SA, Sri Lanka happy for game to distract from off-field controversy
SOUTH African cricket has had its fair share of drama and controversy this year, and Sri Lankan cricket has been no less lively.
The respective national men’s teams will meet in one-day and T20 international series over the next fortnight, with the matches taking place against a backdrop of upheaval off the field for both sides.
South Africa’s issues stretch from an administrative overhaul at Cricket SA that demanded intervention from the government, to the project about Social Justice and Nation Building, which has ripped open painful wounds about racial discrimination in SA cricket.
Sri Lanka head into Thursday’s opening ODI in Colombo dealing with a plethora of drama that stretches from the field into social media.
Results-wise, it’s been a struggle. They’ve won just two of 12 ODIS this year, sitting 12th – one place below South Africa – on the ICC World Cup Super League table, which will determine the seven automatic qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup.
Sri Lanka have lost series in the West Indies, Bangladesh and England, and also suffered a defeat on home soil to a second-string Indian team.
Amid that, there was an ongoing fight over contracts, which was only resolved last week, with 18 players signing deals to cover the period from August 1 to December 31.
However, Angelo Mathews, the great all-rounder, was not among those, with reports that he was unhappy with the compensation offered and thus has not made himself available for international selection.
Then there’s the case of Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka, none of whom were offered contracts following their suspension from international cricket for one year because they breached Covid-19 regulations and the team’s curfew while in Durham during the England tour in June.
Isuru Udana, much loved by the folk in Paarl for his role in helping the Rocks team to win the Mzansi Super League title in 2019, retired from international cricket at the end of July.
It means Sri Lanka have had to rely on youth. They’ve given nine players their ODI debuts this year, which didn’t help in building any kind of consistency.
All the while, coach Mickey Arthur has defended his own interactions with players on Twitter, even though he’d advised the players to stay off the social media site.
Arthur didn’t take kindly to former Sri Lanka international and now TV commentator Russell Arnold calling out an argument Arthur had with captain Dasun Shanaka on the field following a close defeat to India.
Arnold felt the interaction between coach and captain belonged in the dressing room.
Although a series between teams currently occupying positions 11 and 12 in that World League doesn’t appear compelling, it will make for some intriguing play.
It could prove a useful distraction for both teams to get on to the field, with the sport in both countries dominated by so much that has happened off it.