By The Line Judge

Cricket fever has once again gripped Sri Lanka with the arrival of the reigning T20 world champions Australia who clinically thrashed the hosts in the opening two matches at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, to wrap up the three-match series. Despite the economic gloom in the country, tickets for the T20 went like hot cakes with cricket fans lining up to get a ringside view of the action.

Much to the disappointment of local fans who were desperately seeking something positive to cheer about, the prima donnas of the sport failed to deliver, surrendering tamely against the mighty Aussies. The visitors proved that a gulf exists between the two sides despite the proud boast of the Lankans before the T20 clashes,  which is a harbinger for the World Cup to be held this year Down Under.

Sri Lanka cricket was expected to turn a new leaf with the arrival of former England coach Chris Silverwood, but despite a promising start the national team flattered to deceive devoted fans of the sport once again.

Sri Lanka cricket has been at sixes and sevens ever since the departure of head coach Mickey Arthur, whose contract was not renewed by the powers that be after he steered the ship during one of the most turbulent times for the national team.

Arthur took over a struggling outfit from previous coach Chandika Hathurusingha in the first week of December 2019, and despite having his work cut out with the outbreak of COVID-19, gradually rebuilt the national side in all three formats – Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. There was some semblance of sanity when it came to Test cricket under the leadership of Dimuth Karunaratne, but in the shorter formats, Sri Lanka was like a headless chicken with the disastrous experiment of promoting Kusal Janith Perera to lead the ODI and T20 teams before Dasun Shanaka was reinstated ahead of the World T20 Cup held in UAE last year.

It was Arthur who transformed Sri Lanka into a fighting unit by bringing uniformity into selection for the white ball format. After Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) dilly-dallied with extending his contract, Arthur had the last laugh before signing off to go to Derbyshire after the cricket gave him a memorable farewell by winning the two Tests against West Indies.

SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said they were anyway going to do the evaluations of the coaching staff at the end of the T20 World Cup. “That was a process that we commenced. When you go through the process it takes time and Mickey (Arthur) was approached by Derbyshire, and he opted to go with it because he wanted confirmation from us and we couldn’t give him a 100% commitment whether for him to go ahead with something which he had in hand, rather than wait till we get back to him,” he said.

The process of choosing Arthur’s successor became like a circus comedy with SLC honchos showing their preference for former coaches Graham Ford and Paul Farbrace despite advertising for the post. But SLC was left high and dry when both these candidates snubbed the Sri Lanka job forcing the management to turn to former Sri Lanka all-rounder Rumesh Ratnayake once again as a stop-gap measure. Ratnayake was appointed interim coach for the series against Zimbabwe, India, and the tour of Australia for a five-match T20 series in February.

In comes Silverwood who was without a job after his role as England coach after the 4-0 Test Ashes series loss to Australia earlier this year. He took over the reins as head coach before the two-Test series against Bangladesh. The Englishman is the eighth permanent head appointed by Sri Lanka in the past 10 years aside from interim appointments.

The acid test was the home series against Australia, which graciously agreed to go ahead with the six-week tour amid an economic crisis, to play three Twenty20s, five one-day internationals and two Test matches with the proceeds to be donated to the public welfare initiatives. SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said they were grateful to Cricket Australia and the Australian government for supporting this series. “These are tough times for our people,” he said. SLC has already donated Rs 2 million to the health sector to buy essential medicines.

Cricket has provided a brief reprieve for Sri Lankans, who are facing a devastating economic crisis but there was no respite when the Australian juggernaut took the field on Tuesday (7) despite a brief period of dominance when Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, and Charith Asalanka gave them the perfect start. But from 100 for one in the 12th over, Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for 28 runs to be skittled for 128 with Australia chasing down the target without losing a wicket and six overs to spare. The visitors wrapped up the series with a three-wicket wicket win the following day in a low-scoring game.

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka proudly boasted that they have a ‘world-class’ attack with the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, and Matheesha Pathirana, who featured in the IPL last season. But T20 is a batsman’s game and when the top batters such as Bhanuka Rajapakse fail to fire, even the best bowling attack can do little to defend a modest total.

“I want the Sri Lankan flair, I want the boys to express themselves,” said the 47-year-old Englishman after taking up the challenge. “It’s not rocket science.”

It is still early days for Silverwood but he must keep in mind that his employers want instant results if he wants to retain his job. Fans may be returning to the stadium but they may vent their frustration on the cricketers if they don’t perform. Sri Lanka’s cricketers desperately need to lift their game to turn around the fortunes of a bankrupt nation looking to cling on to something to cheer.

-ENCL