By Pelham Juriansz - The Friday's News Paper
The Sri Lankan team left for Kangaroo land on Tuesday to participate in two Test matches. It is true that Mahela and Muthiah won two awards bringing fame to Sri Lanka but if Sri Lanka’s batting form is anything to go by, then the think-thank has a lot to worry about. At the press conference before departing for Aussie territory Mahela said that the bowling is great and the batting is good. Well, if the recently concluded English tour is anything to go by, the batting is anything but good. In fact, it is downright awful. With the late, somewhat controversial decision to send former skipper Marvan Atapattu into the Lions den, or should I say ‘Kangaroo territory’, the batting on paper or psychologically seems to be strengthened. It is yet to be seen as to how Marvan would perform after such a long lay-off, thanks no doubt to some hot-headed decisions made by the man in charge of selection.Going back home as it were is Trevor Bayliss, who has never looked at ease in Sri Lanka despite all reports to the contrary. He too, at the Press Conference underlined the fact that Sri Lanka’s bowling or ‘bawling’ as he calls it, is the best in the world. It is Bayliss’ first Test series abroad and one really wonders whether he is throwing the Sri Lankan Lions into Kangaroo territory or sending Lambs to the slaughter. The manner in which the top order in the Sri Lankan outfit fared against England leaves much to be desired.
Bayliss, 44, a former New South Wales batsman who went on to coach them, was appointed as Sri Lanka’s national coach for a two-year term beginning in August. His first one-day series ended in Sri Lanka going down 3-2 to England. But of course one- day cricket is a different kettle of fish.
Let’s look at our Test record in Aussie-land. Sri Lanka has a poor record in Australia. They have lost six of the eight Tests played Down Under. The Sri Lankans would be hoping that Muttiah Muralitharan would be fully fit for the two-Test series, starting on November 8. Murali was ruled out of the one-dayers against England due to a bicep injury. He has a chance of breaking Shane Warne’s record as the leading wicket-taker in Tests.
Dramatic turn-around
Sri Lanka’s poor record in Australia is due to the fact that they have struggled with the extra pace and bounce on the wickets on previous tours. But the home side will take the field in a Test for the first time since the retirements of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, while Jayawardene feels there is time to adjust to conditions before the opening encounter at Brisbane on November 8. In a dramatic about-turn Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been included in the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of Australia following a request made by the sports minister Gamini Lokuge.
Atapattu joins the team as the fourth opener - alongside Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Michael van Dort - increasing the tour party to 17 players. Atapattu was originally selected in the squad on the belief that he met the national selection committee and thrashed out his problems. But Atapattu refused to attend as long as Ashantha de Mel was the chief selector.
The matter was then taken up by Lokuge who summoned the national selectors and the hierarchy of Sri Lanka Cricket to sort out the issue. The outcome of the meeting was that the minister spoke to Atapattu and persuaded him to tour Australia and he was included in the team.
Atapattu’s return to the national team marks the end of a six month or so ordeal which began with the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean where he, although being a member of the team, was not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches in the tournament. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and when the selectors named him for the home Tests against Bangladesh, Atapattu pulled out saying that he was not mentally prepared to play Test cricket.
Atapattu then wanted Sri Lanka Cricket to release him from his central contract and went on to play a season of league cricket in England with Lashings. He was subsequently left out of the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament and the recently concluded one-day series against England.
The 37-year-old veteran, who has the support of Sri Lanka’s sports minister, was added almost two weeks after the initial 16-man squad was announced.
Atapattu was not named in the original line-up despite chief selector Asantha de Mel saying the batsman’s experience would be useful on the two-Test Australian tour.
The opener last played a Test in 2005 and did not feature during this year’s World Cup. He has scored 5,330 runs in 88 Tests and 8,529 runs in 268 one-day internationals.
Atapattu had earlier lashed out at the selectors, saying he had no faith in them although he planned to play for at least two more years.
Touring ‘Down Under’
Meanwhile, a small crowd watched Sri Lanka’s cricketers leave for Australia on a cloudy morning last Tuesday but the uncertainty of what to expect ‘Down Under’ was clearly visible as skipper Mahela Jayawardene and his predecessor Marvan Atapattu, an unprecedented late inclusion, cautioned that the tour was too important to let petty issues get in the way.
The present and the former captains followed the usual send-off tying holy threads around their wrists as they guarded against uttering anything that would add to an already uneasy feeling apparent among players in the tour party.
Jayawardene chose to stay away from the unsavoury circumstances covering the recall of Atapattu but said on-field issues should take precedence over politics. Among the gathering to see the team off was Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge who virtually imposed Atapattu on the squad in a move that took everyone by surprise.
But Atapattu pleaded that he be given a chance to put back the events leading to his re-entry for a Test series after more than two years.
It will certainly be a make or break tour for the 37-year old Atapattu or what is left of his 16-year career. He has never played a Test since December 2005 and his every move on tour is likely to be followed by critics and promoters alike as Sri Lanka take on Australia in what is arguably the closest the team could come to winning a Test in Australia after four unsuccessful tours and eight attempts in 19 years since 1988, when Ranjan Madugalle, the present Chief Match Referee skippered the team. Since then six of the eight Tests have been lost.
Sri Lanka has just two three-day preparation games to test and put the best 11 players together ahead of the first Test in Brisbane which is alien territory for nearly the entire side that includes the 38-year old veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya who could see himself making his last Test appearance in Australia.
On the last Test tour of Australia in 2004, Jayasuriya was a lost cause with 21 as his top score in four innings.
Jayawardene said the two side games, the first of which is against the Australian Academy in Adelaide beginning on Saturday, will serve as virtual trials for picking the playing eleven for the two Tests.
Squad: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Michael van Dort, Marvan Atapattu, Chamara Silva, Jehan Mubarak, Fervez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Chanaka Welagedera, Muttiah Muralitheran, Malinga Bandara, Prasanna Jayawardena and Thilan Samaraweera.
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