Injuries to Sri Lanka’s pacemen

Treating players like robots won’t help

— Samaranayake

Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) National Fast Bowling Coach Anusha Samaranayake says that injuries suffered by key fast bowlers in the recent past could provide opportunities for deserving bowlers to cement a place in the squad.
In a brief interview with LAKBIMAnEWS, he said that one of the major reasons for senior fast bowlers being rendered hors de combat recently is the massive amount of cricket being played.
Hence, Samaranayake, who has been functioning in the post since late 2007, urged the SLC officials to implement a system in which fast bowlers could be rotated so that adequate rest could be provided to seniors and with a view to obtaining optimum results in the long-term.
Anusha Samaranayake, 47, represented BRC in domestic inter-club tournaments during the 1980s and 90s but could not play for the country.

What is the reason for many fast bowlers like Lasith Malinga, Thilan Thushara Mirando, Dhammika Prasad and Dilhara Fernando to end up on the sidelines through injury?

These injuries are something which are not unnatural when it comes to quick bowlers.
Of late, the bowlers who you’ve mentioned have given their hundred percent and as a result of overstraining they have ended up on the sidelines due to injury.
This is particularly true of two bowlers Malinga and Dhammika Prasad.
Lasith Malinga in fact has put on weight like never before and currently we have put him through a special programme to help him rediscover his best form when he touched an average of 145 kph regularly. At the moment he is barely touching 135 kph and that is primarily due to excess weight he is carrying.
Prasad too is currently undergoing specialized training in the SLC Fast-Bowling Academy having overcome a groin injury and at the moment Thilan Thushara has come back through injury, while Dilhara (Fernando) is on the mend having been sidelined through a fracture on his finger.

What is the remedy if fast bowlers are to avoid becoming a victim to injury on a regular basis?

In my opinion, you need to strike a balance between the amount of cricket that you play in a calendar year, and the rest that is provided to players instead of treating them as robots or machines. This could be accomplished through a rotational policy.
Players are after all only human and you need to streamline the amount of workload these bowlers could take because each one of their bodies happens to be different.
The current spate of injuries suffered by the main crop of fast-bowlers has also emerged as a blessing in disguise for some to hog the limelight, in my view.
Otherwise, bowlers like Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedera and Thissara Perera would not have had the opportunity to break into the national ranks. Or else it could have been difficult for most of them to dislodge established players.
Injuries are part and parcel of the game at the end of the day, but you need to have a mechanism or a system in place to manage these players adequately not only when they are injured, but to minimize injuries for the team’s sake.

What are your thoughts on the impact made by the new brigade of fast bowlers in the national team such as Chanaka Welagedera, Suranga Lakmal etc?

Both these bowlers have grasped the opportunities and have made their presence felt in a short span of time.
I feel not only those two but guys like Thilan Thushara, Dilhara Fernando, Dhammika Prasad and Lasith Malinga when they come back from injury, the omens for our overall fast bowling stocks will look good.
But, the challenge as I stated before is to manage these chaps professionally with a view to obtaining maximum results in the long-term.

Do you believe that Lasith Malinga could yet rediscover his form of 2007 in time for the 2011 World Cup?

Yes I do, and he is more than capable of regaining his form of old when it comes to variations and pace which were his only major attributes once he comes through the necessary training which he is undergoing at the moment.

Do you also think that gangling left-arm pacer Chanaka Welegedera could step into the shoes of veteran pace ace Chaminda Vaas one day?

I think that Welegedera certainly has the skill to at least even come close to what Vass was as a bowler, if he is managed expertly. However, I am not entirely convinced yet whether he could fill the vacuum left by Vaas as a solid late-order batsman.
It all depends on how keen the coaches would be to expose him to all forms of the game and I reiterate again that injuries will be one crucial aspect which Welegedera needs to be wary of as he by and by becomes the team’s main spearhead.

In your estimation is a bowling coach necessary for a national team?

My take on it is that a team could benefit greatly if a specialized bowling coach is there all the time.
This is the norm when it comes to almost all international teams, as tasks are distributed evenly among a group of coaches instead of confining all to the head coach alone.
But, then again it is up to the SLC to look into it and I believe that bowlers should also get specialized coaching if the fielders and batsmen are subjected to it.
- (JK)