Michael Roberts
The SL cricket team’s collapse at Brisbane has produced severe condemnation by patriots on Facebook –patriots who clearly do not know much about cricket. Well before the match commenced it was my expectation that Australia would win by an innings because Brisbane is a bouncy pacey pitch and because the pink ball is in use over day and night.
This was/is a cricketer’s conjecture – not sure fire but informed. As a cricketer I can also assert that the beauty of the game is its topsy-turvy nature. Just glance at what happened in Bridgetown on more or less the same day 24th January: England, one of the leading teams in the Test rankings, were shot out for just 77 runs at Bridgetown Barbados after the Windies made 279 runs. The Bridgetown pitch is a paceman’s paradise and Kemar Roach was the chief destroyer with 5 wkts for 17 runs.
And do not forget: last year Sri Lanka faced the Windies on the same Kensington Oval grounds in late June 2018 and beat them by 4 wkts –with contributions from a wide cross section of the players. Cricket luv’ly cricket — surprise is cricket.
Lankan patriots who excoriate the earnest efforts of their players on the testing grounds of an international contest must look within themselves and inquire whether their passions are grounded on intimate experience and grounded study. Patriotic excess does not benefit the game of cricket.
