Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage says the 1-0 historic Test series win claimed by Sri Lanka over England last Tuesday was akin to cocking a snook at former coach Paul Farbrace who decamped to the England coaching set up last April.
“This magnificent series triumph is the ultimate riposte given to our former coach (Paul Farbrace),” Minister Aluthgamage told Ceylon Today in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s memorable Test series win over Alistair Cook’s men.
“I think Farbrace has been taught a never to be forgotten lesson. This guy (Farbrace) ditched us for the sake of his own country and he would have hoped to derail our team after having known our weaknesses and strengths. But, in the end Sri Lanka managed to get the better of England across all three formats. And that is why I say proudly that the first-ever Test series victory over the English is nothing but a fitting riposte given to Farbrace, who will now have learned a thing or two about Sri Lanka.”
The minister was scathing in his assessment of the action taken by Paul Farbrace to switch sides on the eve of Sri Lanka’s tour of England last April and could not hide his delight at Sri Lanka having the last laugh.
Minister Aluthgamage analyzing the tour of England undertaken by Angelo Mathew’s team noted that one of the secrets behind the success story had been the healthy camaraderie that had been evident between the players, coaching staff and the national selection committee.
He said chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya had developed a strong bond between the players and selectors that it had resulted in the country emerging victorious across all formats since late December last year.
The minister singled out Jayasuriya’s work as head of the selection panel being crucial to the current heady run of success enjoyed by Sri Lanka spread across the three formats – T-20, ODI and Tests.
Aluthgamage also commended the exemplary performances of the senior players who along with the youngsters he said had risen to the occasion to see off England in their own backyard.
Pressed for his take on whether Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) should seriously consider allowing incumbent interim coach Marvan Atapattu to take the national team forward, the Minister agreed that the ex-Sri Lanka captain had put forward a strong case to be retained on a long term contract.
However, the minister insisted that the final say should stand with the game’s local ruling body and that he would not like to poke his finger into it.
“I think Marvan has put forward a strong case having overseen the successful tour of England as interim coach,” the minister of sports continued.
“It is also high time for SLC to seriously consider giving this post to a Sri Lankan on a long-term contract and see whether he will come up to scratch or not. Considering what our former coach did to us, I also feel that the time has come to eschew a foreigner and see what a local can bring to the table. But, then again the final call on it should rest with the SLC and as the minister I do not want to get involved in it.”
The minister was also particularly elated to see Sri Lanka giving as good as they got during the ODI and Test series and observed that the tour in England had shown Sri Lanka cannot be browbeaten in international cricket.
“During the England series there were a few incidents that took place. There was this incident of Sachithra Senanayake’s action being reported to the ICC, the Mankading of Jos Buttler and then in the final Test on the last day Joe Root tried to sledge us. On all of those occasions our captain Angelo Mathews gave as much as he got and that shows that Sri Lanka will not stand for bullying tactics of the big nations anymore. For that I am truly proud of our boys and especially like to thank Angelo and like to tell him that as the minister I will always stand by the team.”
