Limited-overs cricket is a priority at home, the players’ salaries do not compare to those of their international rivals and the administration is often chaotic. Despite these handicaps, Sri Lanka remain an outstanding Test team. What a shame it is, then, that we will see them for only one more week this summer.
Sri Lanka are exactly the kind of side Test cricket needs. Tough and talented, they are a match for any opponents, regardless of conditions. In Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, they have two modern batting greats. Rangana Herath is one of the best finger-spinners in the game and captain Angelo Mathews is a fabulous natural talent. With his spell in England’s second innings at Lord’s, Shaminda Eranga showed himself to be a highly skilful seam bowler.
It is such a pity only two Tests were planned for this Sri Lankan tour. India arrive later in the summer, as they did in 2011. Yet unlike three years ago, they will contest five Tests. Sri Lanka play one fewer — even though they performed far better than India on that tour.
Sri Lanka lost their three-match series 1-0, with only England’s remarkable win in Cardiff — when the tourists were bowled out in a single afternoon — the difference. India, on the other hand, suffered a 4-0 whitewash. Financial considerations will always weigh on the minds of cricket boards and India, the rich man of the sport, are a lucrative proposition, both in terms of ticket sales and television revenue. But the fewer Tests Sri Lanka play, the less experience they will gain in that arena. Eventually, they may become weaker and there may never be worthy heirs to Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Mathews.
One of the concerns about the proposed reforms to the governance of world cricket, which would place more power in the hands of England, India and Australia, is precisely this. Cricket needs variety to prosper. If the same teams are successful, supporters risk being turned off.
“The last time England came to Sri Lanka as well, we played two Tests, and that was a bit disappointing, too,” said Jayawardene. “Those are things we need to discuss going forward. At least a three-Test series is a must — especially in the top-playing nations.
“I can’t talk about other teams coming here and performing. What I can talk about is Sri Lanka. We’ve done really well overseas. We’ve ground things out and done the country proud, so we’ll keep doing that. That’s all we can do. It’s up to people higher up to decide what needs to be done.”
Whether they are capable of making the best decisions for the sport is another question altogether.
A solution to slow play?
A colleague had an innovative solution to the problem of slow over rates that are an enduring frustration for viewers and spectators alike.
A team should bowl 90 overs in a day. If they bowl only 89, then for the first over of the next day (or next innings), they would take the field with only 10 players for the first 15 minutes. If 88 were bowled they would start with nine players, and so on.
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It would surely be impossible to convince the game’s law-makers to make such a change. As a deterrent, though, it would be highly effective.
