SL coach hits out at selection policy

When a coach fronts up the media twice after effectively just 11 days of cricketing action, then it’s a definite indicator of team’s poor performance.

Most coaches like to be behind the scenes, letting the players hog all the limelight in good times. And as a responsible head of the support staff, a coach takes all brickbats when the going isn’t good. Nic Pothas, Sri Lanka’s interim coach, for the second time in this series faced tough volleys from the media, particularly the local. And in an exasperating tone, Pothas said that he felt hurt, embarrassed and angry at the team’s performance.

“It (the emotion) swings between hurt and embarrassment,” Pothas said following Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket loss in the first ODI against India here on Sunday. “Emotionally you get angry. You get frustrated. Am I angry with the players? Absolutely not. The players work as hard as anyone can ask of them. They’ve been superb. Support staff has been out of this world. Brilliant. They work endless hours with planning and helping the boys. You can’t fault anyone within that changing room. Yes, we didn’t play our best cricket today. That’s pretty obvious. You do get angry. To say “too many cooks” is probably accurate,” he said perhaps in reference to too much interference in the running of the team.
 
In a further indication of all was not well with Sri Lanka cricket, Pothas said he would have set deadline to end the team’s poor displays if it was just up to him. Rampant nepotism and individual whims and fancies in team selections have come in for heavy criticism and the Lankan fans made their disappointment clear, going on a snap protest and holding up home team’s departure to hotel after the first ODI on Sunday. 

“I would like to answer that question, because if it was up to me and we had control over what we did, then we could probably give you a timeline,” he noted. “It’s a question you probably need to ask a few other people as well. For me, if we were left alone and you could work with this group of players, you could get some stability and consistency over a period of six months. You’d see massive improvements. These are seriously gifted players. They are very, very gifted players. You give them a little bit of time – you give them a little bit of love, a little bit of care, and build up that confidence, you’ll see results quick,” he elaborated.

Lanka have been hit by a few injuries in this series but Pothas didn’t accept it as a reason for team’s losses.

“If you look around the world at sports teams, and if you look at the percentage of players that is acceptable to become injured, we are well within those limits,” he stressed. “So yes, it’s frustrating when you see players get injured. Some of them are injuries that you cannot control. Asela Gunaratne’s thumb (in the first Test) you can’t control. And fast bowlers do get injured. They work hard. What they do is tough. But if you look at our percentage of injuries we have for the size of the group of players that we are trying to service, we are much better than the percentage,” he analysed.