By
Sathya Liyanasuriya
In recent weeks, Sri Lankan cricketer Sachithra Senanayake has leapt into the limelight from being a relatively low-profile national sportsman into the newspapers, websites and television screens of the international media.
Senanayake’s sudden flight to fame began when he was reported by the umpires and the match referee for a suspected illegal action during the fourth one-day international against England at cricket’s headquarters, Lords.
This is not an unfamiliar scenario for the Sri Lankan team now, as star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was similarly targeted during a tour of Australia and called for ‘chucking’ during a Boxing Day Test match. That controversy was eventually resolved with Muralitharan’s action being declared legal.
Senanayake too would not be unfamiliar with such allegations. In 2011, when he toured England with the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team, he was reported for a suspect action. He underwent testing and his action was cleared by the game’s authorities.
However, it was not for his suspect action that Senanayake hit international headlines – it was for running-out English batsman Joss Butler at the non-striker’s end, a rare event popularly known as ‘Mankading’ after the Indian player Vinoo Mankad who first used that mode of dismissal.
The Butler incident was a key moment in the critical encounter as he had scored a century in the previous game and brought England to the brink of victory. It meant that Sri Lanka won not only the final game but also a hard fought one-day international series.
England however was quick to complain and subject Senanayake to a barrage of insults. England’s Captain Alistair Cook said it was a ‘poor’ performance and the English media went on the rampage accusing Senanayake and Captain Angelo Matthews who endorsed the appeal of poor sportsmanship.
The English media was to also suggest that the Butler dismissal was a direct consequence of Senanayake being investigated for a suspect action. While it was acknowledged that the team rallied around the young cricketer after the incident, this was not an act of revenge.
Former captain Mahela Jayewardene clarified this when he explained that the Sri Lankan team had studied footage of the previous game and realised that Butler was gaining a head start so he could convert ‘singles’ into ‘two’s. Therefore, they decided to put a stop to that strategy.
Senanayake and Sri Lanka have been accused of not playing in the ‘spirit’ of the game but as skipper Matthews and indeed many cricketing pundits have pointed out, Senanayake warned Butler twice before affecting the dismissal, so the accusations of poor sportsmanship cannot be justified.
In fact, there were suggestions that it was the English team which was not playing in the spirit of the game because they were trying to gain an undue advantage with the non-striker taking a few strides, despite being warned repeatedly against it.
Cricketing legends and former cricketers, including those from England have also come to Senanayake’s defence saying that his actions were well within the laws of the game. Accusations of poor sportsmanship have not been sustained because Senanayake warned the batsman twice.
The popular cricket website, Cricinfo, ran a worldwide poll on the incident. Nearly 74,000 persons voted and the majority of them – 74 per cent chose the option that it was “Butler’s fault. No issues with Sri Lanka, they kept warning him”. Only 11 per cent said it was “poor cricket from Sri Lanka”.
However, 29-year old Senanayake Mudiyanselage Sachithra Madhushanka Senanayake will no doubt continue to attract the attention of the world media in the weeks to come but being a Sri Lankan spinner with an unusual action, it is an occupational hazard.
Senanayake hails from Gampaha and studied at Ananda College in Colombo. Although he had a successful school and club cricket career he entered the national team fairly late at the age of 26 because in his early years, the spinner’s slot was permanently sealed by Muttiah Muralitharan.
Senanayake, an off-spinner, made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international in the series against South Africa in 2011-12. Since then, his stock as a one-day international player has risen sharply and he is now Sri Lanka’s first-choice spinner in the shorter format of the game.
The advent of the shortest format of the game, the T-20 version, only enhanced Senanayake’s value. His talents in this version have been readily recognised; he has already represented the Sydney Sixes in Australia and the Kolkata Knight Riders in India, the latter for a fee of US$625,000.
Senanayake is yet to establish himself in the test team. He has played only one test match, against Pakistan early this year. He will also not feature in the two test matches against England in the current tour as he is not in the test squad.
However Senanayake is set to return to England, days after he arrives in Sri Lanka following the completion of the one-day international series. That is due to Sri Lanka Cricket’s decision to send him to the newly accredited Cardiff Metropolitan University for biomechanical testing of his action.
Senanayake will bowl each of his variations, including the ‘doosra’, the delivery that has come under the most scrutiny during the testing as he aims to prove that his elbow does not flex beyond the 15 degrees permitted by the International Cricket Council for a delivery to be ‘legal’.
His bowling action in the laboratory will also be compared with footage of his deliveries from recent matches, to ensure he reproduces the action he uses on the field. Earlier, biomechanical tests at the University of Western Australia had shown his deliveries were ‘legal’.
Regardless of the outcome of the tests on Senanayake, his dismissal of Butler has led to simmering tensions between the Sri Lankan and English teams as they prepare for a hard fought test series. English captain Cook has said the incident would add spice to the contest.
Senanayake though, can draw comfort from the fact that on the last occasion a Sri Lankan spinner was accused of having a suspect action, the entire nation rallied around him-and he went on to become the greatest bowler the game has ever seen.
COURTESY:Daily Mirror