Sri Lanka's youngsters fail to inspire confidence

It's the end of another tournament. Another home series won by a handsome margin. But sadly for Sri Lanka Cricket, it's those familiar faces again who continue to top the charts.

Not long ago there was a huge buzz in Emerald Isle about how youngsters were not getting enough chances at the highest level. When Thilan Samaraweera retired from all forms of the game having lost his place in both ODI and Test teams, Sri Lankan selectors  finally woke up to answer the clarion call by providing an opportunity to youngsters in the Champions Trophy, tri-nation tournament in the Caribbean as well as the home series against South Africa. But have they really delivered the goods that were expected from them? No! Instead they have hopelessly disappointed a nation of cricket lovers.

For a nation that has witnessed the likes of Madugalle and Ranatunga wielding the willow, it seems only proper that the silken touch of Jayawardene and the flamboyance of Sangakkara are worthy heirs to the flair of Attapattu, grit of Aravinda de Silva and brutal power of Jayasuriya. However, with the two guardians of Sri Lankan cricket along with the aggressive match winner Dilshan fast approaching the twilight of their careers, it is baffling to observe the dearth of talent to replace them.

Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews are the captains of the national team in different formats of the game. There is certainly no doubt in the talent that both Chandimal and Mathews possess. But in recent times their talent has rarely translated into match winning performances on the field.

Their inability to convert starts and help the senior pros in forming substantial partnerships has hurt the team badly. Time and again, they have fallen victims to injudicious strokes when the need of the hour has been to stay on the wicket and play patiently, letting themselves and their fans down.

Kusal Perera has averaged just over five in his last seven international innings. Having arrived in the international side in a whirlwind of hype, his failures continue to be considered kindly, but it won't be long before there are calls to send him back to domestic cricket so that someone else can be tried.

The idea behind selecting Lahiru Thirimanne for ODI's was that he could provide some stability in a rather fragile middle order. But it seems when Thirimanne bats, nothing happens. He is terribly slow, a fact vindicated not only in the recent home series but also in the Champions Trophy. It is difficult to digest that Thirimanne’s striker rate in ODI's (68.48) is worse than Samaraweera’s (69.29).

Tillakaratne Dilshan has admitted that Sri Lanka cricket in fact is in crisis at present and blames the existing domestic cricket structure for producing half-baked cricketers. According to the in form opener "There's a huge gap between our domestic level and the international level. So when cricketers integrate directly from domestic level to international level it takes time for them to bridge that gap. So we need to revamp the domestic structure, making it as competitive as possible. This is why cricketers coming from other countries do better when called up for national duty".

Except for exposing their cricketing immaturity, Sri Lanka's youth brigade has hardly been effective leaving the seniors to do the job. The side's senior batsmen have carried the load on their shoulders for some years now. All three are yet to taste major tournament glory and now may only have two more opportunities remaining to them before the years begin to weary their game. For the sake of Sri Lanka Cricket, it is high time that the youngsters stand up and get counted. After all the cricketing world cannot afford a sub-continental giant to fritter away in obscurity.