Sri Lanka need to be more consistent: Whatmore

World Cup-winning Coach Dav Whatmore voiced concerns about the sustainability of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) multi-million dollar initiative to support Test cricket, suggesting that several countries, especially associate nations, may abandon the ‘costly’ red-ball format entirely.

“Saving Test cricket is one of the challenges. The ICC is very keen to maintain some sort of status in Test match cricket. They have created a pool of money to assist countries that are struggling. A step in the right direction, but I’m not sure how sustainable that is,” Whatmore told PTI. 

The dedicated fund would support national boards that struggle to compete with the wages offered in global T20 competitions.

The 70-year-old, who coached Sri Lanka to the World Cup in 1996, lauded India for its robust domestic calendar while adding that the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Under-19 programme contribute significantly to accelerating player development.

While Bangladesh registered a historic Test series victory against Pakistan and host Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand, the two struggled against India and England, respectively.

Whatmore, who has coached both the teams in the past, feels they need to be more consistent.

“Sri Lanka were reasonably competitive in England and they come back to their own conditions, which they are very familiar with and having won some very important tosses in Galle, makes it very difficult for touring teams, particularly the Western countries.” 

“So, overall, they are very encouraging performances but you’ve got to have consistency, and that’s what will separate the teams,” he added. (Agencies)