Fernando says: ``Above all, if Sri Lanka is to remain the Kings of World Cricket and stay ahead of emerging challengers like S. Africa and India, we must shed the view that the same team which won the 1996 World Cup must play in the 1999 World Cup in England. Nothing could be more disastrous. Each player in the team to play in 1999 from top to bottom must prove his worth again and again.
``After the 1992 World Cup, I presided over the emergence of Romesh, Murali, Vaas, Marvan, Dharmasena and Pushpakumara. Who has emerged since the 1996 World Cup?'' Good question.
The author traces rather briefly the history of the game in the country from 1832 to 1980 and the first decade in Test cricket from 1981-1992, in the first two chapters of the book.
The third chapter onwards traces Sri Lanka's successful path towards winning the 1996 World Cup.
The author claims : ``The foundation for Sri Lanka's World Cup victory in 1996 was laid with the famous six tours to Sri Lanka in 1992 and 1993 - Australia, New Zealand, England, India, South Africa and West Indies. Playing against six nations in the two years - which had never happened before - gave the team, rocklike experience in international competition''.
The author was during the period the president of the Cricket Board.
The book traces the author's close connections with South African Cricket Board managing director and International Cricket Council (ICC) development committee chairman Dr. Ali Bacher, who has written the preface. It also includes some humorous off the field incidents which makes it a laudable publication for a price of Rs. 150.
For instance, the author recounts how he got Asanka Gurusinha a pair of contact lenses, and in another chapter, how he taught Sanath Jayasuriya some phrases to counter sledging by the South Africans.
The critical aspects of the book are that some of the Sri Lankan cricketer's names are misspelt, the black and white pictures that adorn the publication are of poor quality, and that Shane Warne did not make his debut as a spinner in Test cricket in the SSC match of 1992 (In fact, he came to Sri Lanka having played in two Tests against India and figures of one for 228).
Otherwise, it is a most welcome publication in a period where there is a dearth for such material in book form.