“Sri Lankan cricket is in a healthy state with this bunch of young players”: Arthur

By Champika Fernando in Dubai

Wanindu Hasaranga’s excellent run in the World Cup has cemented him as the world’s top ranked T20 bowler and

Coach Mickey Arthur

coach Mickey Arthur enthuses that he couldn’t be happier with where the “genuine world superstar” is at the moment. 

The 24-year-old leg-spinner is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets in seven games, including three-wicket hauls against the Netherlands, South Africa and England. He is also the world’s leading wicket-taker this year with 34 wickets, propelling him to 50 career international wickets in the format.

“He just excites me,” said Arthur at the pre-match press conference ahead of Sri Lanka’s last Super 12 game against West Indies in Abu Dhabi. ”Every time I see him with a ball or see him with a bat or in the field, he excites me as a cricketer. We’ve just got to keep supporting him because he’s a wonderful, wonderful player at the moment.”

He is the first Sri Lankan bowler in a decade to reach the top. Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis was the last to top the list, in 2011.

“He’s riding a crest of a wave. He’s in good form. He’s a confident player. His confidence is sky high. And I just get really excited for what he’s going to achieve for Sri Lankan cricket down the line. He works unbelievably hard at his game and doesn’t leave anything to chance in terms of his preparation.”

Wanindu’s performance, particularly the hat-trick against South Africa, nearly won the game for Sri Lanka before the South African batters sailed home with a final-over onslaught. He is also ranked in the list of all-rounders, having contributed well with the bat including a match-winning 71 against Ireland.

Arthur completes his two-year stint with Sri Lanka Cricket next month. With players like Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne, he says, Sri Lanka cricket is in safe hands.

“I sit back and I look at what these guys are going to offer Sri Lankan cricket in the future,” he reflected, after having inculcated a culture of hard work and discipline in the group. “And I know that we are in very good hands. I’m really excited about what their future has in store for Sri Lankan cricket.

“I’m very, very proud of the way these guys have gone about it. I said before the campaign I thought T20 was our worst format. We know we’re in a building phase as a cricket nation. I have to reiterate time and time again just how proud I am of this group of guys, because the work they have put in has been second to none. The Sri Lankan nation can be incredibly proud of the attitude, the intensity and the work ethic of this group because they’ve been wonderful.” 

Despite missing out on a semi-final spot, Arthur is also impressed that Sri Lanka nearly won their last two games against South Africa and England. Even the England skipper admitted that no team but Sri Lanka pushed them so far in the tournament.

“We›ve shaken up the World Cup. I think we have. We›re not going to qualify this year. But Sri Lankan cricket is now in good hands. We›ve got some very good young players who just need consistency in message. They need consistency in selection. And they need to be given a platform to go and play.

“I›d like to say we›ve just planted the seeds because I think in a year or two time those seeds will start to turn into some pretty good flowers and Sri Lankan cricket is in a healthy state with this bunch of young players.

“I›ve loved everything I›ve had to do with Sri Lanka. I love the people. I love the country. And for these young players, there›s a very bright future ahead of them. As I said so many times, we›ve just got to be consistent with them.”

Arthur said that during his stint with the Sri Lanka team, he has strived to create depth in all departments like England have done over the years: “England has shown stability in the core group for a long period of time, that›s something that I›m striving for with the Sri Lankan side. I›m striving to create depth in our batting. I›m striving to create some depth in our bowling. As I say, I think our format›s right. And we›ve just got to keep pushing the limits to our fielding. We›re getting better all the time. But those are areas that we want to fine tune. 

“I›m looking for that extra little bit of depth in every department. And then we›ll start really challenging the good sides. The key for me is consistency. So it›s consistency in the messaging. It›s consistency in the selection. It›s consistency in terms of role clarity for our players and then you can build something that›s very good.

“It›s the inconsistencies that we›ve had as a playing nation that has led to the team kind of not achieving what it has.»

Having had two near misses in the last two games, Sri Lanka will hope to end the campaign on a high note today. They will make one change to the team with a left-arm seamer Binura Fernando expected to come in for Lahiru Kumara who has been expensive in the death overs.

“The guys are absolutely shattered,” Arthur said. “They›ve given their all for this campaign. We›ve been on the road for a long time. We›ve been in bubbles for, I think for the last 11 months now. And these guys are shattered mentally and physically. But they›re up for tomorrow because they want to end on a high.”