After two merciless drubbings that consigned Sri Lanka’s cricket legacy to the scrap heap, the badly mauled Lions crawled from the depths of despair to show that there is still a pulse in the dying beast against a rampant England at Lord’s in the third Test.
It appears ridiculous that there has been no proper planning for life after departing superstars such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and a few others as the following brigade appear to be totally sans the required temperament to meet world standards.
Harsh as this may sound, the writings clearly on the wall that there has been no proper planning about grooming the future of the nation’s players at grassroots level so they could step up to the international stage when the time was ripe.
Showing flashes of brilliance is not what a champion team is made of and Sri Lanka’s current status shows clear signs of a long bleak period until they are able to right the wrongs and get back to the once feared foe.
Skipper Angelo Matthews is struggling as a leader and his plight is not helped by the inconsistency of his new breed of senior players such as Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne the latter in particular, whose place in the team has been widely in question.
The tiny Island nation prides itself on its rich history at the top level of cricket despite gaining Test status only in 1982. They have been at number two in Tests on several occasions, number one at T20 for a considerable period and number two in the one-dayers, making several finals in the shorter format of the game to boast of a record that is better than many nations playing the game before them.
But all of that counts for nothing when one reflects on their current lack of consistency and genuine world class performers in the squad who are struggling to keep up with the bottom rungers of the world game.
If there was a relegation system in world cricket, Sri Lanka would be on the cusp of being pushed down to the second tier until they can prove they can match it with the best.
Watching the unfolding series against England, it was embarrassingly obvious that the Islanders were completely out of their league as they allowed the Englishmen to plunder their wickets and manhandle their bowlers at will.
To say that Sri Lanka’s South African coach Graham Ford has a gigantic task of rebuilding the team would indeed be an understatement as he frantically rifles through a seemingly threadbare cupboard to unearth the required talent from what now appears to be dwindling stocks.
He says he is up to the challenge but he will need all the help he can get from the locals headed by former master blaster Sanath Jayasuriya who heads the selection committee if he can perform the near miracle required to lead a revival of the country’s fortunes.
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