Can Sri Lanka bounce back in a week?
Pat Symcox - 14 November 2002
What a weekend of mixed emotions for those who followed the fortunes of South African sport over the past weekend. The thrashing of the Springboks by France was almost too much to comprehend. It was a bloody nightmare. Thankfully the Proteas more than made up for the rugby failure by giving Sri Lanka such a hiding that I cannot see how they can recover within a week.
At a time when all teams are building for the World Cup in South Africa this display by Sri Lanka must certainly be very worrisome for their Coach. Once again the bounce and lateral movement found in South Africa was just too much for them to handle. When one considers that they are often spoken about as serious contenders to the title only then does one realize how much of an advantage South Africa has by playing at home. The inadequacies within their techniques are almost an impossible task to overcome within such a short space of time. Looking towards the second Test, the Sri Lankans management has plenty of homework to do. It was quite obvious that the very basics of the game were ignored by some of their players and this was compounded by them attempting to play certain players out of their regular positions in hope that it would bring success that very rarely happens against top class teams.
Russell Arnold at the top of the order has had no form since arriving in South Africa and he is out of his depth. The Captain Jayasuria, has moved himself down the order in an attempt to get away from the seam and bounce that South African bowlers get on good pitches, but this tactic has backfired. He needs to lead from the front and get in there in the heat of battle and take his responsibility. Somehow I don't think he wants it.
As far as the bowling attack is concerned, Perriera will battle to overcome the problem of running on the pitch in a week and Fernando (the no ball man!) must feel like getting on a plane back to Colombo. He probably still keeps hearing someone shouting "no ball" in his ear even after four days. These are basic disciplines and when they are ignored failure is the only guarantee. The only ace they have is Muralli and on pitches that are not made to spin before the Test even starts, he has to perform a duel role of keeping runs down as well as taking wickets and unfortunately this is very foreign to him. It was clear that the Proteas don't fear his spin or even his straighter delivery and somehow he will need to find a way to counteract that. His display with the bat, albeit at number ten, clearly showed a lack of guts and a willingness to take the Proteas on for his country. Any South African or Australian that displayed his lack of fight would be booted out on his ear so fast that it wouldn't be funny. Their coach is an Aussie and it must hurt to see this happen and have no control over it. The Test that starts on Friday will be a significant one for the Sri Lankans, as it could further lower their confidence going into the one day matches and if this happens and they get a further hiding, they may have run their World Cup race before it even starts.
It is always nice to see the Poms getting a hiding be it in cricket, rugby or soccer and their display in their first Ashes Test was very predictable. They are very good at talking about winning but never seeing it through. Now Hussain is leaving his team to go home on maternity leave and the management believes he needs the break. I wonder if he will go back!
The news that Cullinan and the UCB seem to have patched up their differences is good news for cricket in South Africa. The game is always bigger than any organization or player and we now need to move on and put the whole saga to bed. No doubt players like McKenzie, Prince and van Jaarsveld will be disappointed with their performances against Sri Lanka and with the wealth of talent around, will feel the need to make contributions as quickly as possible. Spare a thought for Gibbs, who must have gone through some mental anguish knowing that he has form and just could not get on the park.
Kallis was magnificent with both bat and ball and he showed again why he is the most valuable cricketer in the world today.
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