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The wheel of fortune and the aging process
By S.R. Pathiravithana
Less than two decades ago there was an awesome scene that was prevalent on the international cricket field. It was none other than the sight of the 'super cat' with his own inimitable personality leading the West Indian powerhouse on to the field. Any cricketer from any other cricketing nation who was in the Test playing club in that era would have rather rubber-like feelings when either bowling or batting against them.

After their debacle against Lilee and Thomson where they lost 5-1 the West Indians regrouped under Clive Lloyd came back with a vengeance with a battery of fast bowlers which included Roberts, Marshall, Holding, Garner and Croft along with a line of batsmen of the calibre of Haynes, Richards, Greenidge, Gomes, Djuon, Logie etc. The result for the next two decades they were on song. West Indies dominated the world cricket like no other country had done before.

The dominance continued, but the cricketers were aging. Lloyd who made his debut in 1966 finally retired in 1984 at the age of 40 with a personal batting average of 46.67 and Richards who continued Lloyd's trend called it a day in 1991 at the age of 39 with a batting average of 50.23.

Did they take too long to close their innings? However the aftermath in West Indian cricket is a tale of woes. In spite of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose limping on till the year 2000 from the 'Golden Era' and retiring at the ages of 38 and 37 respectively and mercurial Brian Lara scoring an in-between huge score today, West Indian cricket is in shambles. What brought this upon? Was it that the 'stars' held up one end or both for too long a period and blocked the way for other youngsters to come in or they just run out of talent? Running out of talent in the West Indies? I, suppose no one will buy that argument!

On the other hand England just a couple of years ago were in the doldrums. One would have shouted 'eureka' and even run naked had they seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Nonetheless today they are right on top even willing call out the Australians for the ashes series next year.

Former England fast bowler Mike Selvey writing the Guardian said 'New players- Rob Key, Ian Bell, and Strauss - come into the set-up confident in their ability to contribute to the side. They expect it and it is expected of them. Even a year ago that might not have been the case.

Most telling though will be the relative ages of the side. The Australians may not last much longer in the current format, for of the side that contested their last Test, against Sri Lanka, not one will be under 30 by the end of the ashes series, not so much of a handicap with the batsmen, but the fielding must suffer, while an aging bowling attack cannot expect to match up to a vibrant young one no matter how canny. In particular the great Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne will be approaching 36.

Of England's bowlers only Ashley Giles will be over 30. In other words England's bowlers to key it all, will be a year closer to their peak. Australia is further away from theirs. How much more closer one can get to the truth?

Purple patch
Coming back home Sri Lankan cricket has hit a new high under the leadership of cool- gutted Marvan Atapattu. For some crooked reason only known to some elements in the cricket hierarchy in Sri Lanka cricket, Marvan got the job in toto.

However, the stark truth is that is he aged by another year before he got the captaincy. At present the Sri Lankan team moves like a well-oiled machine. Everything that do go right because they just doing the right things right now. When they won the Asia Cup they did look team that came from outside to rob the cup from some else. Neither did they look the underdogs having a flash in the pan when they beat the much-fancied South Africa (prior to their landing in the island) comprehensively. However, how long can they keep the momentum going?

At present the average age in the Sri Lankan side is 27.66, thanks to cricketers like Mahroof, Malinga, Lokuarachchi who are in their very early twenties coming into the fold. If you take the average age of our top order batsmen, who include - Marvan (34), Sanath (35), Avishka (27), Mahela (27), Sangakkara (27), Saman Jayantha (30), Dilshan (28), Kaluwitharana (32) the average age goes up to 29.77. When the world cup comes two years hence, the average age may be well beyond 30 and Marvan will be 36 years of age and Sanath will be 37.

Then in bowling Chaminda Vaas (30), Muttiah Muralitharan (32) and Upul Chandana (32) are all over 30 at present. This is not a call for head rolling, but a call for age/skill management and to see how we could see for tomorrow when the clarion call comes.

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