A MAJESTIC unbeaten innings of 153 meant for CRICKETING ROYALTY by a former ROYALIST was showcased at Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa by KUSAL JANITH PERERA. He made mincemeat out of the much hyped South African pace attack to lead Sri Lanka to an unbelievable one wicket victory in the First of Two Tests on Saturday.
When Sri Lanka were 226 for 9, still needing 78 runs to chalk up a victory which would be best described as a CRICKETING MIRACLE if it did happen, it pointed out to another defeat that has become synonymous with our cricket in recent times.
PERERA with the traits of former ‘Black Superman’ of cricket Sanath Jayasuriya played an innings Jayasuriya style that left the South Africans bewildered as he toyed with whatever the SA bowlers could bowl at him.
PERERA’S breathtaking knock will be classed with the best knock in the history of the game, because he performed a feat of getting 78 for victory with only last man Vishwa Fernando to lean on for support. This unbroken last wicket stand is what cricketing miracles are made of.
When this superman knock of 153 not out is spoken about, especially in this historic and memorable triumph, it will be good to recall that it was former Royal cricketer Chulaka Amerasinghe who spotted this cricketing genius. Chulaka predicted that a lucrative future was there for the asking if he continued the game seriously.
And with this classic knock, he has confirmed Amerasinghe’s predictions. Our wish is that PERERA continues playing the way in the manner born and that the ball is there to be hit and not poked at. Aggressiveness is his style and he must motor that way on the cricketing highway.
It would be an injustice if we do not also give credit to last man Vishwa Fernando for standing up and not cringing at the pace missiles sent down by Steyn, Rabada and Olivier. The three fearsome pacemen were simply reduced to mediocrity.
Incidentally on this historic day was also held the Josephian/Peterite dinner with the ‘Battle the Blues’ close at hand and the happiest man was PERERA’S manager Ravi de Silva who's right hand would have been hurting following the onslaught of congratulatory handshakes.
The fact that this historic Test was led by debutant captain Dimuth Karunaratne should not be lost on us. Karunaratne will always remember his first outing as Sri Lankan captain.
On a tour of Australia with the Sri Lanka cricket team and during a chat with one of Australia’s greatest cricket captains Richie Benaud I asked him what was his secret for success.
He told me: ‘Elmo, captaincy is 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill’. Without in any way detracting from that great win Sri Lanka had, there is also the reality that a certain amount of luck played out in this equation.
Injuries to our fast bowlers
Looking at the world cricket scene, and while injuries to cricketers are a part and parcel of the game, what is inexplicable is the injuries that our pack of fast bowlers tend to suffer when on tour.
Admittedly fast bowling is an arduous exploit. With a lot of constant running in to bowl it can wear out a bowler.
But what keeps them motivated is when they claim wickets. However, at times when fast bowlers get among the wickets, captains tend to persist with them. This is where a Captain's judgmental and tactical capacity is put to the test
Unlike a spin bowler who runs in only a few steps to deliver, fast bowlers need to run in fast to gain momentum to deliver the ball at high velocity at times clocking 140 kilo metres per hour like Kemar Roach, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada now do.
To continue to bowl fast, fast bowlers especially need to be more than 100 per cent fit. They must train hard, have s set schedule and work at their fitness closely monitored by their coach and physio.
Sri Lanka’s fast men at this time are not that strong in physique and are not up to full fitness. And so suffering injury and having to skip matches and upset team strategy on tours does not come as a surprise.
In recent times Sri Lanka have fielded as many as seven fast bowlers who tend to suffer hamstring, back strain or stress fractures and are forced to stay out.
This clearly upsets the bowling attack and puts the onus on the captain and the team that must continue in the game with a bowler or two short.
Here are the list of fast bowlers fielded by Sri Lanka in recent Test series – Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha, Vishva Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, and Charnika Karunaratne.
In fast bowling a basic is that the bowler must always get the opening batsmen to play the ball. But what is inexplicable and unacceptable is that our fast men instead of getting the batsmen to play the new ball keep spraying it outside the off stump and unreachable and the openers are happy to not offer a shot but let the ball go and watch its movement.
In the recent Test series against Australia, Sri Lanka was forced to give the new ball to the second string pacemen in Vishva Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Charnika Karunaratne. This would have upset strategy and put the Coach and Caption in an unenviable position.
Playing at top level the Sri Lankan coaching staff must take responsibility for the fast men always breaking down.
The fast bowling coach especially has a responsible job to perform. We don’t fault Rumesh Ratnayake the bowling coach who was one if not the finest fast bowler produced by the country. Ratnayake we are sure must be mentoring the pacemen. It is up to the pacemen to do their thing and manage themselves keeping themselves fit.
By the way play a straight bat and enjoy life now. It has an expiry date on it.
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