Thoughts on Sri Lanka’s Recent Cricketing Defeats

Michael Roberts, 7 February 2019

Marvan Atapattu has contended that “Sri Lankan Cricket has been in a rut for the past two years” and that whereas “there have been bad times, …. we always could see a light at the end of the tunnel. But the way things are being handled and what I see now, there’s nothing like that.” [1]

Balanced thoughts? Up to a point. The fact remains that the Sri Lanka cricket administration has been a roller-coaster from 1996 to 2018; and some of the squads secured pretty good results despite this background situation – no more so than 2016 when they bested the Australians three-zip — admittedly in home terrain.

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Roach–Holder–Chase are Outstanding in Rout of England at Bridgetown

Kemar Roach = in England 1st innings of a paltry 77 runs

Jason Holder = 202 runs n.o. in massive Windies total of 415 for 6 wkts declared

Roston Chase = 8 wkts for 60 runs in England 2nd inns total of 246 runs

Roston Chase celebrates Getty Images

Lord Superior’s Lessons for the Patriotic Excess of Armchair Critics

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.

Surprise! Cricket Luv’ly Cricket Surprise in Bridgetown

Valkerie Baynes, ESPNcricinfo, 25 January 2019, where the title is “Kemar Roach claims the day as England are left stunned by West Indies”

Stumps West Indies 127 for 6 (Dowrich 27*, Holder 7*) lead England 77 (Jennings 17, Roach 5-17) by 339 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England were entitled to stride off the Kensington Oval after less than an hour’s play on day two with their chests thrust forward and grins on their faces, a job well done. They had, after all, restricted West Indies to a total of 289 on a pitch both captains wanted to bat on first.Three and a half hours later, the entrance

Kemar Roach celebrates the dismissal of Jos Buttler Getty Images

West Indies mauled and ‘Mirazed’ by Bangladesh

Mohamed Isam in ESPNcricinfo, 2 December 2018, where the title is “Mehidy 12-for scripts record Bangladesh win”

Bangladesh 508 (Mahmudullah 136, Shakib 80) beat West Indies 111 (Mehidy 7-58, Shakib 3-27) and 213 (Hetmyer 93, Mehidy 5-59) by an innings and 184 runs

Nearly five months after being beaten 2-0 in a pace-dominated series in the West Indies, Bangladesh served up revenge on a spinning platter to the same opponents with an innings-and-184-run win in the Dhaka Test to complete a 2-0 series win. The victory was their first innings win in Test cricket. Mehidy Hasan Miraz underscored the supremacy of spinners with his match figures of 12 for 117, surpassing his own record for the best bowling figures for Bangladesh.

Oust Kohli, Oust India –Windies Win

Sreshth Shah, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 27 October 2018, where the title is “Shai Hope and Ashley Nurse help West Indies draw level”

This really must be how opponents of Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan felt back in the day. It didn’t matter whether you neutralised the influence of the other eight New York Yankees batters or the other four men in the Chicago Bulls roster. But if you could negate the effect that Ruth or Jordan single-handedly brought to the game, then you were definitely going to win the contest. Simple.

Virat Kohli must give opposition teams the same feeling. After posting 283, West Indies were against the ropes all evening despite only one India batsman going past 35. That one batsman was Kohli, and as long as he was in the middle, West Indies looked unlikely to win. That’s when Jason Holder took his biggest gamble in the 41st over.

West Indies’ Ashley Nurse, right, celebrates the dismissal of India’s Ambati Rayudu during the second one-day international cricket match between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam, India, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. On the left is India’s captain Virat Kohli. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Bangladesh down Windies in Last Over Thriller

Mohamed Isam in ESPNcricinfo, 5 August 2018

Another Bangladesh comeback, another major contribution from their seniors. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal powered the visitors to a 12-run win against West Indies to bring them back level in the T20I series. Towards the end of the West Indies chase, Mustafizur Rahman and Nazmul Islam took three wickets each, but the win was set up by Tamim, who top-scored with a quickfire 44-ball 74, while Shakib complemented his half-century with figures of 2 for 19 from four overs.

Bangladesh 171 for 5 (Tamim 74, Shakib 60, Nurse 2-25, Paul 2-39) beat West Indies 159 for 9 (Powell 43, Fletcher 43, Nazmul 3-28) by 12 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details