All Sri Lankans are eagerly looking forward to the World Cricket Cup Tournament which will commence on 14th February this year. Every Sri Lankan cricket fan expect our lads to bring the Cup to our country. As an ardent cricket lover that is my wish too! When you look at the team our country has [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Winning the world cup is an arduous task

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All Sri Lankans are eagerly looking forward to the World Cricket Cup Tournament which will commence on 14th February this year. Every Sri Lankan cricket fan expect our lads to bring the Cup to our country. As an ardent cricket lover that is my wish too!

When you look at the team our country has you will see that it is the most experienced side of all. Most of our players have played over 150 O.D.I.s. So our lads have sufficient knowledge to the game that will deliver the goods. Hopefully, they will rise to the occasion when it comes to the test. However, it is not going to be easy for Sri Lanka. Most of the time our team has shown its superiority in Sri Lanka. Indeed, there is no difficulty for any team to carry all before them on their own soil. However, you face the real test when you have to play away from your country, especially when pitches and ground conditions are not familiar to you.

At present our team is in New Zealand and our performance there has been bleak. The Kiwis have treated our bowlers like ordinary schoolboys. Our fielding has not been up to the mark. When chasing totals we have lost wickets at regular intervals and surrendered matches to our opponents. We have not seen any fight backs. Having played there for some time now, the reality of our bad performance forces us to seriously think about what will happen when we play in Australia. Even with a strong team our chance of winning there is a ‘pipe dream’. When looked at from every angle it seems that out task is very difficult. However, if our team can click together then we can do it. Our player must realize that the other teams will not hand the World Cup to us on a silver platter. Every country which comes to Australia will want its name engraved on the prestigious World Cricket Cup. Our players should understand that.

If our lads are to win this cricket ‘plum’, then there should be a plan and they must give their best to the team. When batting all have to contribute their share to the total. We cannot depend exclusively on one or two players if Sri Lanka wants to win matches. The team has to score at least 300 runs in order to make a fight of each game. And our bowlers have to restrict our opponents to less than 250 runs. Then our batsmen can comfortably reach the target.

At present our star bowler, Lasith Malinga, is injured. Even if he recovers before the tournament can he still deliver the goods? Our captain, Angelo Matthews, is also not fit. All hope that he will be O.K. very soon. When you analyse all these factors, it is clear that winning this tournament will not be a bed of roses for us. Every player must play his role to the utmost with courage and determination. Only then will we have a chance of bringing the World Cup to our Mother Lanka. Along with all Sri Lankans I wish the very best to our cricket heroes.
Rev. Bro. Nimal Gurusinghe F.S.C.

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