Cricketers had mixed fortunes

Having caught the ‘Olympic fever’ for nearly a month, it’s time to switch to cricket, which has turned out to be the biggest crowd puller in the subcontinent.

True, that only a handful of countries play cricket, which was originated by the Englishmen and ‘gifted’ to the then British colonies. Nevertheless, the public interest and enthusiasm it generates in the Indian subcontinent even surpasses where the game originated.

Sri Lanka had mixed fortunes in the recently concluded home series against India. The home team started both, the Test series and the one day international series on winning notes but the Indians came back strongly to level the respective series in the very next games.

Super performance

Thanks to the super performance by Sri Lanka in the decisive third and final Test, the home team managed to secure a sweet 2-1 win in the three-match series.

But it was a different picture in the five-match one day international series, during which most seniors in the Sri Lanka team painted a poor picture. With Sri Lanka winning the first and India the second in the two flood-lit ODIs at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, the two teams travelled down to Colombo for the decisive three day-night games at the Premadasa Stadium.

But the Indians bounced back to win the third and fourth games to secure the series. That gave only an academic interest to the fifth and final ODI. When the seniors failed to deliver a makeshift Sri Lanka side, packed with youngsters, pulled off a convincing win in the final outing against the Indians.

Consolation

However, it was a mere consolation win for the home team as India became the worthy winners of the five-match ODI series 3-2. The brightest spot in the two series was the outstanding performance of Carrom ball spinner Ajantha Mendis.

When he came to the limelight routing Indians in the Asia Cup final, many thought it was a mere surprise performance. When he was ‘promoted’ to make his Test debut immediately afterwards, many thought the soldier won’t be able to perform the same match winning act in the established game. But Silva proved the critics wrong and became a nightmare to international batsmen when he aggregated 26 wickets in the three-Test series against India. Thus, he wrote his name in the record books by accounting for the world record for the most number of Test wickets in a three-Test series as a debutant.

The ODI series defeat should be an eye-opener for Sri Lanka to think twice in the direction they should sail with the next World Cup in mind. Sri Lanka came to the home series against India with their heads high after thrashing their subcontinent opponents in the final.

India’s three successive wins in the ODI series, after losing the ‘opener’, was a great achievement. That was a great lesson and humiliation for the reigning Asian champions.

Big cricketing ‘bout’

Now the big ‘bout’ in the local cricket circles will be on tomorrow when a final decision would be taken on the proposed tour of England and the Indian Premier League (IPL). Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge will have to play a referee’s role in weighting the points raised by the national players and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials.

Undoubtedly the IPL is a money spinner and brings lucrative deals for all the elite cricketers in the world. Since there were no prior international commitments for Sri Lanka during that period, many national cricketers did not hesitate to secure lucrative deals with the respective Indian sides for the 2009 IPL.

But when England cancelled their home series with Zimbabwe over a political row, Sri Lanka jumped at the idea of making a consolation tour during next summer. From the financial aspect of the SLC, it was a wise move for a body, which, until recently, ran with a Rs. 400 million overdraft.

The SLC initially gave the green light to the players to participate in the IPL for a period of one year. The six-week tournament, due to start on April 10, 2008, overlaps with Sri Lanka’s first Test against England to be played from May 8.

However, from the players’ point of view, the IPL is the ideal annual ‘opportunity’ which gives them a chance to become rich by a few more millions. From the financial benefits aspect, the IPL is more important for many players than the England tour.

It’s a matter of national duty and a personal contact which is going to be a money spinner. Of course the country should always come first and the national duty should be respected with utmost importance. But in fairness to the cricketers, the England tour was not in the original schedule and the players went ahead with the IPL commitments.

National duty

Now that the cricketers have already committed, is it fair to call them on national duty all of a sudden for an unscheduled tour? However, as contracted players who earn a monthly income in addition to their match fees and endless prize monies, they have an obligation to respect when SLC calls them on national duty.

After evaluating all those matters, Minister Lokuge requested national cricketers to consider taking part in both the tours. But it is not going to be practical.

Now that SLC Interim Committee chairman Arjuna Ranatunga has made a commitment, its Sri Lanka’s duty to honour its tour of England. Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain has been firm on the issue, stressing on the importance of making a commitment for national duty.

Despite being the leader of the 1996 Lankan team which conquered the Mount Everest in world cricket, Ranatunga is one of the few players who rejected many tempting advertising offers when he was at his brilliant best. Hence, the players have to give a fair response to an appeal made by such a leader.