Success isn’t a straight line, says Willis

By Madushka Balasuriya

Eight months into his three-year term, Sri Lanka Cricket’s High Performance Manager Simon Willis has experienced the full scale of Sri Lanka’s cricketing spectrum. From the searing high of a home Test series whitewash of Australia to the ignominy of the same being done to them in South Africa. In between the team has trounced Zimbabwe with a youthful squad, and won a tri-series involving an unpredictable West Indies’ outfit. 

Yet cricket fans’ memories are notoriously short and the most pressing result is almost always the last one. Sri Lanka Cricket too has in the past been accused of knee-jerk responses to series defeats and reactionary decision making. Being proactive, safe to say, has rarely been their strong suit. It is in this context that Willis’ big picture perspective may prove to be a calming influence in traditionally stormy waters.

“No international cricketer likes losing matches, that’s what they’re there for. We all want to win every game, but we’re realistic, and we have to keep things in perspective. We know the team’s been chopped and changed a little, particularly in one day cricket, but there are a lot of pluses coming out of that,” said Willis, speaking exclusively to the Daily FT.

The ‘pluses’ he speaks of come in the form of youngsters such as Niroshan Dickwella and Lahiru Kumara, who have performed admirably on their South African sojourn, while the likes of Sandun Weerakkody, Lakshan Sandakan and Sachith Pathirana have also left their mark against a formidable Proteas outfit. They join recent breakout talents such Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva who, despite having poor tours of South Africa, are widely considered among the most promising young talent in the country.

“We found a few players that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. They’ve all come through in the past eight months. So even though we’re losing the odd game, they’re getting experience against high quality opposition. We mustn’t lose perspective, we’re gearing up for the World Cup in England. Success isn’t a straight line, we’re going to get setbacks, we’re going to get disappointments, but it’s important that we learn from those experiences to become a better team.”

Willis’ calls for perspective come just as his vision for Sri Lankan cricket begins to take shape. The biggest initiative he and his team have launched thus far is the National Performance Squad. Consisting of 30 players, the squad comprises some of Sri Lanka’s most promising young talent, who on a weekly basis are provided with fitness and skill training sessions, regardless of whether they’re in the national team picture. The goal, says Willis, is to ensure that the players are ready for international cricket if ever they’re called up.

“Getting that culture or drilling down the system to get that culture ingrained further down is really important to me so that when they come through the system they know it’s just expected, not something that they find out when they become an international player,” he explained, noting that he and his team have also put together a program for emerging fast bowlers, with the first set of performance reviews set to be conducted over the weekend.

Mathews setting the standard

Willis though believes that that cultural shift is now beginning to take shape. When questioned on rumours that certain senior members of the national squad might not be pulling their weight, Willis was categorical in his response reserving his most ardent praise for Angelo Mathews.

“I have to say I’m surprised at your comments because all the measures that are in place will tell us that the large majority of our players are where they need to be. The challenge for us was more the younger guys who are coming from family life, obviously where rice and curry is part of their day to day diets. So it’s more from the Under 19 age groups upwards where the work has had to go. 

“Angelo Mathews, yes he’s pulled a hamstring but his work ethic prior to that tour was immense. He trained harder than anybody would know and he’s in great physical shape from a diet point of view, from a weight point of view, he was setting the standard for others to follow. Malinga has come back and worked really, really hard as well. You know, he’s lost weight. That’s exciting.”

Willis also attributed the lure of the financially lucrative T20 competitions such as the IPL and Big Bash League for a growing focus on fitness by players from all countries.

“I think with the standards being set by other countries, I think players now know that if they do want to get into tournaments like the IPL and the Big Bash that they’ve got to be in a certain condition. And for me that’s been the easy part, you know players are willingly coming in on a regular basis. So I think we’ve made really good progress. Obviously we want to move further ahead in that area, and hopefully in the weeks and months to come we’ll be adding additional results in that area to allow the players to keep improving.”