As “Our Boys” played on…
“How many ICC officials does it take to change a light bulb? At least a committee of five, none of whom will have read the instruction manual, but each of whom will have a louder and more forthright opinion than the other about how best to do it. If that reads like the start of a bad joke, then it is nothing compared to its ending. Somehow a team of four of the most experienced officials in the game, plus a former Test captain in Jeff Crowe, managed to grab hold of the most luminous event in the world cricket calendar, and fumble so hopelessly that they ended up fusing the entire building.” – www.cricinfo.com
Well for disappointed Sri Lankan cricket fans the bungling by the ICC officials was only the tip of the ice-burg. Whilst we would have all loved it if our guys could have brought home the Cup, for me the bigger disappointment was that the Aussies made world cup history against us! A hat-trick win for the Aussies was just too much to bear. I mean, our guys have performed brilliantly throughout the series and fought their way to the final. That alone was achievement enough for me. If only we had lost to any other country on this planet! Sigh…but, I guess it was just not meant to be.
Our super solid bowling attack failed miserably to penetrate the ‘wall-like’ Aussie batting line-up! Once we eventually made a breakthrough, it was a massive Gilchrist innings too late! Even though our batting got off to quite a okay start, the ominous total looming overhead was always a tough ask, especially in a mere 38 overs. 282 is generally a tough ask even in a 50 over match so we always knew it would be quite a challenge to say the least. All that being said, there was a flicker of home when our beloved “Sana-Boy” started to get on fire in his all too familiar style and Sanga joined him in a not so characteristic partnership. However, once again it was not meant to be I guess.
Worse than the defeat though was the goings on in Colombo whilst the second innings was in play. The horror movie that was Saturday night, starring the Sri Lanka Air Force and the LTTE with cameo roles being played by the passengers and pilot of a commercial flight and random civilians in their houses. Call me a sheltered urban dweller who is yet to witness war in all its fury; an everyday reality for millions residing in our country. But, Saturday night was nothing short of a horrific embarrassment. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means criticizing our forces, as they are carrying out orders after all. I’m also more than well aware that if not for their selfless efforts I wouldn’t even be seated here writing this column.
My criticism therefore is directed more towards those wielding power in our great land; for not having any substantial strategy to counter act a surprise air-strike (apart from putting Colombo in darkness that is). From the time we obtained first hand knowledge of the LTTE’s air power, our ‘masterminds’ should have got cracking on how best to handle such a situation. What happened instead however was appalling. The whole of Colombo was under the impression that a bomb could land in their backyard, irrespective of where they were residing. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I would have found it difficult to believe it when I saw flaming balls of red shooting up into the sky in the direction of what could only have been a commercial plane flying high up in the sky, fortunately considerably out of harms way! We later discovered that this was in fact a diverted flight which hadn’t been communicated to the Air Force. I shudder to think what may have happened if that plane was flying any lower. It seemed so surreal…
We got news of the whole of Colombo being put under a black-out and the sound of heavy firing and skies being ablaze, from as far as Ratmalana spanning across to the Galle Face green and Union Place. For those of us still ‘in the light’ this could only mean one of two things. The whole of Colombo was under siege or the Air Force was randomly shooting in hope of a target. We heard rumours of a LTTE aircraft dropping bombs, of an air strike between the forces and the LTTE but, there was no official report as to what exactly was taking place until after the entire fiasco had taken place. Even then, all that was said was a mere crawler running at the foot of the television that two suspect LTTE aircrafts were spotted and that the Air Force had regained control over the situation.
Two weeks hence, as I look back at the happenings of the recent past I’ve come to the not-so-happy conclusion that we as a people are too obnoxiously resilient! ‘Come hail or high water’ we get on with our lives. As good as this state of mind can be when dealing with most matters, there must be some exception to this rule shouldn’t there? Be it the whole Gilchrist’s ‘questionable’ squash ball affair or the Air Force fireworks on the World Cup finals night, us Sri Lankans power through!
What’s with this overwhelming desire we seem to have to bounce back to everyday life as soon as possible, irrespective of the gravity of what has taken place? Must humanity be completely stripped from humankind in order to survive? I refuse to believe this of us. We must feel for something…anything…surely the war couldn’t have taken such a toll on us? Or has it?
Ho…hum…so I guess it back to life now huh?
