da prosport bet： Dav Whatmore National Coach The Sri Lankan squad picked for the forthcoming Coca Cola Cup provides anindication of the increasing and welcome importance attached to medium pace allrounders by the national selectors as we look towards the 2003
da roleta： Dav Whatmore10-Jul-2001Dav Whatmore
National CoachThe Sri Lankan squad picked for the forthcoming Coca Cola Cup provides anindication of the increasing and welcome importance attached to medium pace allrounders by the national selectors as we look towards the 2003 World Cup.There are five pace bowlers in the squad, including two talented allrounders – Dulip Liyanage and Suresh Perera – who have been given a chance toresuscitate their international careers. The selectors deserve a pat on theback for giving them an opportunity and recognising the necessaryingredients for success in South Africa.To be successful in South Africa we need to have considerable fast bowlingresources and some of those bowlers must be able to bat. You only have tolook at the success achieved South Africa to realise that conditions thereare well suited these types of players. We must therefore familiariseourselves with a new system and to do that we need to start experimentingnow, not three-months prior to the tournament.Wherever possible these types of players should be given a chance to play inthe team over the next 18 months. The primary objective is always to winevery game we play, but the long-term aim is to win the World Cup – we needto try to fuse both of these objectives together. There may be times,however, when we lose games along the way and that is fine as long as we allunderstand and share the common goal.We’re really glad to be welcoming back Suresh Perera, who is now back tofull fitness after problems to his groin and back during the last two years.I think he has terrific potential. He is a three dimensional cricketer -just the type of player that we are looking for.He is a lively fast medium bowler with an uncanny wicket taking ability; anexcellent fielder, who runs like a rabbit and throws like a bullet; and anaggressive lower middle order batsmen, who has a high strike rate and asound ‘back and across’ technique.Like many of the bowlers, his bowling action has undergone process ofevaluation by Rumesh Ratnayake, our fast bowling coach, and Terry Oliverfrom the Queensland Cricket Association. They identified areas forimprovement and he is re-entering the squad having made modifications to hisaction. He performed impressively during the Pakistan A tour and lets hopehe now grabs his opportunity in the senior side.Dulip Liyanage last played in the Wills Quadrangular tournament in Pakistanin 1997/8. He has had some injury problems to his ankles and knees, but hasworked himself back to full fitness. Indeed he is extremely dedicated to hisfitness – he is probably the hardest worker amongst the fast bowlers.His efforts have paid off. After a disappointing Premier League LimitedOvers tournament he came back into international contention after animpressive first class season for Colts CC, in which he grabbed 38 wicketsand averaged 22.7 with the bat. Indeed it is his batting that has elevatedhim above the other competition. Being 29 years old he also has someexperience, which will come in useful.Chamara Silva and Avishka Gunawardene have also earned themselves recallsafter performing well on the Pakistan A tour. Chamara last played in Shajahagainst Pakistan in 1999/0, but he is still just 21-years-old. He wentthrough a bit of a trough after his first run in the side and perhapssuffered too from a lack of opportunity.A quiet young man, he is an intelligent batsmen and a busy player, who isable to mix attacking and defensive shots well, and is lightening betweenthe wickets. He is also an excellent fielder in the inner circle – possiblyour best.Gunawardene is as destructive a batsman as we have in Sri Lanka and hits theball with incredible power. He deserved another chance after a string ofimpressive performances against Pakistan. Last time he played in atriangular tournament in Sri Lanka, against South Africa and Pakistan, hewas a real asset to the side.The players to have been left out can count themselves unlucky – competitionfor places is very tough. Indika de Saram and Tillakaratne Dilshan have beenslightly out of form recently and have failed to cement their places in theside – it is only fair then that others are given a chance. They just needto keep working on their games because I’m sure there still in the frame.Thilan Samaraweera is desperately unfortunate. He did everything asked ofhim in the Test and ODI series against Pakistan and continues to put a lotof pressure on the selectors. In the end, however, Kumar Dharmasena wasgiven the nod because of his experience and good performances in recenttimes.Akalanka Ganegama did very little wrong, but he remains a very promisingyoung player. In the end the need for fast bowling all rounders meant thathe had to give way. Nevertheless, it is comforting to note that we now havea really talented pool of fast bowlers that can hopefully lead us to WorldCup success.
