''Dilhara Fernando can be a phenomenon''

THE SRI LANKANS have set their sights firmly on World Cup 2003, have an exciting young crop of pacemen, and a wise head to guide them. Rumesh Ratnayake, a deceptively quick customer for the Lankans in the mid-80s and the early 90s, is the fast bowling coach of the National side. And, as he reveals in this interview he is enjoying every bit of his role.

Question: Rumesh, can you tell us about your role in guiding the youngsters?

Answer: I was handling fast bowling for the past three years. Only now have I been named the fast bowling coach. We needed information on the various aspects of fast bowling. The need was finally recognised.

Q: The Lankans have a fine pace attack these days, with a lot of youngsters coming in. Yet there is a senior bowler who continues to deliver. Chaminda Vaas is still going strong.

A: Chaminda Vaas is the crunch bowler. He is the one who has shown the way for the others. He is not a big guy, is short in stature, but has worked and trained very hard. He is hungry for success, at the same time he is not greedy. There are now so many youngsters who want to emulate him. He is the ideal role model.

Q: And Dilhara Fernando is a very exciting prospect indeed.

A: There is 20 per cent more in Dilhara. The 20 per cent in technique, swing, control, and movement. If he does that he would be alongside Glenn McGrath as a great fast bowler. He can be a phenomenon.

Q: What is the extra 20 per cent that he needs?

A: Fast bowling has a lot to do with proper technique and proper training. It has a lot to do with rhythm, balance and timing. Dilhara was arching his body at delivery point. When you jump, you try to put your left-leg across at delivery point. You are arching your whole body, along with the leg. The head falls. Two steps before is what you have to sort out. We asked him to jump straight-go up and go down. Dilhara knows he has to get this straight. Also his front arm, I am not happy with. It should come down as a short lever, whereas now it comes down as a long lever. He will have to work gradually on that. When he finishes, he will be at least a yard quicker, and that would be very fast.

Q: Left-arm paceman Nuwan Zoysa is a key bowler too, but seems so injury prone. Now he is down with a stress fracture of his ankle.

A: He's a bit like Bruce Reid. Thanks to Alex (Kontouri) he's been looked after well. Otherwise, he would have just come and gone. Each one of us is born differently. Different bone structure, different muscle power. We might not see more than another three or four years from Nuwan Zoysa. He is a strong lad, has worked hard, but has some in-born difficulties.

Q: Suresh Perera is another cricketer you have been working a lot with?

A: I believe there is another 40 per cent left in Suresh Perera. He had a lot of pace. He has now lost his rhythm and timing. With his batting ability, he could emerge as one of the finest all- rounders. One of my happiest moments will be when I get the best out of Suresh Perera. He has so much ability.

Q: How important is aggression in a fast bowler?

A: If aggression within you is going to help you, take it. Personally I believe that aggression is not something that should be showed. It should instead be in the ball you deliver.

Q: You have come to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in the capacity of a coach. So many of the young Lankan pacemen have benefited from the wonderful facility there.

A: We are extremely grateful to the MRF Pace Foundation. Mr. Mammen has been very supportive of cricket in Sri Lanka. And Dennis Lillee is the ideal coach. I have learnt so much from him. Apart from being a great fast bowler, he is a great teacher as well. I never thought that one day I would get to work with him. T.A. Sekar has been very helpful too at the MRF.

Q: The Lankan pace attack was seen in good light in the Coca Cola Triangular series ?

A: They grew with every game. I pointed out to them, the importance of slower ball, more variety and they put all that in the match. The experience you have of playing the game at the highest level helps you out as the coach. This is very important. In the final though it was the batsmen who won the game for us. They were brilliant.

Q: During the training sessions, the young fast bowlers seem so relaxed with you. What is the trick?

A: Now, the school teacher-student kind of relationship is gone. That is the difference from the days I played. What I missed, I would like to give to the youngsters. They are free to ask me whatever they want. I am one of them.

Q: You had a pretty career yourself, a bowler the opposition respected.

A: I had 73 wickets from 23 Tests. I really enjoyed playing the game. I would not have given up that life for anything. Even if I had the opportunity to become a doctor, an engineer, the Prime Minister of a country, I would have said `No.' Representing Sri Lanka was the most important thing.

Q: What is the single biggest factor that enabled Lanka to become a force in the 90s.

A: Consistency. That is the main difference. Arjuna Ranatunga really handled the side well. Aravinda, Gurusinghe, Mahanama, Tillekaratne, Sanath, all of them came though around the same time and this made a huge difference.

And Murali was the biggest gift to Lankan cricket. He is an absolute phenomenon. I have never seen a spinner like Murali, against whom no batsman was comfortable. Vaas also made a difference.

Q: The most memorable moment in your career?

A: Obviously beating India at the P. Sara Stadium in '85. That was Sri Lanka's first victory in Test cricket. I took nine wickets in the game, and took a return catch off Kapil Dev, jumping on my right hand, that was dislocated a year ago. It was a great moment.

Q: Your hostile spell against the West Indians in the WCC series is still talked about. The West Indians were rattled by a pace bowler for once.

A: It was Melbourne in '85. It was also the quickest wicket I had played on. We were shot out for 130 odd with Holding and Marshall bowling very fast.

Then, the first ball I bowled, I saw the ball fly. I then went flat out. They were also not wearing helmets. I struck Lloyd and Gomes on their heads. I would have rather taken their wickets.

Q: The greatest fast bowler you have seen?

A: Wasim Akram is the greatest fast bowler I have seen, I feel he is the greatest fast bowler ever. I know this is a strong statement to make but I will stand by it. On a placid track, he would keep the batsmen guessing. He has so much variety.

All the six balls in an over would be different. Had all the catches been taken off his bowling, he would have had more than 500 victims by now. My all-time hero is John Snow. But I have never met or seen him. He was my childhood hero too.

Probably it was because I liked his name. When I was small I used to listen to cricket commentary, England vs Australia. Those days, the commentary made us imagine things. Snow got a lot of wickets in those matches.

Q: The shoulder injury put an abrupt end to your career. It must have been extremely frustrating.

A: The shoulder injury happened just four days before the '92 World Cup in a practice game against Pakistan in Sydney. I was very disappointed for a long time. I gave everything to come back. I came back during the Hero Cup, but the pain returned. I had to go.

Q: What has cricket taught you about life.

A: It has made me conscious of the other person's need. It also taught me camaraderie. Taught me to be content, be thankful about things.

The greatest thing was meeting people and making new friends. Whether they were rich or poor. Cricket has been everything to me.

S. DINAKAR

from Colombo

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