‘I did it my way’ – Mathews
My only regret is those injuries, I could have offered more - Mathews
At 36, Angelo Mathews has one regret: not starting his current fitness regime much earlier. Mathews’ career was chequered due to injuries after 2015. This, in particular, ruined his limited-over career.
He played only 78 matches off his 224 ODIs and 24 off his 78 T20s in the second half of career.
“My only regret is those injuries,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.
“I could have contributed a lot more in batting and bowling if not for those injuries. I put on a lot after picking up injuries. Had I started my current fitness regime much earlier, I could have offered more to the game during the latter part of my career. But then, it’s never late.”
Having been overlooked for white-ball cricket during the last two years, Sri Lanka were forced to turn to the former captain after a spate of injuries and a fragile middle-order kept Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign in check.
Mathews said it took time for him ‘to understand how to train’.
“It’s all about training and mindset,” he said.
“Virat Kohli is 35, and he is still like a spring chicken on the field. That’s the effort that we all have to put in. It’s not because of money or fame. It’s just the love that you have for the game and you wanting to do well day in, day out, to be on top. That’s the mindset the champions have.”
Mathews is a champion in his own right and is the last remaining cricketer of the 2000s. He has no plans to retire from any format, he says, and will contribute his best for whatever team he plays on, be it national, domestic or league cricket.
Injuries apart, a youth-based policy introduced in 2021 by the current group of selectors saw many senior cricketers, including Mathews, being sidelined from white-ball cricket. He said he was thoroughly disappointed with the decision of the selectors which robbed him of a few years of white-ball cricket.
“If I am not mistaken, I was man-of-the-match two games before I was dropped. I was also the man-of-the-series in the Bangladesh series. I was very disappointed as I didn’t get a reason for being dropped. I passed all my fitness tests. I was averaging more than 41. So, it was surprising. Maybe the selectors might have had other ideas,” Mathews, who is enjoying his return to white-ball cricket, said.
After his white-ball career was cut short, Mathews focused on his Test match career.
“I didn’t waste my energy on negativity,” he said.
“I kept playing Test cricket but didn’t give up on white-ball. I just kept challenging myself and I didn’t bother too much about what I cannot control,” he asserted.
Asked whether his stats across formats reflects his true potential, he said “It’s a bit of both, yes and no”.
“In Tests, I have scored closer to 7,500 runs. I started off batting at No.6 and No.7 in my first 50 matches, before slowly coming up the order. Only after 2018, did I start batting at No.4. That’s all for a few games as I mostly batted at No.6 and No.7. As an allrounder, I have done fine, but I believe I could have done a lot better. But due to injuries and various other reasons, I was not able to,” he explained.
Mathews is not a fan of the youth policy as he believes it should always be a mixture of youth and experience. “When I started back in 2008, I always had the seniors to fall back on and the seniors’ backing. Whenever I was struggling, I went up to them and asked questions as to how I could get out of it. People can have different opinions but I personally think we should have a mixed policy–a good mix of youth and experience. The youngsters will learn from the experienced guys and those experienced guys can use their experience and contribute towards the team,” he added.
Mathews said that he is matured enough to understand the complexities surrounding the sport and his priority is to give his best to the team.
“I just want to enjoy myself. Just want to go out there, give my best, try and make a difference and be the difference that the team wants me to be. And I’m in a phase like that. I just want to enjoy each and every game. No matter what happens, you know, and if I give my 100%, I will be more than happy.”
“You can be the hero today and can be the zero the next day. Performance, you cannot guarantee, but effort and attitude, you can control. If you can go out and give your 100 percent and still don’t perform then bad luck. But more often than not, if you give your 100 percent, you can enjoy (yourself),” the former Josephian cricketer explained. Despite not performing to their best, Mathews believes the current team should be kept until the next World Cup, giving them enough experience and exposure to mature as cricketers.
“This particular group of players can definitely play the next World Cup, because they are all from the 20-32 age group. They will be very well experienced by then. They will have lots of games under their belts. The next four years is a long time and they will probably play more than 100 to 150 games during this period. So, if you give them the opportunity and stick with them, I think they can make a huge difference,” said Mathews, who is playing his last World Cup.
Commenting on 50-over cricket, Mathews admitted that some uncertainty surrounds the format. He expects the ICC to step in to bring in some context to the format.
“There is a bit of uncertainty around the 50-over format going forward,” he reflected.
“I’ve seen a lot of ex-players saying ODIs will be only limited to World Cups. I think T20 is doing quite well, as well as Test cricket, as they introduced the Test Championship. Test cricket will survive. For me, number one is always Test cricket. And it’s an honour and a privilege to play the 50-over World Cup. I think going forward, the ICC will definitely look into this. They have already introduced the ODI championship as well. I believe they will add more colour into the format for it to survive.”