated dramatically which has resulted in a series of other debacles down the line. "This cannot be overhauled overnight. It's an enormous task.

We looked at a model used in the English county circuit to improve the pitches and we are trying to expedite the process and see whether we can work within the model where the ECB has used to improve pitch conditions in UK," said Hashim. "This will be implemented as early as possible with the support of the grounds and the clubs. We hope to improve the standard of batsmen and bowlers with better pitch conditions."

Umpiring

Hashim said a key decision has been made that a fair evaluation system will be introduced shortly so that all umpires who think they have done a fair job can be assured of getting a fair assessment.

He also said steps have been taken to improve the language skills of an umpire. "A brilliant umpire if he cannot communicate in English cannot go beyond the Premier tournament in this country.

It is a crime that we have such talented umpires who cannot be pushed up the ladder," said Hashim.

Cricket academy

Hashim said that a decision has already been taken to enhance the Cricket Academy to one of a high performance academy.

"In this direction already decisions have been made to streamline the squads where the number of players who go through the academy is controlled. Players who had been in-house for six months are now subject to continue till one year by having day sessions.

It will allow the coaching staff to continue to work with them in the long term rather than work with them fo six months. The investment and time spent with the cricketers will be beneficial for both the cricketer and the management," he said.

Ranatunga's resignation

Hashim expressed disappointment over the resignation of Arjuna Ranatunga from the post of chairman of the cricket committee.

"The whole purpose of inviting Arjuna to be chairman of the cricket committee was because we believed that he had much to give to the game. We know of his ability, talent and knowledge about the game," said Hashim.

"However some of the reasons he attributed for his resignation are not reasonable because Duleep Mendis (the present CEO) and me were also in the cricket committee. The interim committee accepted a good 90-95 percent of the recommendations made by the cricket committee.

When sub committees make recommendations some will be accepted some will not be accepted. It was unfortunate that we had to come to this situation," he said.