“Are you watching the game tonight?”
“Of course. Finally a game you want to see, right? It’s been a while.”
As night fell in Sri Lanka, televisions were turned on, families enthusiastically gathered in their living rooms, images from screens flooded social media, along with wishes for good luck, directed at player accounts. cricket.
Did the island really get that nervous at the beginning of the West Indies Test series? No. Not even a little bit. No way.
While the men’s national team has been criticized in all formats in Antigua, it is Sri Lanka’s “Legends” team, which plays the Road Safety Series in India, that has captured the nation’s affection for the past two weeks: Tillakaratne Dilshan produced those breezy yet brutal entries at the top of the order, Rangana Herath sending out cheap and reliable overs, Sanath Jayasuriya deploying that monstrous shot once again, his fans at home falling headfirst into nostalgia, in ever-distant memories of what Sri Lankan cricket made them feel once.
As the national party proper lost the T20I and ODI series to the West Indies, the narrative was inescapable. “Aiyo, who’s wanting to see those useless guys more, men? I bet if our team of legends played them, they’d still win.” This is almost certainly false, and probably unfair to members of the current Sri Lankan national team, but these are nonetheless the kind of conversations that were taking place across the island. “What’s the point of our cricket?” “Uff, do you remember when we were good?”
As Sri Lanka collapsed on opening day in Antigua, stumbling to its third under-200 score in three Tests, the national frustrations with this team can only have been exacerbated. Comparisons with the past are more embarrassing. Sri Lanka’s total of 169 was its second-lowest first-inning score in the Caribbean. This team had also recorded the lowest, essentially, in 2018, although the fast bowlers had recovered and won that game in Barbados.
Across the batting order there were signs of decline. Dinesh Chandimal, the most experienced member of the middle order, has not reached a hundred tests since that 2018 tour of the West Indies. You can argue that this is partly because they dumped you in 2019, perhaps unfairly, but this in itself is a problem.
The Sri Lankan national team in the last five years has at times been dysfunctional to the point of being ridiculous, the selectors reeling from player to player, throwing batters at random, only to quickly throw them back when they miss. Then new selectors come in and follow the same routine, almost invariably with the same group of players.
On Sunday, Chandimal fell behind 4 of 25. He is the only man in the top seven to average more than 40, but that average has been in retreat since 2014 (when he averaged more than 50), and even now his place. in the higher order it does not seem particularly safe, in part because you cannot predict what mood will affect the selectors.
Selectors only need to look at Mendis’ career to realize the pitfalls of pushing young hitters, however talented, into all three formats too early. But does Sri Lankan cricket learn those lessons?
Or even take Lahiru Thirimanne, whose 70 of 180 balls were patient, determined, and the only top-five hit that wasn’t a total flop. Despite all the recent signs that Thirimanne, 31, is changing his game, he still averages under 25 after a staggering 74 innings. It seems highly unlikely that this would have been tolerated in Sri Lanka’s best times.
The likes of Tharanga Paranavitana, Malinda Warnapura and Micheal Vandort averaged over 30 and played fewer tests than Thirimanne (Vandort averaged 36.90 and was last eliminated after 33 innings, at the age of 28). Thirimanne has now played well enough to deserve this run on the team, but his status on this team is largely due to the dearth of competition for that spot.
There are other problems. Niroshan Dickwella hasn’t put together a century after 75 entries; Dhananjaya de Silva has been raised and lowered in order to fill in the frequent gaps that appear; and the absence of Kusal Mendis is a reminder that even the most dazzling natural talents are often wasted by the Sri Lankan system (Mendis was eliminated after a series of ducks in the South Africa and England series).
It’s hard not to worry, too, about the newest member of this batting order: rookie Pathum Nissanka, who has ignited top-notch cricket in recent seasons, amassing an impressive average of over 67, and still got pushed. The Sri Lankan T20I and ODI teams first, despite not having really thrived in the shorter formats domestically. Wasn’t it really thought about letting this 22-year-old settle into the format he prefers, first? Selectors only need to look at Mendis’ career to realize the pitfalls of pushing young hitters, however talented, into all three formats too early. But does Sri Lankan cricket learn those lessons?
There have long been attempts to address the structural issues within Sri Lankan cricket, in particular to make the sadly bloated first-class system more competitive. But none have been successful, as interested trustees have only sought to gain votes in board elections and have painted Sri Lanka’s occasional successes in cricket as proof that the system is working. (This despite Sri Lanka currently ranking 7th in testing, 8th in ODI, and 10th in T20I.)
On Sunday, Sri Lankan fans chose to revel in the nostalgia, and the free-to-air channel that held the rights to the West Indies series chose to broadcast the Sri Lankan Legends match instead of the first session of the Test. . On Monday morning, the island will wake up to an Antigua scorecard suggesting these decisions were justified.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @afidelf
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