Retirements and Replacements

“I have done it all for my country. When they wanted me to keep wickets in a Test Match, I did that. When they wanted me to open in a Test Match, I did that. Then when they wanted me to go back to number six, I did that. When everyone resigned and when they asked me whether I could captain, I did that. I don't care about losing the captaincy. I have done it all for my country. T.M dilshan"

The following was said by Dilshan after  Sri Lanka's victory in Kimberley in the 4th ODI.In a way the lines epitomize who Dilshan is.The ultimate utility player,Bowler,Batsmen,Wicket keeper,Point fielder he has done it all.

It is unfortunate he was not successful as a captain but it should be noted that he is at his best when he is uncluttered by responsibility.Also he took captaincy at a time nobody wanted it.

However his skill as a player did not make him an astute captain.His decision to bowl first at Cape Town can be considered as baffling(to put it mildly)and it gave away a golden opportunity to level the series.Therefore I guess the right decision is made in giving Mahela the captiancy even though it is not exactly a move towards the future.

With the appointment of Mahela also comes the appointment of the new Sri lankan cricket Coach Graham Ford.This one decision that struck me as extremely harsh.Firstly I feel that it is ironic for a man to be judged on performances by a board which is grossly incompetent and dishonest. Also there word out in the field is that Marsh works as hard as anyone in the team in getting the players ready for the match.The talk of him worrying more about his son Shaun playing for Australia  is just absolute pettiness.It is extremely unfair to the man that only was in charge for 2 series to judged so.Also its interesting to ponder on the fact that Graham Ford had declined the role when it was first offered and now his team the Dolphins have yet to win a game in the super sport series and lie at the bottom of the table but hey everybody goes through bad patches right?

On a Atapattuian Debut

Hello Internets.


This is the first post of my first blog.The blog  will be mostly about(as you may have guessed from the title)cricket,and Sri lankan cricket in particular.


There are several reasons why I thought of starting a blog about cricket,but they all have the root cause of boredom attached.So yeah..was bored.


Usually as things go with me this blog will probably have a very short life span,during which it will possibly try to fill the reader with opinions full of cynicism.Like giving Mahela the captaincy wont change squat unless we get our selections right,Sacithra Senanayaka's action is gonna be reported..again Etc also its going to have a bit of nostalgia such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPmKxh0fvgg&feature=player_embedded :-)

Also to make this blog last a while at least I promise to blog only when I have feel I really got something and not to fill it with shit that will makes less sense than usual.:)


So here's to my first blog and Hope it works out.:-) Your  feed back is most appreciated in the form of comments of all kind :-)


Cheers! 




P.S-For those who did not get the title its a reference to Marvan Atapattu's Debut which was a duck..and the next 5 innings yielded just 1 and it took him 7 years since his debut to reach his first hundred and yet he ended up having an average of nearly 40.While I hope I find success faster.I get inspiration from the dude to get better at what ever im doing :-)