Winds of change in women’s cricket

The winning Sri Lanka women’s ODI team after their 3-0 win over West Indies

The award winners from left: Sachini Nisansala (3rd WODI), Kavisha Dilhari (2nd WODI), Vishmi Gunaratne (Player of the Series), Harshitha Samarawickrama (1st ODI) 

 Sri Lanka women’s captain Chamari Athapaththu receives the series trophy from match referee Vanessa de Silva

•  Winning matches without reliance on Athapaththu         

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

It has been a common feature that Sri Lanka cricketers in the women’s team rely heavily on their Captain Chamari Athapaththu’s contribution with the bat to contrive wins.

In their series wins against Bangladesh and New Zealand and the drawn series in South Africa, it has been Athapaththu who has been the country’s leading run-getter. But all that is about to change as the recently concluded three-match WODI series against West Indies which Sri Lanka won 3-0 indicates.

In each of the wins Sri Lanka achieved in the three WODIs, there were three different Player of the Match winners and the Player of the Series also produced a fourth player. In each of these four awards it was a rare phenomenon for Athapaththtu not to be a part of.

Athapaththu in fact admitted to the change when she posted on social media with a picture of the four award winners: “I have been waiting for a long time to see a picture like this and today my dream has come true. Sri Lanka women’s cricket is in safe hands, proud of you all my youngsters. Future Sri Lankan stars. My faith is always with you.”

Harshitha Samarawickrama was the Player of the Match in the first WODI, Kavisha Dilhari in the second WODI, Sachini Nisansala in the third WODI and Vishmi Gunaratne was the Player of the Series.

“It is heartening for me also because it’s not about Player of the Series or Player of the Match, I don’t look at it like that. I look at who is scoring and who is taking wickets, who is taking the initiative as of doing things. Individual awards don’t appeal to me at all,” said Sri Lanka Women’s Head Coach Rumesh Ratnayake. “What Chamari meant is that there are players coming through the system who can win matches for Sri Lanka without her contribution. That is our task and also our challenge, to have players like that. Chamari is the benchmark. Sachini Nissansala, Kavisha Dilhari, Vishmi Gunarathne, Harshitha Samarawickrama have to come up there and at the end of the day take ownership of things.”

The win over West Indies is a continuation of the success Sri Lanka women cricketers are going through at present and it augurs well for the future.

“This is our ambition to do what we are doing at the moment but still it’s not the end of the road, it’s a work in progress. I am not going to be content with it, enjoy the moment of winning the series but there are other challengers ahead and we have to take it match by match,” said Ratnayake.

“We talk a lot about taking ownership. I see a lot of girls binding to it knowing what they have to do. There are times where there are going to be disappointments, but it doesn’t matter. They are going out there fearlessly and very confidently to do things. When they come to the pavilion there is no criticism but only rectification of things. There is a solution to all the problems which they have. It’s still not the end product. I want them to develop further.”

In fairness to West Indies it must be said that they missed the services of their captain and prolific scorer Hayley Mathews after the first ODI. It is learnt that she had some health related issues and had to be hospitalised. Also, some of the players were reported to be suffering from influenza.  

With the maximum six points they gained from the three wins in the WODI against West Indies, Sri Lanka moved to fourth slot in the ICC Women’s Championship standings with 20 points behind Australia, England and South Africa. The top six teams will gain automatic qualification for the next Cricket World Cup in India in 2025.

“I am not worried about the points. We play to win, and it’s all about our preparation. We prepare to do well for ourselves in terms of helping the team and do well to win. That’s the process and all the girls know it,” said Ratnayake. “Our qualification depends on the performances of the other teams. We have one more series to go against Ireland in Ireland. They are a very strong team, a Test nation. We have to get our preparations right in order to do well in Ireland. When we are playing WODIs our main focus is of course to win the match but not to get down to being in a qualifying situation. Only eight teams are playing so it’s a bit tight. We have to be on our toes all the time. There is no chance to relax.”