Sports

Sports

ANOTHER TOUGH GRIND AHEAD
By Ranil Abeynaike
Cricketers of most test playing nations are crying out that the playing demands are too tough to handle. What the correct balance is the difficult question. Administrators want to push the players to earn as much money as they could. They do consider the wear and tear on the players but in the end they will want their “pound of flesh”.

After a very quiet first half in 2005 the Sri Lankan team has been battered and bruised in five different countries since July of last year. Now they are about to embark on a tour of England and on the way back play two games against Holland too!

The first thing about a tour is that whilst it is a very professional exercise, it must be enjoyable too. Should the team be winning then that becomes more natural. A classic example was the recently concluded test match in Kandy. It was a rare occasion when the two teams and the commentators stayed at the same hotel. At the end of day one with Sri Lanka on 267 for 8 wickets the players were all over the place – in the restaurant, around the pool area, in the snooker room.

They were pretty happy and relaxed. On day two after everything went horribly wrong not one of the players to be seen – all had retired to their rooms and sulking! Clearly there was a swing of moods.

This also becomes the first issue for the management team. Quite naturally according to the team’s and individual’s performances moods will change. But it must not swing to extremes. It often reflects the performance on the field. A balanced pre and post match discipline is as important as a total commitment of the field.

England must be the toughest challenge, in terms of mastering conditions are concerned. Teams from the sub continent will find it even more difficult than the other nations. In case it happens to be the first part of the season the assignment is even more difficult. That, in fact is what the Sri Lankans will have to face up to. Pakistan go there during the second half and have got the benefit of a warmer climate.

Preparation for an overseas tour is of immense importance. Fail to prepare and be prepared to fail! The ideal way to go for the Sri Lankans is to have a pre camp in Radella. The conditions are superb at this time of the year to prepare for England.

Unfortunately, the ground and pitches are not maintained well enough to offer the required facilities for national team training. It is a real pity as many years ago international games used to be staged on this ground. The other reason is that players stay away from home so much that another exercise such as this becomes hard on them.

The next alternative is to simulate pitch conditions as much as possible to be similar to what will be experienced. Often players desire to opt for the best possible batting conditions. Practicing at the SSC nets offers them just that. In general it is good to practice on surfaces which has true bounce and pace, but the objective here is different.

Work at playing the moving ball – that should be the objective. Pitches must be prepared leaving some fresh grass. Not too much and there should be no grass strands or runners on the surface. Just the leaf blade, to offer the quick bowlers adequate lateral movement. There aren’t too many days for preparation but each day must be made use of. So too the couple of weeks available in England before the first test match.

A well earned rest and time to reflect on an unsuccessful one day and test series against Pakistan, is now coming to an end. Now it is time to re-do time to pick up the pieces and time to look to the future. It will be the toughest eleven weeks that all the selected players will face, even the most seasoned campaigners – Atapattu, Jayawardane, Muralitharan, Vaas and Sangakkara!

Top