Mahinda Wijesinghe
Having crushed South Africa by 93-runs and gaining a bonus point into the bargain, Sri Lanka swept to the top of the table after the first round in the Morocco Cup at Tangiers.

Just imagine, skipper Sanath Jayasuriya bringing on leg-spinner Upul Chandana before Muralitharan! The champion off-spinner was brought on only in the 24th over of the South African innings and when the game ended he still had 2 overs left in his kitty. Indicates how much the Sri Lankans dominated the game from the time the South Africans went to bat. The Proteas seemed just like the proverbial rabbit caught in the headlights as they slumped to 131/7 in the 32nd over, and skipper Jayasuriya, with three quick wickets, wiped the tail off and mercifully ended their misery with 5 overs still remaining. One must also not forget the crucial contributions made by Dilhara Fernando in capturing two vital wickets, and of course Muralitharan who continues to weave his deadly spell on the opposition.

The good news.......

From the batting angle, Aravinda de Silva (73* in 84 balls with 4 fours) spearheaded the batting with an intelligent piece of batsmanship after openers Jayasuriya (49) and Atapattu (35) put on 84 runs by the 17th over, while Sangakkara (41) and Jayawardena (32) too made their presence felt. Though the last three batsmen could not go on to make a big score, a total of 267/7 against a brilliant fielding side like the South Africans in a ODI game is a no mean feat. That is the good news.

........... and the bad

Now for the other side of the coin or the bad news. It was the pitch that contributed to the ultimate defeat of the South Africans. There is no question, the pitch suddenly played low and slow in the afternoon, and the South Africans, notoriously weak against spin, simply caved in. ( Let us see how the Pakistanis cope with the Lankan spinners on Saturday). In any event, all these tournaments are considered side-shows before the big one, namely the World Cup 2003 in South Africa. What would be the pitches like for the big event? It is no secret that the pitches in South Africa are, in general, bouncy and fast, and in all probability, the conditions during the World Cup would not be any different. The Sri Lankans are due to tour not only South Africa but also Australia before the World Cup. The pitches in Australia, except perhaps the Sydney pitch, favour the fastmen. In other words, the preparation Sri Lanka has had so far, by playing Bangladesh in Sri Lanka and the triangular ODI tournament in Tangiers - now that the pitch in Morocco does not favour pace and bounce - for the more arduous jobs of competing in South Africa, Australia and the World Cup, appears totally inadequate.

A closer look at our batting

Now let us look more closely at our batting line-up. Jayasuriya blazes away but still continues to give it away by slashing outside the off-stump with monotonous regularity. The opposition merely plays the waiting game and often he obliges, but that is his style. Yet, he does come off and when he does... Marvan Atapattu, the stylist, is the anchor around whom most of the Lankan innings have been built and has been doing yeoman service despite some of the corny remarks made by a TV commentator during the game against South Africa at Tangiers. In addition to comments about Atapattu not scoring fast enough at one stage of his innings, he began waxing eloquent about the explosive feats of his favourite opener, ‘Kaloo’, in Australia. Ian Healy the former Australian wicket-keeper now turned TV commentator - and a balanced one at that - who played in that series put him right and exploded the myth this TV commentator was trying to perpetuate. Sangakkara is a very talented player, a stroke-maker and a batsman who makes the scoreboard move fast. Can he bat at No.3 in the ODI’s? Probably by the time the World Cup comes round Sangakkara should be fit and ready to play in this pivotal role.

When a World Cup was lost

Mahela Jayawardena, the jewel in the crown of Sri Lanka batting, seems suffering from a bit of ‘nerves’ after being subjected to criticism for his injudicious stroke-play against the Bangladeshis having played the controversial reverse-sweep with disastrous results. Jayawardena played the stroke against the lowly Bangladeshis when little mattered - the series was not at stake - and paid the price. Look what England skipper Mike Gatting did in the 1987-88 Reliance World Cup Final at Calcutta. Replying an Australian total of 253/5 in 50 overs, England were well on course, at last, to become World Cup champions. As the Wisdom Almanack reported:

"England, 135/2 after 31 overs, and with Australia beginning to show disarray in the field were then almost on target. But in a moment too crass to contemplate, Gatting handed back the initiative. To Border’s first ball the England captain attempted to play a reverse sweep" and it ended in wicket-keeper Dyer’s gloves. Finally, England lost the World Cup final by 7 runs! So, let us not be too harsh on Jayawardena. He can turn a match on its head with his unique style of batting, as he has done many a time. Sometimes he may fail, that is how genius works. Put clamps on his natural style and you will have a robot.

Can Sri Lanka afford to have two anchors?

Now we come to the all-important role of Aravinda de Silva. He was first recalled in order to bolster the middle batting, or so the Selectors said. Then, in the Pakistan match he was ‘demoted’ behind Upul Chandana and Russell Arnold. I wonder why? I am afraid, it is mv view that de Silva, now in the autumn of his career, cannot perform in the manner of outstanding No.6 batsmen, who must have the ability to hit boundaries and sixes quickly, of the calibre of a Michael Bevan, Abdur Razzaq, Younis Khan, Chris Cairns or even an Andy Flintoff for that matter. Against the South Africans, the 37-year old veteran came in at No. 4, his usual position in the order, and using all of his experience hit a mere 4 boundaries in his 84-ball knock in compiling 73 runs. That is not a bad rate of scoring at all in a limited-overs game. Problem is, can Sri Lanka afford to have Atapattu and de Silva as anchors in the batting line-up? And, one must also remember that de Silva, as opposed to Atapattu, is certainly not an asset on the field. Also with de Silva at the crease, there were more than one occasion when running between the wickets seemed strained. There were singles that could have been converted into twos, singles that were not snatched and so on. This type of situation can affect the morale and unnecessary pressure brought on to the other batsmen, something that was discernible in the game against South Africa. Hopefully, the selectors will weigh the situation as time goes on.

The first electronic scoreboard in Sri Lanka

News has reached me that D. S. Senanayake College has installed an electronic scoreboard at their grounds. This is the first of its type in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is the only Test-playing nation in the world that can boast of having hosted Test matches in not less than four venues (SSC, CCC, P. Sara stadium, R. Premadasa stadium) in one city while a fifth (Moratuwa stadium) is in the suburbs. Yet, not one Test venue has an electronic scoreboard though a relatively new school has one. Seems a bit incongruous to say the least. In England for instance, all Test grounds have electronic scoreboards, as do all county grounds and some of the bigger league/club grounds. It is a pity that Cricket Board officials do visit overseas when our teams go on tour but do not cotton on to these basic conditions found in those countries. It was also interesting to meet the man behind the electronic scoreboard at DSS college, Piyal Samarasinghe, who is more an electronics wizard than a cricket enthusiast. Well done Piyal and DSS college.

Galle can steal a march on Colombo

Hopefully, now that the Galle stadium is to be redeveloped at a cost of some Rs. 50M and a new scoreboard installed, maybe Galle can steal a march on Colombo and have the first electronic scoreboard at a Test venue in Sri Lanka!