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Letters:
Brittle middle order accounts for loss in final
An apt comment was made by Wasim Arkam before the match when quizzed
about the possible outcome of the final between Sri Lanka and Pakistan
in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. He said that both teams appear
to be equally balanced and the result will be determined by the
comparative mental strengths of the two sides.
It is inevitable that a final of this magnitude would bring about
butterflies in the stomach of even of the most seasoned veteran. However
past performances, confidence in one’s ability and the motivation to
achieve success by strong commitment, grit and determination are the
factors that override this butterfly syndrome and that was the
difference between the two sides on display.
Sri Lanka’s middle order was a disappointment throughout the
tournament, and without exaggeration, in every match including the warm
up games. In fact in the games we won the individual brilliance of a
few, Dilshan in particular, helped us to post a total which had an
element of respectability.
However, it was the bowlers who came to the fore and rescued us in
every match we won. Kumar Sangakkara’s innings stood out at the final as
one of great character and had all the elements of mental tenacity that
should form part of the armoury of a good professional cricketer today.
This brings us to the question of selection. What were the criteria
used for the selection of the middle order? Selection could be made on
several factors. We could have followed the Pakistanis and given
exposure to blossoming young cricketers who have displayed mental
strength or we could give opportunities to good performers in the past
with an excellent record. The selection of Angelo Matthews is one such
case where exposure was given to the young and was borne out by his
performance with bat and ball and as David Lloyd and Ian Chappell said
he is indeed a find and will perform well in the future in all forms of
the game, 50 over and Tests as well. He should now be given more
opportunities or he will also fall by the wayside as victim of the
eccentricities of the selectors.
Why is Sri Lanka Cricket wary of given opportunities to good young
players? Did they have to select players of the calibre of Indika Saram,
Chamara Silva and Jehan Mubarak? Did they have consistency in their
careers hitherto? Do they have a range of stroke play? Did they display
mental strength in similar past encounters? If we had exposed some young
promising players instead they may even have scored more runs and if
they had also failed, the benefit of their experience in playing in such
a high pressure environment would have been ingrained in them.
When Kumar Sangakkara was interviewed at the end of the match he said
that we were about 20 runs short of a score that would have been a
reasonable chase. We would certainly have got that 20 runs or even more
if we had a better middle order with more stroke play in their armoury
and greater confidence.
It was evident at this tournament that slog sweeps and pull shots are
not the only shots that bring the runs, in a T20 game, Kumar, A.B. De
Villiers, Jacques Kallis, and a few others demonstrated that good
cricketing strokes can also significantly contribute to the total.
If the selection process is not done in a mature analytical manner
the future performances of Sri Lankan cricket is in jeopardy.
Anton Abeyesekera
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Why are Mubarak and Chamara given so
many chances?
I truly agree with Roshantha, I am a Royalist and I still consider
this the most unfair piece of selection with so much talent waiting for
a chance.
Mubarak has been hanging on to Sri Lankan cricket as far as I can
remember irrespective of his performance.
Chamara has been given enough and more opportunities and he still
fails. Chamara played right throughout the tournament without any
contribution to the team effort while Maharoof and de Saram was enjoying
a paid holiday in England, courtesy Sri Lanka Cricket.
Team selection has always been a bug in the system with outside
influence playing a major role. I am sure if Sanga had his way and a
fair selection process was followed both Muba and Chamara will be
playing club cricket today. Sanga is too much of a gentlemen to go
public with this situation.
This has become a heated topic of discussion here in Australia in
most Sri Lankan gatherings.
- Suresh Perera
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