SLC President Blames Poor Player Management for Spate of Injuries
Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala has blamed poor player management for the number of injuries the national team is carrying at the moment.
“We have not managed our players properly for the last three years. We are experiencing good cricketers who have come in from under 19, 23 and club level that once they reach the top level they can’t sustain their physical condition because they have been badly managed,” said Sumathipala addressing a media conference held at Sri Lanka Cricket prior to the departure of the team to Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka are sending a rather depleted side to Zimbabwe for the two Tests with both captain Angelo Mathews and vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal sidelined by injuries and a fast bowling attack that is sans the experienced Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera who are injured.
In the circumstances of what is left for the selectors to pick, Suranga Lakmal who has taken 60 Test wickets in six years finds himself as the spearhead of the Lankan bowling attack that has three uncapped fast bowlers.
“Mathews is a world class all-rounder and there is so much demand and so much of pressure on his body that it’s not easy for a person like him to be without an injury unless he has a proper scientific approach,” said Sumathipala.
“Mathews is the highest number of match days played cricketer in the past 18 months. With all the cricketers put together Angelo has played the highest number of match days. He was forced to play and asked to play, at this level a player simply cannot go on he has to pull out and take a genuine break for the body to recover. We don’t have enough recover time.
“You have to make an assessment of the player and then based on the assessment you make a permanent study of the player which you call player management. If there is a fast bowler who has bowled 100 overs there should be a study saying that after 18-20 overs you have to stand him down and pull him out of the game, let him recover physically which we don’t do. We never had proper player management,” he said. “Someone like Suranga Lakmal is being excessively used. Our most important tour is definitely to South Africa. Can we go on this tour without Lakmal being given a break?
Sumathipala stated that Sri Lanka Cricket are now studying every player not only on the field but at practice sessions and given them a program to follow.
The SLC president further revealed that the one of the reasons why bowlers get injured so often is because of poor practice facilities.
“We don’t have a single strip in this country with the impact pads on the bowlers’ run up. The indoor nets have normal concrete run ups and the bowlers go and land their foot at such speed and with so much weight of the body everyday this is one way they get injured,” said Sumathipala.
“We have to change all the run-ups and have impact pads on them. Batting indoors also various technicalities have come. Those days we played about 7 Test matches and about 18-20 ODIs a year, but now we play around 12 Tests, over 30 ODIs and 10 T20Is plus other matches, the demand on the players have expanded and we have not scientifically looked into them, which we are doing now. It will take another 8-10 months to get the right results. Once we have our brain centre which we are building in Colombo we’ll have this sorted out,” he said.
Newly appointed Test captain Rangana Herath expressed confidence that the team given to him would perform well in Zimbabwe despite injuries keeping out some of the top players.
“Although the players selected don’t have the number of Test matches under their belts they have played enough domestic cricket to perform at the highest level,” said Herath.
“If you take our performance in the recent Test series against Australia the confidence we gained from the 3-0 win will be very beneficial to us. The team’s confidence levels are very high after that victory. The team that I have I am confident can perform well in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Injured skipper Angelo Mathews paying a tribute to his successor for the Zimbabwe tour said, “I must congratulate Rangana Herath if anyone deserves to captain the side it is definitely Rangana. He is a great team man and the whole team is behind him. Chandi and me also support him 100 percent.”
Mathews stated that it was frustrating as a player to be on the sidelines and not take part.
“I had about 1½ months break to recover and I was preparing myself to be ready for the Zimbabwe tour but unfortunately there has been a setback,” said Mathews.
“We did an MRI scan which revealed that I had multiple injuries on the same leg. I had pull out on the advice of the expert medical panel who advised me and SLC not to send me to Zimbabwe because it might jeopardize my chances of playing in South Africa. We are planning to take a closer look at why this is happening. I hope my injury doesn’t take that long to heal. The doctors have advised me to rest, the recovery can be earlier than that or more we will have to play it by ear. I don’t think it will surpass the South African tour,” he said.
Mathew’s place in the team has been given to left-hander Upul Tharanga who made the last of his 21 Test appearances against India at the SSC in August last year.
Vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal also expressed his frustration at not making the tour to Zimbabwe.
“It’s always tough and frustrating watching our team play from home instead of being out there in the middle and being involved. My injury is getting better and I am hoping to play soon in Zimbabwe. I am hoping to be fit for the ODI tri-series,” said Chandimal who has been ruled out with a broken right thumb.
Sri Lanka has three days of practice before they go into the first of two Tests against Zimbabwe at Harare on October 29. The second Test also at Harare starts on November 6.
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have not met in a Test match for 12 years. They last played each other in a Test in May 2004 at Bulawayo.
Courtesy : dailynews
