Mathews must be wary of his detractors

A gifted cricketer who can take Sri Lanka cricket to the next level is undoubtedly Angelo Mathews.

All-rounders in the game,the world over,are very rare. Most countries are searching frantically for all rounders. And when they do emerge, the country for which they play must treat him with extra care. And above all the all rounder must also look after himself Tall and well built Mathews is a god given gift to the game.The likes of him do not come dime a dozen.International teams crave for all rounders of Mathews’ ability.

Rare ability

I have been on several tours with Mathews,the recent one being to Australia for the Commonwealth Bank Tri series and many were the media men and former cricketers who spoke highly of Mathews’ rare ability. There were rave reviews. But unfortunately Mathews suffered a calf injury and missed the three tri series finals against Australia. Had his services been available, the consensus was that, even as a batsman and fielder he could have steered the Lankans to victory in the finals.

Now the pertinent question to ask is: How come that Mathews is prone to injury? To venture an answer is to conclude that his legs need strengthening to bear the brunt of the wear and tear and pressure put on them by bowling long spells. But being the cricketer that he is, he wants to do his best for game and country and every time he is given the ball, he bowls his heart out. But what he does not realize is that by doing so he leaves himself open to career threatening injury.

Damaged calf muscle

And this was proved when he damaged his calf muscle and had to miss the tri series finals in Australia. The injury was so grave that he could not play in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and had to be flown back.

It is the consensus and accepted fact that he is the next Sri Lankan captain. Present skipper Mahela Jayawardena is an ardent backer of Mathews as captain and made his views known in a newspaper interview in Australian when asked who the next Sri Lankan captain should be. It is best that Mathews to concentrates on his batting and fielding. He is par excellence in these two departments. Sri Lanka cricket needs him badly in these two departments and it is time that the physios and doctors, know that he is fit to face England keep him playing.

Wonderful job

With skipper Jayawardena doing a wonderful job in resurrecting the game here that had lost its way drastically, Mathews’ presence on the field and as a strategic vice captain would be of immeasurable help to Jayawardena against the Brits in the ongoing Test series.

There is a story doing the rounds, that there is a clique determined to deprive Mathews of being the next country’s captain and that is why he is being forced to bowl so that he would injure himself and stay out. This is of course a canard but should it be true, then the perpetrators should be firmly dealt with. One can even speculate and say that there cannot be smoke without fire. Mathews is too good to be lost to the game. He must be wary of his detractors and his friends in sheep clothing. He must keep himself fit at all times because when at the wicket he can delight his many fans with his ruthless hitting.

Ajmal comes out tops

There is no doubt that the Pakistani Saeed Ajmal is the best in the department of off-spin in world cricket today. Others of his kind such as England’s Greame Swann, Australia’s Nathan Lyon and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin are in comparison only second best. Ajmal who is primarily an off spinner packs a well disguised and vicious doosra. He has made all top world class batsmen play the wrong line when sending down his doosra. The latest batsman to be fooled by Ajmal’s doosra was India’s master batsman Sachin Tendulkar who recently notched up his 100th 100 in the game against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup tournament.

Humiliation

Tendulkar's dismissal in being unable to read the doosra and playing the wrong line and being caught in the slips by Younis Khan after reaching his fifty, would have prompted the Indian team management to speak to the ICC about the bowler’s action. Now for a batsman of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar’s class and caliber it was very poor sportsmanship to be part of reporting the bowler. Tendulkar would have been better appreciated had he acknowledged the bowler’s brilliance and not done the cry baby act.

Earlier Ajmal cooked the England batsmen in the Three Test series in the desert lureing them to a three-nil Test thrashing. England too, unable to admit the bowlers brilliance,complained to the ICC about the bowler’s action.

Great responsibility

But the International Cricket Council acted with great responsibility and thought and its Chief Executive Haroon Lorgart clarified that they saw no problem in the off spinner’s bowling style. ‘We have tested, checked him and monitored him in match situations, and found he bowls within the allowed degree of tolerance. We must be careful at what the eye sees and what the reality is’, said Lorgart.

Even the Lankan batsmen looked helpless against Saeed Ajmal in the Three Test series in the desert and to the credit of the Lankan batsmen and its management it must be said that they did not do the cry baby act and complain, but acknowledged the bowler’s brilliance.

Remedial work

Ajmal was first reported by match officials during a one-day series against Australia in the UAE in 2009, but was later cleared to play after remedial work was done on his action. We hope that India’s complaint would be the last against this wonderful bowler Saeed Ajmal and that he would be allowed to ply his trade and be an example to young bowlers wanting to be another Ajmal.

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