One of my favourite cricketers, Martin Crowe, gave a very good explanation on a talk show with Harsha Bhogle a few years ago, about how on earth he managed to get out to Arjuna Ranatunga (16 test wickets) after making 299 at Wellington in 1991.
His answer was brilliant and, to me, it is applicable in each and every aspect of our lives. I'm not quoting him, but he said something like he was thinking about how he would celebrate becoming the first New Zealander to score a triple century, about how the crowd would cheer him, etc. He wasn't focussing on the next ball. His aim should have been to score a run (at least) if the ball was there to be hit, or to block it out if it was a good ball. He wasn't in the present, though. As a result, he got out, to Ranatunga.
Sri Lanka, if Asantha de Mel, their chief selector is to be believed, rested Vaas and Murali for the game against Australia to ensure that the two bowlers were preserved for the finals against Australia.
"It was a decision, a ploy, to keep our key strike bowlers away from the Australian game. We wanted to bring the players out for the finals with Australia. We did not want to give the Australians a free dress rehearsal. We are saving our armoury for the finals."
de Mel obviously contradicted Jayawardene who said earlier that the duo had been rested to ensure that they didn't aggravate existing niggling injuries. I've admired Sri Lanka's cricket throughout the tournament. But if what de Mel says is right, I hope they don't even get to the final. I'm not necessarily saying so, since teams can have specific strategies. But you never assume you're going to get to a final, especially when you need to win a semi-final to get to the final.
de Mel's comments would undoubtedly fire up South Africa and New Zealand, assuming that South Africa play Australia and New Zealand play Sri Lanka like I wrote earlier today, since he implies that Sri Lanka will defeat New Zealand and Australia will do likewise to South Africa.
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