One-day losses did not matter

That the Sri Lankans lost the one-day series to the West Indies does not mean that the panic button be pressed and that changes be made to the team.

As genial skipper Mahela Jayawardena said at the media briefing before the Digicel series began, it is a learning experience in preparation for the next World Cup to be held in the sub-continent.

So from Jayawardena’s admission, it has to be construed that the Lankans were attempting to get up a team that can win the World Cup come 2011 and that winning or losing to the Windies is secondary.

The Lankans recalled seven players who contested the Test series and flew in seven new players, who the selectors think have the credentials to play the instant game.

But that the Lankans lost to the West Indies does not mean that they be accused of not trying or not being focussed. They fronted up to the home team who had the home advantage and gave as good as they got and although losing it would be fair comment to say that they were certainly not disgraced.

At the outset it must be stated that it is no easy task for a captain to immediately settle down with a new set of players and plan strategy. Ask a captain and he will tell you.

Jayawardena over the years as captain has had more ups than downs and it is not sportsmanship and it is not cricket to take him to the cleaners and bust your lungs asking for his ouster.

One has to be a cricketer or a captain to know what it is. It is easy for arm chair critics to be wise after the event. As I said earlier to be wise after the event is the refuge of the scoundrel.

In fact the tour of the Caribbean was a learning experience for me too in that I managed to gather that it is the splendid work of Jayawardena that is keeping the team going.

As captain it is his duty to take responsibility when the team wins or loses. And that responsibility he will take like a true sportsman and not cringe or put the blame on others. That shows respectability and that trait Jayawardena has in bags full.

To take Jayawardena to task saying that he played irresponsible strokes, made the wrong move or that he changed the batting order is not what is expected of any responsible critic.

A captain decides to bat first or makes any move with the interest of the team at heart. It need not be said that when a team wins the captain gets the kudos and when the team loses he is put on the chopping blocks.

And also a captain, nine times out of ten makes a decision in consultation with the team and generally adheres to the majority decision. So just to take a captain to task for just not liking his looks or his tone of speech is not cricket.

When a team wins or loses it is collective responsibility.

Jayawardena, it must not be forgotten led the Sri Lankans into the finals last year in the Caribbean and it is his intention and remains focussed to lead a strong team that would perform similarly in the 2011 World Cup and go better and win it.

So as responsible critics we should support and encourage him to lead the country into the promised land which is World Cup 2011.

The one-dayers

The First one-dayer at the Queen’s Park Oval was evenly contested and a game that should have been won was lost on the final ball. The home team had to get 10 runs in the last two balls to win and as it stood, only a cricket miracle could help the Windies pull it off.

And that miracle did happen, as Shiv Chanderpaul admitted after the game, that helped him to steer his side to victory from the jaws of defeat.

In the final ball, after Chanderpaul had driven the ball before for four, Chaminda Vaas who was the man for the moment had only to run up and bowl a three quarter length delivery that would have reached the batsman along the turf and it would have been next to impossible for the batsman to hit him for six as the batsman did by making Vass’ intended yorker a full toss and lofting it over the mid wicket boundary. With that stroke Chanderpaul performed the impossible.

Critics would have skinned Vass if he had done the above saying that it is not in the spirit of the game to do so. Where the hell is the spirit of the game now?

The spirit of the game was hit beyond the boundary when big, big money came into the game. Those who speak of the spirit of the game would do well to have their heads examined. Remember the Greg and Trevor Chappell underarm delivery, that nearly brought the Australia and New Zeland into war. Greg as captain was playing to the rules. The spirit was not his concern - quite rightly.

After this incident, the International Cricket Council came awake and deleted the rule from the book and now underarm bowling is a thing of the past.

Today winning is not the thing it is the only thing. Bags full of money is on offer to the individuals and winning teams, as the farce of a tourney that is now on in India-the Indian Premier League proves.

What is happening there to say the least is disrespect for money. Today the mind-boggling money that is being dangled is temptation for those playing the game to win by hook or by crook and forget the excellent virtures that this game initially taught.

In our days we were nurtured and brought up on the adage that - it is not the winning or losing that matters, but how one played the game. To play a straight bat was also another wonderful virtue.

Where are these virtues now. The best people to answer that question is the International Cricket Council.

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