by Rohan Wijeyaratna

Cricket is really a funny old game. Sometimes it isn’t the best team that wins. It can be funnier still in the one day version, where much against current form, the better team on the day wins. In such an event, more oft than not, for the losing captain and his team, the whole thing may not really seem very funny at all.

Be that as it may, Sri Lanka registered another handsome tournament win, with a far better overall performance on the day to beat the more fancied Pakistanis in the final. The Lankans were thrashed out of sight in the two previous encounters by the same opposition, and once earlier in the week by a very potent bunch of colts from the land of the silver fern. So, the lead up to the final was anything but assuring and Sri Lanka were almost on a hiding to nothing as they went in to this game. However, aided handsomely through some huge slices of luck, and falling back on some of the long forgotten virtues that generally win matches, such as jolly good fielding, the pearl of the Indian Ocean covered itself in gold and won the massively gaudy AYR trophy at the end of an eventful day.

• Infernally lucky

Sanath Jayasuriya was infernally lucky on the day. Had all the chances he and his fellowmates offered been taken, the final result might have stayed closer to form. But it was not to be and Sri Lanka got home in the end in some comfort. To my mind the first part of the proceedings fashioned itself, and given the sloppy out cricket of the Pakistanis, the Sri Lankans made merry. Thereafter, with a score of 297 to defend, the islanders knew just how to put the screws on. This they did with clinical precision and great relish. The rest was history.

Perhaps Jayasuriya deserved every bit of the good luck he enjoyed on the day. As a skipper he has worked overtime, when not with the bat, then with the ball and if not, then certainly in the field. But a captain they say, is only as good as the team he has got, and it is unfair to blame the skipper entirely when things do go wrong. For instance, the over dependence on the seniors to deliver is becoming acutely obvious when examining the performances of those who have entered the side as replacements for De Silva, Ranatunga and Mahan-ama. They seem to have done less than adequate justice to the generous opportunities offered to them, and their recent efforts have looked overall, rather pedestrian. The only two who have really come along at the required clip are Jayawardena and Sangakkara, though in Sharjah, the latter managed to get himself relegated to the ranks through some repeatedly ordinary performances. Kaluwitharana eventually regained his place, only because his batting blossomed out once more. On his day, there are few better sights than watching little Kalu bat, but he has more oft than not, failed to translate the good starts he has got in to the scores that really count. That is what really divides test batsmen from ordinary ones. No test opener or any other, occupying a specialist batting position, can survive for long in the team enjoying a batting average that languishes in the early twenties.

• More shortcomings

and some purple patches

There were other obvious problems too, such as the running between the wickets. No team however talented can be entirely safe from calamity if it also contains a few men whose indecision can create mayhem in the middle. Of this variety, Sri Lanka had more than one, and surprisingly they were the most senior of men.

All however, was not bad. There were some purple patches too; like the silken touches of Jayewardena, now on display on a more consistent basis. We also saw Jayasuriya play a really mature innings against the Kiwis in the first of the two encounters. I have hardly seen him play straighter or for that matter, with greater assurance. Gone was the usual chancy flamboyance at the start of his innings. Circumspection was more the order of the day. In fact, he carried on this act to almost unbelievable lengths until well into his 60’s when he decided to cut loose. And in what style too! Poor Chris Harris entered the record books all for the wrong reasons as Jayasuriya half murdered him to the tune of 30 runs in just one over which contained four consecutive sixes!

That inning should make the skipper think of how, and not where, he should bat. He has had bags of experience opening the batting for years, and at 31 years of age is mature enough and better equipped than most to learn from all his past experience. Age will certainly dim his extra-ordinary reflexes and eye, but these must be replaced gradually with skill, experience and improved technique. As did Rohan Kanhai, that wonderful little West Indian from British Guyana. Kanhai, in his prime, was blessed with the eyes of a hawk and footwork of a ballet dancer. Finally when the eyes failed, he transformed himself into a sedate yet dependable middle order batsman and continued to do a great service for his country for many a long year.

• Umpires in the news again

Nothing seems complete these days without discussion on the umpires. News has it that the third umpire has reported the Pakistani off spinner Arshad Khan for throwing, well after the match, based on the report made by one of the officiating men. To my mind, the interpretation of the law is quite clear. If an officiating umpire is not entirely happy that a bowler has bowled a legitimate delivery, he shall immediately intervene and cry halt to the blatant violation of what passes for a fair delivery. It was obvious to all that Arshad Khan was clearly contravening the law even without the help of Michael Holding telling us all about it. Therefore it is nonsensical that there is also provision for such matters to be reported afterwards for action to be taken later. Had Arshad Khan on the day become unplayable and Sri Lanka lost, what a fiasco it would have caused! We have as a nation, shouted down umpires who have called our Murali in a match, but what would we have said had we lost this last match if Arshad Khan was allowed to throw us out and thereby robbed us of our eventual win?

• Unfair by the batsmen

It appears that umpires prefer to steer clear of controversy these days than stand up for what they feel is right on matters concerning the fairness of a delivery. It serves no purpose reporting an errand bowler after the event when he has been let loose knowingly to do all the damage during a game, for it is grossly unfair on the batting side. One has only to imagine what mayhem may have been caused if instead of Arshad Khan, the Lankans had to contend with either a Donald, a Brett Lee or a Shoaib Akhtar bowling at full throttle with a highly suspect action. Worse still, if the umpires decided to report the matter after the event for fear of causing a public controversy or embarrassment to the bowler. What, might I ask, would be the thoughts of the batsmen if they were thrown out instead of bowled out? What if injury was caused by a lethally fast bowler permitted to operate with a suspect action?

• Avoid muddled headed thinking

Somewhere along the way, the administrators have a lot to answer for the muddled state of the game as it now stands, where the umpires have been given the option to make an official report on such matters afterwards. With the kind of backing Darrel Hair got from the administrators after his infamous stand against Murali, it will be a brave man who will call a player ever again in the middle of a game if he could help it.

The game is wrapped up in so much confusion these days, it will take more than a few clear heads to sort matters out. More than that, the crying need is for administrators of character and guts to stand up against the scourge of throwing, even if it means sidelining your most effective bowler.

That is not only a part of the process that ensures fair play, but also an indication of an administration coming of age.