SL cricket begs for gentlemen to represent country

By Harsha Amarasinghe

The recent scenes in England have to be the lowest point of Sri Lanka Cricket for many reasons. After the national team was embarrassed on the field in Southampton, three senior members of the team opted to hit the town in Durham which only depicts the attitude of these players.

It is hard to imagine how Kusal Mendis was made the vice captain of this team in the first place. Following his dreadful form for runs, he was given a break from cricket. The 26-year-old has had his off-field issues as well, being involving in a hit-and-run. He then sues a local newspaper for sharing its opinion, but weeks later he comes back to the team as the vice captain which almost looks like a reward for being such a terrible role model. What more SLC could expect from Kusal Mendis than this?

Danushka Gunathilaka is another individual who has had so much trouble off the field. The left hander has also not been a consistent performer with the bat, but he somehow manages to get into Mickey Arthurs’ plans in limited overs, all the time. Niroshan Dickwella is one of the most highly regarded talents hailing from Kandy, but he has somehow managed to make himself a comedian more than anything.

Cricket is meant for gentlemen, but currently these are the people who represent this country. There is so much doubt about their commitment, dedication and more importantly the seriousness to put on that Sri Lanka jersey, to give some value to the crest.

There was a time when former South African captain Graeme Smith batted with a broken arm in an attempt to save a Test against the scariest fast bowling attack in the world; a time when T.M.Dilshan batted for nearly two days with a broken thumb, because for these cricketers the game was very, very serious. Where do Dickwella, Mendis and Gunathilaka stand?

One of the main reasons why cricket in this country has become such a big joke is because of lack of leadership from top to bottom. Kusal Janith Perera is one of the nicest blokes in cricket and arguably Sri Lanka’s best batsman in limited-overs cricket, but is he really captaincy material?

Back in the day, the young players had that fear about captains. So many cricketers have revealed how they were scared of Arjuna Ranatunga during his time as captain. Players knew their limits and one of the reasons why players were reluctant to cross that line was because of the fear of the captain, because after all, captain is the immediate boss. But right now under Kusal Janith, this does not seem to be the case.

Where does Sri Lanka cricket go from here? SLC’s favourite option could be to get either Angelo Mathews or Dinesh Chandimal back to lead the country, but with the ongoing contract saga, this might not happen. The best option they have as of now is none other than Lasith Malinga.

Malinga doesn’t have a lot of cricket left in him, but to date, he is Sri Lanka’s best bowling option in T20s and a vocal leader. At present, Lasith Malinga is the closest thing Sri Lanka have to Arjuna Ranatunga.

SLC for many years have opted to avoid born leaders with Charith Asalanka being one. He has finally got an opportunity, and based on what he has done as a schoolboy cricketer, junior national cricketer and a club cricketer, there are more than one reason to groom him to the captaincy. Perhaps he will not be considered the next big thing of Sri Lanka cricket like Kusal Mendis, but he is one man who could lead this side for the next decade.

On the other hand, Mickey Arthur is surely running out of time. He has a decent CV under his name, but the recent results have been horrific and one would assume that a 3-0 defeat in ODIs would be final nail on the coffin.

Cricket in Sri Lanka was played by men for many years, now the country is left with a bunch of spoilt brats. Cricket is meant for gentlemen.