Umpiring and coaching standards need to get better: Wettimuny

Grace and grit are intrinsic to Sidath Wettimuny. The former Sri Lankan opener was the Emerald Isle’s first Test centurion with a 157 against Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1982. He has seen Sri Lankan cricket evolve, first as a player, then as an administrator and now as a member of the SLC Transformation Committee.

After 70 summers, Wettimuny’s love for cricket remains intact, as evident during a chat. While referring to the current phase of stagnancy in Sri Lankan cricket, he said: “The main reason (for the decline) is the neglect in some areas, like coaching and umpiring. Once we won the 1996 World Cup, the game spread beyond the city, to the countryside and we did not look at coaching skills in rural areas. We are trying to address that. We have to make sure that the umpiring and coaching standards get better.”

Working on the First Class structure, Wettimuny said: “We are bringing down the number of premier tier 1 clubs by next year. From I think 14 to 10 so that the best teams play. More quality rather than quantity. We have proposed a four-day (match) tournament.”

The need to let players have their distinctive flair was also respected as the former opener added: “You don’t want to tinker with someone’s technique. Like Lasith Malinga, he could find success with that action. Like Lasith, we will have a few freakish bowlers.”

Reverting to nostalgia, when asked about being Sri Lanka’s first Test centurion, Wettimuny said: “After you get it, and you come back and somebody says, ‘do you realise it was the first?’, and then you say, ‘oh is that so?’ I was lucky because Roy (Dias) got one a few days later.”

Part of the squad that defeated Kapil Dev’s men 1-0 in a Test series at home in 1985, Wettimuny recalled: “We prepared seaming tracks and we had Saliya Ahangama, who bowled brilliantly. We had a good pace attack and it worked.”

An instinctive walker after being dismissed, Wettimuny said: “It’s a personal thing. I was taught, when you are out, get lost. It boils down to cheating if you know you are out.”

And about 1996 World Cup triumph, Wettimuny said: “Sanath Jayasuriya transformed the game like what K. Srikkanth did (for India). Aravinda (de Silva) was at his best, we had a team which was really good and with every match we became optimistic”.