Sri Lanka Vs Bermuda

Sri Lanka won against Bermuda by 243 runs which is the second highest margin of defeat at a Cricket World cup. So at least according to the final figure we one with ease which is no surprise to anybody and was expected. However I don't think the way we played was convincing enough. For starters Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya should not have got out for less than 50 a piece. Moving on neither Kumar Sangakkara or Mahel Jayawardene should have got out for before their 100s. Even allowing this Chamara Silva and Thilakaratne Dhilshan should have seen the remaining overs through. But no there were further wicket loses. This would be all OK (actually a very good score card and play) if we were playing one of the other teams in the top 8. But we weren't, we were playing Bermuda who are not even on the radar for the big teams. It is positive to see Mahela get a good knock in - has he managed to break back into form ?! And its great to see Chamara play solid till the end. I'm hoping Sri Lanka were playing with the same attitude as we do in the streets or beach back in Sri Lanka - although they say they were taking it seriously, yeah right.

Now some of the things I say above may seem like I'm putting down Bermuda (and the rest of the minnows) but I'm not. Bermuda put some serious effort in and some of the catches they took were pretty impressive. The fact is that most of the ICC ranking teams play cricket full-time, have been playing cricket for a lot lot longer, have a lot more experienced and talented players, and have a lot more resources in terms of money, time, training, personnel etc. The minnows themselves would be the first to admit that they are not expected to win a match against a ranking team and hope to win if they happen to play exceptionally well, get all the lucky breaks and the oppositions have a seriously bad day. But I don't think this gives anybody the right to put them down and talk about them like dirt or say that these minnow teams don't have a place in the World Cup. Let's remember that everybody has to start somewhere and not all the countries that hold a ranking started as such. In the early days of the World Cup I'm sure Sri Lanka were looked at similar to how Bermuda are looked at today. In fact not until we one the World Cup in 1996 were we really taken seriously. Today's minnows could be tomorrows number one. I glad some of our players have not forgotten this.

"Personally, I think it is good for more teams to be involved, but as a team it is not for us to question whether or not the smaller developing nations should be playing. Our job is to concentrate on our cricket." - Kumar Sangakkara