Kiwis poor opponents

Good for Sri Lanka cricket that they humbled the New Zealanders in both Test matches. Thus the Lankans have now triumphed in two Test series. Earlier they won the series against Pakistan.

The Sri Lankans showed why they are second in the International Cricket Council's Test Rankings by outplaying New Zealand and a few more wins could give them the top spot which they richly deserve.

Before going to further comment on the Kiwi tour of Sri Lanka a pertinent question to ask is: What is the big deal in playing just Two Test matches? Next time round the Lankans would do well to ask for at least three Tests.

Sri Lanka played better cricket

For Sri Lanka this was another series won by playing the better cricket in all departments to send the New Zealanders back empty handed. When the visitors arrived they came with great expectations and it seemed as though the series would be evenly contested. But as the Two Tests proved the Kiwis were simply poor opponents.

The visitors could not get their act together. Players who came with great reputations such as Ross Taylor, Brendon McCallum, Jacob Oram and Jesse Ryder looked utterly helpless as they struggled to make runs.

They seemed to have left their run making acts at home and at the end of the series have left their places in the team in jeopardy. We are told that there are many youngsters knocking at the door for inclusion in the team. Now that the seniors have failed,it is time for the Kiwi selectors to plonk in the promising cricketers if the game is to regain its lost glory.

Vettori a top level cricketer

Only skipper Daniel Vettori was the one to succeed and show that he is a top level cricketer. His century in the second innings of the Final Test was a grand knock. Others looked just ordinary and would find it difficult to find a place even in division two cricket in Sri Lanka.

One ugly stroke that most of the Kiwi batsmen were trying to execute and with little or no success was the SWEEP STROKE. Now every batsman when he first handles a bat is told to offer a straight bat, play straight and cut out the horizontal stroke.

The better Kiwi batsmen do not seem to know this and it was disgusting to see them blindly executing the sweep. How much nicer it would have looked had they played straight. Playing the sweep, made them easy LBW victims or were caught on the leg side.

Kiwi batsmen did not use their feet

What was also not acceptable at this level is that their batsmen played this stroke from the first ball they faced.

This stroke could be executed with confidence once a batsman has reached thirty or forty.

Also the Kiwi batsmen did not seem able to use their feet to the Lankan spinners. Muttiah Muralitheran, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath are top class spinners and the Kiwi batsmen would have negotiated them better had they used their feet to play them. Instead what one saw was the batsmen trying to play them from the crease and falling easy prey.

These shortcomings do not speak well for their coaches at junior level. The present coach Andy Moles will have a lot of work to do with their top batsmen and show and tell them what batsmanship at Test level is all about.

If not for skipper Vettori who performed at his brilliant best with the bat and followed it up with some clever left arm spin bowling, the Kiwis would have surrendered both Tests well inside three days.

Lanka can be top dogs

As for Sri Lanka they showed that they have it in them to be top dogs in the Test rankings.More Test matches should seem them hug that spot before long.

While the Sri Lanka batsmen Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera all scored bagful of runs, pacemen Nuwan Kulasekera and Thilina Thusara and spinners Muralitheran, Mendis and Herath all proved more than adequate to rattle, bemuse and stuff the Kiwis.

Soon will begin the triangular series between Sri Lanka,New Zealand and India which will provide exciting cricket and bring back the crowds that were missing in the Test series.

We make bold to say that the triangular series would see a Sri Lanka-India final and the team playing the better cricket on that day emerging champions and carrying away the Compac Trophy.

Poor Aussies

Every cricket playing country sees to be happy that the Aussies were beaten by England in the Ashes Test series.They reckon that this defeat will spur all other countries to play the kangaroos and beat them.

The Aussies ruled the cricket world for far two long with their juggernaut just brushing aside all opposition giving the other countries no chance to show what they are capable of. With their Ashes defeat the Aussies also lost their top position in the ICC Test rankings that they hugged for decades.

The Aussies down fall was that they lost top class cricketers of the calibre of Justin Langer, Mathew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Glen McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist in quick succession and those who replaced them were no where near the class of those champions.

Michael Clarke is confident

But vice captain Michael Clarke is confident that the players they now have,have the talent to take them to the top before long.

But how long that will take would be interesting to watch. Former stylish Aussie batsman Dean Jones thinks that the Aussie must recall Shane Warne from retirement and hand the team over to him, making him captain and trusting him to bring back their lost glory and then quit handing over to Clarke.

But the Aussie selectors led by Andrew Hilditch would not fall for that.