Sri Lanka in disarray - My thoughts.

Sri Lankan cricket has had a huge shake up today, with its selection panel dissolved by the minister for sport, and replaced by another headed by Duleep Mendis. Following a poor performance against South Africa, coach Geoff Marsh, and captain Dilshan face losing their jobs, with Mahela Jayawardene in line to become the new captain. It seems strange that the government take such an interest in the national cricket team, with the Sri Lankan minister for sport, Aluthgamage, saying it is 'responsibility of the Sri Lankan government and the Sports Ministry' to take 'stern and appropriate action' to ensure that Sri Lanka becomes 'the number one team in the world'. 

To me it all seems wrong, Sri Lanka don't need short-term change. Making Jayawardene captain is a short sighted move. What will happen when he retires? Much like India, Sri Lanka are coming to the end of an era of great players. Jayawardene, Sangakarra, Dilshan, Samaraweera are all 34 or older, and passing the captaincy around these four players will get Sri Lanka nowhere. Sri Lanka have already suffered through the retirement of Murali. With nobody prepared to fill his shoes when he retired, Sri Lanka have lacked that prolific wicket taker. Murali monopolised the primary spinners' spot for years, meaning that when he retired, nobody was sufficiently capable or experienced to take his place. Sri Lanka risk the same with their batting. 

When i think of Sri Lanka, it's hard to think of a solid or established XI. Outside the big four, how many players have played regularly over the last few years? Not many. Sri Lanka have been extremely short sighted with their selection. A few bad performances and a player loses their place in the team. They're not thinking about the future; but the present. It's a case of 'who'll score runs today?' rather than 'who'll be scoring runs in five years?'. 

3 poor matches for Kaushal Silva and he's gone. A few average games for Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva and they're dropped. A test average of 33 for Paranavitana and he's not good enough. And i think we all know what's gonna happen to Thirimanne... Sri Lanka are trying to find instant solutions, rather than thinking of long term development. Look at England, every single one of England's top 5 (except Trott) have been in dreadful form at times. Imagine if England had dropped Ian Bell after the 2005 Ashes. Imagine if Andrew Strauss was never given another chance in New Zealand in 2008. Imagine if Cook was dropped before he went on to massacre the Aussies in the 10/11 Ashes. England have persevered, and thought about the future, and look where they are now; number in the world rankings. Where are Sri Lanka? 6th, and with 1 win in 18 months. And this is with the big 4...