Behaviour of cricketers: No comments, says Manager

13 January 2016 02:35 pm - 5 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A A A

Sri Lanka Cricket team manager Jerry Woutersz refused to comment on reports of misconduct and indiscipline by members of the national cricket team during the recent New Zealand tour but said a report would be handed over to the Minister within the next few days.

"I am not admitting or denying anything. But I have been asked to submit a report which I will do during the next few days," he said at a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Cricket this afternoon.

Sri Lanka suffered an embarrassing series defeat--Test 2-0, ODIs 3-1, T20 2-0 during the tour.

Meanwhile, speaking at the press conference, Sri Lanka’s interim coach Jerome Jayaratne called for a complete overhaul of the domestic cricket structure to meet the demand of international cricket.

Mr. Jayaratne, who will soon be replaced with a permanent coach, said that the biggest problem he sees is the gap between domestic and international cricket.

“We didn’t lose the series deliberately. We have a very good bunch of talented cricketers but their standards are much lower than what we see in international cricket. We need to bridge that gap by revamping our domestic cricket and making it much more professional. It should be played like international cricket,” said Jayaratne.

“If you see the cricketers who come through the Australian, English, South African or New Zealand system, they can very easily adjust to international cricket but our players find it hard. You don’t come to the national team to gain experience but to perform but our cricketers come there to learn because our domestic structure is not strong,” he explained.

Jayaratne who was the head of cricket coaching since 2007 was appointed interim coach in September when Marvan Atapattu resigned following two back to back home defeats against Pakistan and India.

He said Sri Lanka needs to address this urgently.

“You learn your cricket at the domestic level not at the international level. There’s big issue with our domestic structure and we need to address it urgently,” he added.

Many have suggested a radical change of the country’s domestic structure, including retired greats like Mahela Jayawardana and Kumar Sangakkara, in order to bridge the ever-widening gap but successive cricket administrations have paid too little attention.

In 2011, former Sri Lanka cricketer Sidath Wettimuny put a paper outlining the value of pushing provincial cricket over club cricket, an idea which he tried to implement during his short eight-months as interim head in 2015.

However the new cricket administrators headed by Thilanga Sumathipala had vowed to revamp the domestic structure in order to raise lift the standards.

Sri Lankan cricketers have been through a lean patch since the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, losing all series except the West Indies series at home.

“I guess if they had that experience and exposure, we would have done better in New Zealand. We lost the first test but we were ahead of New Zealand in the second test but they just could not finish it off. This is where the experience comes in," Jayaratne said.

On a separate note Jayaratne believe Sri Lanka should get its combinations right going into defend the World T20 title in March.

“I can’t say we have the best team at the moment. We have a number of positions which need to be sorted out. For instance, there’s a cricketer at SSC who has been consistently scoring runs, so there’s a very good chance of him coming into the side,” he added.

Meanwhile Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews and T20 skipper Dinesh Chandimal apologized for the poor showing in New Zealand.

“We did everything possible but nothing really worked for us. We are sorry,” the duo said. (Champika Fernando)

Video by Buddhi

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

Comments - 5

Aquarius Wednesday, 13 January 2016 08:32 PM

Why is he sending a report to the Minister? Should it not be addressed to the SLC Board? When are they going to learn to make the right administrative decisions? As long as they feel that the Sports Minster is the solution, SLC will continue to be in the dumps.

Jagath Wednesday, 13 January 2016 09:00 PM

Our team is very weak now.Its the duty of administrators to improve the standard.

mike Wednesday, 13 January 2016 09:28 PM

stop cricket

Sim Thursday, 14 January 2016 09:04 AM

The manager is supposed to write the report daily and hand it over to SLC upon his return to the country. Why does he need time?

Prasad Thursday, 14 January 2016 10:14 AM

No. This is a separate report to the minister.

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.

Behaviour of cricketers: No comments, says Manager

Comments - 5

Add comment

RECOMMENDED

UDA owned land in Thalawathugoda; UDA Minister Prasanna Ranatunga under the spotlight for forceful occupation of reserved land

Loss-making SMIB faces political pressure in recovering loans

Baltimore Bridge Collapse: MV Dali, SL authorities anchored in mystery?

Has Sri Lanka become a potential hub for the illegal wildlife trade?

Spotlight on Moragahakanda Development Project Moragolla villagers lose livelihoods and down to one meal a day

Ambitious Sri Lankan jobseekers ‘trafficked into Ukraine war zones’

Western purple-faced langurs see blue!

Most Viewed in News

Street food vendor arrested for verbally harassing foreigner

SL on alert on possible genocide allegations by Canada

Belgian traveller scammed in Kalutara

New Visa procedure implemented

Confusion remains if April 15 is a bank holiday

Former MP Palitha Thewarapperuma dies from electrocution

MIRROR CRICKET

Chamari Athapaththu sets big goal for T20 World Cup

How does CSK get best out of Pathirana?

Mendis, Mathews move up in ICC Test Rankings

Chamodi, Dewmi spins Sri Lanka U19 Women to big win

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Wild elephants pull down 16 telephone poles

Middleman arrested for price gouging at Kalutara eatery

Bondholders’ agreement delay won’t hinder IMF third tranche payout: Dr. Coomaraswamy

Party leaders to shoot down MPs request for concessionary duty free vehicle permits

Hardik fined Rs 12 lakh for violating IPL code of conduct after win over Punjab Kings

Chamari Athapaththu sets big goal for T20 World Cup

How does CSK get best out of Pathirana?

Mendis, Mathews move up in ICC Test Rankings