Sri Lanka And England: A Controversial Past

In the gloom of the Edgbaston weather, there was a moment which sparked a talking point in the fifth ODI. In the 43rd over, Sachithra Senanayake mankaded Jos Buttler. Apparently, Buttler was warned twice which was fair enough. When he did it for the third time, Senanayake knocked the bails off at the bowler's end and the appeal was made. The umpires conferred with Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews and he did not withdraw the appeal. Buttler was given the marching orders and Edgbaston roared with boos.

It was interesting to note that Senanayake was in the midst of this situation. Prior to the match, there was some tension on the surface when it emerged that his action was reported after the conclusion of the fourth ODI at Lord's. The furore generated by the British press centred on only one broad fact which was: The move was technically sound but not in the spirit of the game. Now, cricket has often been caught in the crossroads when it comes to technical execution and spirit of the game. This can be a subject matter for later.

The controversy generated by the off-spinner takes our memory back to that warm and sunny day in Adelaide during the Carlton and United tri-series in 1999 between England and Sri Lanka. Umpire Ross Emerson no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan and signalled that he was called for chucking. Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga did not appreciate it and play was held up for 14 minutes as Ranatunga led his players off the park. After heated consultations with the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, play went on but the bad blood did not end there. Darren Gough head-butted Roshan Mahanama after the batsman was apparently trying to obstruct the bowler's path while taking a run. Alec Stewart also did it and he went one step further by telling Ranatunga that his behavior as a country captain was appalling.

In this backdrop, the accusations came from both sides. Umpire Emerson went on to say that Muralitharan's action was worse than ever but the ICC had cleared the bowler of chucking. The media, in general, was critical of Emerson for pursuing his own agenda.

There have been further instances of controversy when England and Sri Lanka squared off in a three-Test series in 2001. In that series, bad umpiring from all the officials, most notably from BC Cooray in the second Test at Kandy, led to a breakdown in behavior from players in both teams. The moment which grabbed plenty of eyeballs came when Kumar Sangakkara and Michael Atherton were involved in a heated argument with Atherton wagging his finger at Sangakkara. Apparently, Atherton claimed that Sangakkara called the England team cheats.

When one looks at the events in Edgbaston, the issue is not on whether Senanayake had broken the law. Clearly, he and Sri Lanka did no wrong in mankading Buttler. Once bitten, twice shy is a sign for individuals to be careful. Repeating the offence a third time, even after getting warned in the previous over, was a clear sign that it was time for Buttler to go. England captain Alastair Cook said that a line has been crossed. However, he would do well to remember this line from British novellist George Jenkins' book, 'The Strange Case of Mr. Challoner'. In that, the now famous line was said when a crime was committed, 'The But(t)ler did it.'

Senanayake and Sri Lanka should be commended for this action. England, and more urgently, Buttler needs to introspect and look carefully at the laws. It is clear: Sri Lanka were right and England were in the wrong. What is your opinion?