Why Herath is the ultimate ‘waisted’ talent
Tristan Lavelette takes a look at one of cricket’s most unlikely heroes, Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath
No one could have seen this coming. Australia, the world’s No.1 ranked Test team, were expected to eviscerate a slumping Sri Lanka despite a horrid recent record in the Sub-continent.
Instead, recriminations have raged after two of their most embarrassing losses ever. Much of the wrath has been directed at Australia’s wretched batsmen, who collectively looked stuck to the crease as if they had been superglued, in some sort of hex.
Perhaps lost amid the verbal bombardment towards Australia has been the ability of Sri Lanka’s bowlers to completely bamboozle vaunted batsmen. Leading the way has been their strike force, Rangana Herath, who in physical terms, evokes cricketers of a bygone era.
He is short, 5ft 6in (167cm), somewhat rotund and doesn’t particularly like running. The left-arm spinner, who loves a beer, may provoke some scorn but, at 38, is well used to life’s vagaries.
After all, Herath only became a mainstay in the Sri Lankan team at the end of the Noughties towards the backend of Muttiah Muralitharan’s legendary Test career. Herath toiled away in the background for a decade after making his Test debut in 1999; he occasionally had success as Muralitharan’s sidekick but endured several barren stretches including nearly four years in the Test wilderness from 2000-04.
Even since emerging from Murali’s shadow, it feels that Herath has been under-appreciated despite seamlessly filling the sizeable shoes of his predecessor. Since the start of 2011, Herath has taken 241 wickets in 48 Tests to become Sri Lanka’s main weapon in attack. Unlike Murali, Herath relies on accuracy and subtle variations, rather than sharp turn or startling bounce. Much like Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker, Herath is indefatigable and can bowl for long periods.
Such perseverance has spearheaded Herath to 319 Test wickets, a tally only Murali and left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas have surpassed for Sri Lanka.
Despite coming off an underwhelming tour of England, where he claimed just seven wickets in three Tests, Herath has had Australia under his hypnotic spell, claiming 15 scalps in two matches, including a nine-wicket haul in the first Test.
It has continued Herath’s exceptional record against Australia, as he has now taken 53 wickets from 10 Tests against them. From afar, watching the Test series is former Sri Lanka all-rounder Suresh Perera, who played three Tests and 20 ODIs between 1998 and 2001. These days Perera lives in Perth,Western Australia, where he still plays club cricket. Being only one month older than Herath, Perera marvels at the longevity of his former teammate, who he played school cricket with 20 years ago.
“It is amazing he is still playing international cricket, sometimes I can’t believe it because it feels like a lifetime ago we were playing together,” Perera told The Cricket
Paper. Perera and Herath never played together for Sri Lanka but did tour with Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the early Noughties. They regularly faced each other as opponents at club level in Sri Lanka throughout that decade when both were at the fringes of the international level.
Despite Herath’s international career stuttering at times, Perera was always bullish the left-armer would eventually make his mark.“He was always a smart and hard-working bowler who I thought was going to make it, but his international career was delayed because of Murali,” he said.
“Herath loved working on his bowling and he has lots of variations that has made him a really tricky bowler to counter. He’s accurate, has clever changes of pace and can bowl all day.”
A key to Herath’s success has been his ability to strike a healthy balance between the rigours of international cricket and downtime, according to Perera.“He is one of those guys who works really hard at practice and out in the middle, but off-field he likes to have some fun,” he said.
Illustrating the point, Perera remembers one day bumping into Herath at a service station in Colombo. After exchanging pleasantries, Perera refuelled and drove away, but then received an unexpected phone call.“It was Herath who asked if I wanted to have a beer…..it was 10am,” Perera said.“He’s a fun-loving guy. He was always good for banter and loved to rib teammates.”
Perera, who remains close friends with Herath, says behind the 72-Test veteran’s affable demeanour is a fierce competitor. “He is quite forthright and strict on the field,” he said.“If you don’t play hard, you will get told. Herath is a really good team man because he knows when to have fun and when to be serious.”
Rebounding back to form after a disappointing series in England, Herath has silenced some of the naysayers questioning his international future.“I think he can keep playing for another two-three years,” Perera said.
“He is a fighter and just relishes the battle. Sri Lanka are lucky to have him.”
Undoubtedly, Australia wishes Rangana Herath was already in retirement.