I think this XI proves that
I think this XI proves that we are still too young as a test playing nation to be chosing an all time test XI.

At least 50 years as a test playing nation are needed before an all time XI should be chosen.

ur blog iz lyk a giant txt
ur blog iz lyk a giant txt msg…m getn a hedake readn it.

 that’s got to be one of the
 that’s got to be one of the worst LBW I’ve ever seen

 There’s a few on
 There’s a few on cricinfo:

http://www.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/current/ground/434211.html

Selfless Act
Thank you Mahela, for your reign as captain of our nation’s cricket team – for most of us, including myself, you will go down as our finest in our 30, or so, years of international cricket.  It was a selfless act to resign your post when there are other, more pressing concerns that have contributed to our current position on the world cricket stage. 

Hilal, thanks for your insightful and brilliantly written post mortem of Jayawardene’s captaincy.

The stats
Tests: 26 matches, 15 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws;    19 matches, 8 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws minus Bangladesh
ODIs: 94 matches, 54 wins, 35 losses, 5 no result;    63 matches, 27 wins, 31 losses, 5 NR against the 7 major nations

I was a little surprised when cricinfo’s statsguru revealed the above numbers, especially MJ’s captaincy record against major nations – 50% winning record give or take a few points.  It’s probably reflective of the roller coaster ride that we have endured during his tenure – starting with a 2-0 ODI home defeat v Pakistan, and ending with 4-1 ODI home defeat v India, a sour home ODI defeat to England sprinkled with moments of great success, including being World Cup finalists and the Asia Cup champions.   As of today, he has retained or regained test trophies against India, England, South Africa and the West Indies.  Missing from the cupboard are trophies against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan, the later of which he may be holding in the coming weeks.  To have 4, and potentially 5, out 7 test trophies is, for me, one of the great testaments to his captaincy.  It is why I regret that he has chosen to hand over both the ODI and test captaincy – I would have liked to see him keep the test role.  

As Hilal has pointed out, his captaincy and the team’s performance has been undermined by Ranatunga’s inept administration, and of those that preceeded Arjuna, including the selectors referred to so aptly as muppets by Marvan A.   I sometimes think that he didn’t do enough to shelter his players from these nuisances, but quite possibly, Ranatunga’s constant attempts to impose his will on the players were inescapable. 

—– to be continued tomorrow —–

Great article

Great article Damith. 

Unfortunately world cricket is unofficially broken into 3 tiers in terms of bums on seats: Australia, India, South Africa, and England at the top; Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, in the middle; and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the bottom.  The West Indies, which were certainly considered a tier 1 team in 70s and 80s, have found themselves in this second tier as a result of consistent failure over the last 15 years.

Sri Lanka is no longer the crowd puller that it was in the mid-late 90s, when the brand of cricket we played was fresh, exciting, aggressive and fearless. Case in point: World Series Cup 95/96 Australian summer – Sri Lanka with it’s soon to be world champion ODI team filled stadiums across the country, including 45,000 at the MCG for a Tuesday night group game, followed by 72,000 two days later (the 10th highest ODI crowd at the MCG and 2nd highest in the 90s);  Last summer, Sri Lanka drew 29,000 and 22,000 for its two MCG ODIs (India drew about 50,000 for its MCG ODI .  

Cricket Australia schedules the major crowd pullers to play the Boxing Day and New Years tests. Again using the West Indies as a reference, in the 70s, 80s and 90s they were regular boxing day test contestants.  Now they are relegated to the start of Aussie summer.

It should be noted that we are the only major test playing nation not to have won a test match in Australia. (I understand we have only been playing tests for just under three decades).  When we address this then and can win here regularly we will be assured of securing the MCG and SCG test everytime we visit Australia.  Further, continued test success will hopefully ensure that instead of being entre to the main course in the English summer, we can reverse that and play 4 test series there.

We are next scheduled to visit Australia in the 2012/13 summer, which is when South Africa is also due to visit.  The good news is that, by all reports, South Africa insist that they will no longer play the boxing day and new years tests in Oz because it clashes with their cricket season – maybe we will get those two tests by default – let’s hope!