There’s nothing wrong with fighting talk. Nobody expects a team to write themselves off before a ball has been bowled. We used to pretend we could win the Ashes back in the traumatic 1990s, even though everyone knew we had a chocolate cat in hell’s chance.
However, if you’re going to talk up your team’s chances, at least try to use rational, credible arguments – even if the rose tinted specs are firmly in place. That’s why I’ve got to call out Sanath Jayasuriya for his ridiculous comments about the Sri Lankan bowling attack this weekend.
Here’s the quote that had world cricket followers (and probably quite few Sri Lankans too) rolling in the aisles:
The one department we are really good at is bowling … we have the top best bowling side in the world – five fast bowlers and spinners who are all experienced and very good.
I know there’s probably little point in dissecting this curious claim – just as there’d be little point refuting an argument that the moon is made of cheese – but I’m afraid I can’t resist. Let’s indulge ourselves.
This is the bowling attack that Sanath is talking about. We all know that Herath is a quality left-arm spinner, but who exactly are these ‘experienced and very good’ pacemen? Surely he can’t mean Prasad, Eranga, Pradeep, Lakmal and Chameera? Here’s a quick breakdown of their careers to date:
Dhammika Prasad, 32 years old, 75 test wickets at an average of 36.
Shaming Eranga, 29 years old, 52 test wickets at 35
Nuwan Pradeep, 29 years old, 42 test wickets at 47
Suranga Lakmal 29 years old, 54 test wickets at 49
Dushmantha Chameera, 24 years old, 18 test wickets at 28
I don’t like kicking opponents when they’re down – Sri Lanka lost seven of the eleven tests they played last year – but I’m not convinced Sri Lanka have the best bowling attack in Asia, let alone the whole world.
Chameera is an exciting prospect who bowled very well in New Zealand recently (and he could very well be dangerous) but the others are nothing more than journeymen by international standards. In their test careers to date, they’ve been about as effective as a no snogging rule behind the bike sheds.
Although England’s attack isn’t perfect by any means, let’s just compare Sri Lanka’s pace attack with the three English seamers likely to start the first test:
James Anderson, 433 test wickets at 29
Stuart Broad, 333 test wickets at 29
Steve Finn 113 test wickets at 28.
It’s not even close is it. If Jayasuriya looked up the words ‘experienced and very good’ in the cricketing dictionary, he might well find a reference to these three. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, don’t have the best attack in Asia, and they won’t have the best seam attack in this series either.
However, just in case your hilarity meter isn’t quite full, let’s quickly look at another snippet from Santa’s recent interviews:
The only thing which we are lagging behind is our batting.
Oh I see. It’s just the batting that’s that problem. That’s alright then. Who needs runs to win test matches eh? Perhaps I should call Hollywood and line up a few film roles for myself. I can’t act, and I’m about as handsome as Lakmal’s test statistics, but otherwise I’m the perfect love interest for Scarlett Johansson in her upcoming blockbuster.
So what’s my prediction for the test series then? A comfortable England victory? Erm, not quite. Now I’ve slated the Sri Lankan seamers, and ridiculed their legendary chairman of selectors, a series victory for the tourists is probably guaranteed.
James Morgan
Yes, it looked a bit odd to say the least. To be fair I saw the quotation in one place as “one of the best”. There would have to be quite a few “bests”. Hearth is class but the seamers …
I think one doesn’t even need to go to Test sides in comparisons. Ask most Test batsmen if they would rather face the Sri Lankan seamers or the full Yorkshire attack of Bresnan, Plunkett, Sidebotham and Willey and it might be an interesting answer?
I don’t think Sri Lanka even have the best pace attack we’ll face this summer. Whatever you may think of his actions off the field (and I incline to the “stupid kid lead astray” school) Mohammed Amir is a far better fast bowler than anyone Sri Lanka have. Wahab is far quicker, and I’m sure Pakistan will have another quick bowler or two up their sleeves. Herath is a fine bowler, but I think England will win that one easily. The Pakistan series will be much tougher.
I’m looking forward to seeing Amir again. He was excellent before the ban.
Oh dear James. I’m going to have to remember all these names before long.
Don’t give up on Scarlett. Your description of yourself would fit many of Hollywood’s finest
Thanks Benny. Let’s not mention this to my Mrs :-)
I think it’s fair to say SL’s bowling is their strength and their seamers are a bit better than their stats suggest but Jayasuriya clearly went way over the top.
Their seamers are better than the spin department currently. Herath is aging and took his wickets at nearly 36 in 2015 (helped by one big haul against an awful WI). Knee injuries mean that he can’t get the body into his action that he used to. Spinners are hardly going to win early summer Tests at Headingley and Durham anyway.
Dhamika Prasad is a better bowler now than his overall career stats. In the second half of his Test careeer, since June 2014 when he took a Michelle in the Headingley win, he’s taken 53 wickets at 26. He was injured for the tour to NZ which was a major reason SL were so abysmal there. Nuwan Pradeep is infuriating – he can look a very good Test bowler in his first spell but he has never developed the stamina to sustain his pace during a day’s play (let alone over longer periods). Eranga bowled well last time they were but then seemed to disappear – hopefully there’ll be some discussion during the series about what happened to him (Russel Arnold is one of the best commentators on the circuit now and is usually very well informed).
I agree I was being a bit unkind to the SL bowlers. They’re not as bad as all that. I’ve always thought Lakmal / Eranga are reasonable to be honest. Not match winners by any means but I’m surprised their test records aren’t a little better. I don’t imagine England will be losing too much sleep in the run up to the series though!
I don’t think England were losing too much sleep in 2014 either! Of course, England have improved since then and SL have gone backwards.
I’d be very interested, James, in what you make of Flower’s DM interview and what seems to be a gradually increasing media profile. Are we being prepared for a re-Flowering?
I don’t think we’ll see Flower get more involved than he is now, unless they make him an official selector or something (and if they did, I’d respect his views more than Fraser, Newell and Whitaker). I didn’t actually read too much into the piece. It just seemed like Paul Newman doing his normal thing. The one snippet I found particularly interesting was the praise for James Vince. This backs up other things we’ve heard from Newman. Sounds like he’s very much in pole position to replace either Taylor or Compton in the test side.
Amir’s got to get his visa yet? The ECB will have their grubby little paws in that debacle I feel sure!
Personally (and purely from a cricket spectator’s perspective) I hope they let Amir play. He’s not a danger to society or anything. He was a special young bowler before his ban, and although I don’t condone what he did by any means, he’s served his time. There aren’t that many great attacks in world cricket at the moment, so it would be great to see how our batsmen go against Amir / Riaz. Could be some excellent cricket to be watched.
I agree. Amir may be a danger to batsmen, but that’s all. I have a ticket for Old Trafford: hoping to see Amir and Wahab in action on a nice bouncy pitch. I suspect the batsmen aren’t!