Mahinda Wijesinghe
Post-mortems there will be aplenty after the deplorable display by the Sri Lankans in England. Hopefully, the authorities will not make knee-jerk decisions in the aftermath of the debacle. After all, we have been there before and come out with heads held high.

Let us go back to the World Cup of 1999 played in England when Sri Lanka competed as the reigning champion but could not get past the first round. Reviewing the competition, Mathew Engel, editor of the Wisden Almanack hit the nail on the head when he wrote as follows: "Heroes became zeroes. Sanath Jayasuriya, the dominant figure of 1996, scored 82 in five matches. None of the Sri Lankans seemed capable of dealing with the changed situation and, after the South African quicks blew their batsmen away at Northampton, they never threatened to make the final six. The reigning champions were the least competitive of the nine Test-playing nations and Arjuna Ranatunga, their captain, paid with his job."

Sri Lanka - the least competitive

The comment that "the reigning champions were the least competitive of the nine Test playing nations" was a very sad indictment of the Sri Lankan team. No wonder when India, for instance, crushed Sri Lanka at Taunton by 157 runs when Ganguly (183) and Dravid (145) put on a record partnership of 318 runs in 45 overs. Vaas and Upashantha went for 8 runs an over and even Muralitharan conceded 60 runs in his quota without success. The parallel in 2002 was the occasion when Sri Lanka could not defend a rain-shortened game of 32 overs, against England, having scored over 7 runs an over.

Nuwan Zoysa - a pinch-hitter?

However, during the recently concluded NatWest Series Sri Lanka did show signs of resurgence towards the tail-end of the tournament. For instance, when chasing an imposing target of 305 runs against India, Sri Lanka were well on course with Atapattu and Jayawardena maintaining a rate of over 6 runs an over, until a suicidal reverse-sweep by the latter, totally unjustifiable at that stage, put paid to our chances. Admittedly, even if Sri Lanka did win that game it would not have helped getting into the final but, at least, it would have proved that Sri Lanka were worthy competitors. Then there were some field settings and bowling changes, not to mention the decision to send Nuwan Zoysa as a pinch-hitter - whilst Vaas and Chandana were available - which reflected puerile cricket-thinking.

Off-field problems faced by the team

All these however are problems that surfaced as a result of the domino effect of what preceded the tour and the shenanigans off the field by the administrators. Though some may question "how can what happens off the field affect the players?" The short answer is: "It certainly does". And, there was plenty happening. To begin with, Sri Lanka fell hook, line and sinker, in agreeing to begin the Test series in May, though the first Test was played in brilliant sunshine and, remember, England was sent for a follow-on, on that occasion? Problems with the British media attributed to Manager Schaffter, disputes with the bowling coach Foster and batting coach Barry Richards clouded the atmosphere in the dressing room. There were ramblings about physiotherapist Alex Kontouri as well. Finally, crowning all of this, was the battle at the top with former President of the Cricket Board, Thilanga Sumathipala, claiming he attended the ICC meeting while the Interim Committee, Hemaka Amerasuriya, in an official media release, stated that it was not so. Quite a handful for any team to wrestle with.

The on-field problems

Injuries to Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando, and the lack of form by Vaas, Sri Lanka’s best bowlers, were key factors that affected on-field performances, enabling the opposition to run away with match-winning totals. When the side is aware that the bowling attack available is threadbare, naturally, it puts further pressure on the batsmen. Probably it affected skipper Jayasuriya more than anybody else. Maybe in a Test match, if a side is placed in this situation, it would make the specialist batsmen carry on their duties with a greater amount of circumspection, by "putting their heads down". In One-day cricket however, one simply has to carry on. A difficult situation by any standards.

Not push too many panic buttons

Anyway, what happened in England is now water under the bridge. Let Sri Lanka focus on the World Cup 2003 in South Africa. As Mathew Engel stated in the Wisden Almanack "the South African quicks blew their batsmen away...." Will it be repeated next year when all of the world’s best fast bowlers will be revelling in conditions tailor-made for the fast-bowling fraternity? Preparing fast pitches just prior to a tour is just as futile an exercise as obtaining the services of highly paid specialist coaches to fine-tune seasoned players. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The bowlers, especially, displayed such indisiplined during this tour that it was sometimes pathetic to watch the Sri Lankan bowlers being feasted on by mediocre batsmen. Let the Sri Lankan think-tank now get back to the drawing board and not push too many panic buttons. Playing too many One-day matches would, naturally, affect the ‘edge’ of key players. Going to Morocco, would it help in making the assault on the World Cup? But, then cricket today is an industry, and the players make pots of money so they do not complain. Makes me laugh when a former senior player comes on TV and talks of the sacrifices he has made playing cricket for the country!

Until politics polluted the scene

In 1999 after the debacle in the World Cup, the Interim Committee headed by Rienzie Wijetilleke, made some drastic changes that paid immediate results. The underlying thread in that successful manoeuvre was the accent being on youth. Deadwood was cast aside and a refreshing atmosphere created for the players to get on with the job of playing cricket, while the Interim Committee got on with theirs - until politics polluted the scene.

Best left to pasture

With the World Cup 2003 just a few months away? Sri Lanka cannot afford to be like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland - "off with their heads" - and make drastic changes. The World Cup is a competition for the experienced player where pressure plays a big part. It is not a time nor a place for experimentation. The impending South African and the Australian tours would certainly help to get the final combination right but I sincerely hope some facile performances against the Bangladeshis by those best left to pasture would not earn a recall to the tougher duels ahead.