Why did Sri Lanka decline as a cricketing nation?

[mominsaigol]

How did they fall so far? This is the same country that produced:

A) The greatest spin hyperextension bowler of all time.
B) One of the greatest Test wicketkeeper-batters ever (debatable with a few like Gilchrist).
C) A revolutionary opener and all-rounder who was ahead of his time (Jayasuriya).

And plenty of other quality players like Dilshan, Tharanga, Malinga, and more.

This was the team that stunned Australia in the 1996 World Cup final, yet fast forward to today, and they’re a shadow of their former selves. Their last great moment was beating Australia at home in 2022, but since then, they’ve been mediocre in every format. What went wrong?

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

Genuinely how did they decline so much? This the same country that has produced

A) The greatest spin hyperextension bowler of all time.

B) The greatest test wicket keeping batter of all time (debatable with a few others like gilly)

C) the most dynamic opener and allrounder who was way ahead of his time (Jaysuria)

And many other lesser known players who were still quality like dilshan, Thranga, Malinga and a few others.

This is the same team that won a world cup against Australia in a final back in 1996, and yet flashforward to now, their a joke of a team.

Their last great moment was beating Australia at home den in 2022. After that they've been medicore in every format.

Ya main thing which i have noticed with sri lanka is their spinners looks mediocre i mean pak blinked them 2 nil and pak team is not that great vs spinners now days still beat them easily sri lanka strength has always been its spinners and sadly talent is not there anymore and batsmas likes of chandimal kusal mendis just couldn't replicate the success of sanga mahela even england if i am not wrong who is worst team of spin won 3 nil and 2 nil so you can see how big a delcine their spinners has come to.

 

[mominsaigol]

Ya main thing which i have noticed with sri lanka is their spinners looks mediocre i mean pak blinked them 2 nil and pak team is not that great vs spinners now days still beat them easily sri lanka strength has always been its spinners and sadly talent is not there anymore and batsmas likes of chandimal kusal mendis just couldn't replicate the success of sanga mahela even england if i am not wrong who is worst team of spin won 3 nil and 2 nil so you can see how big a delcine their spinners has come to.

You have to be a very crap bowling attack to let a 38 year old Khawaja who's at the end of his rope score a century against you.

Not that Khawaja was ever good. At his peak he's slightly above Azhar Ali as a test batter.

I can understand Steve smith, since he's back in form now, but the way things are going, Steve smith and Khawaja will both score double centuries tmr lol.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

You have to be a very crap bowling attack to let a 38 year old Khawaja who's at the end of his rope score a century against you.

Not that Khawaja was ever good. At his peak he's slightly above Azhar Ali as a test batter.

I can understand Steve smith, since he's back in form now, but the way things are going, Steve smith and Khawaja will both score double centuries tmr lol.

And how badly they have fallen is they missed out on champions trophy i mean can you ever imagined sri lanka who used to rule icc tounaments will sadly not be part of ct that shows they have became medicore team at all formats even Bangladesh has overtaken them unfortunately.

 

[Markhor]

It's an interesting question. We don't cover Sri Lanka cricket enough on this forum despite consisting of Asian cricket fans due to the Two Wailing Aunties of the SC in India and Pakistan who hog all the attention.

My earliest cricketing memories involve Sri Lankan spinners running through batting lineups with fielders around the bat shouting excitedly in Sinhalese

They've produced many flair and often unorthodox cricketers, and for a small nation have many proud achievements including several World Cups and Asia Cups.

Their batting is experienced and overall have the second highest Test batting average of the 2020s behind Australia. Kamindu Mendis looks a great find.

However they lack quality pacers that stay fit and injury free which hinders their competitiveness overseas.

The biggest blame goes to their administration who are full of political appointees and crooks. I was staggered to read a few years ago their Sports Minister literally approves every squad (I guess that's not political interference in ICC land).

Their FC cricket doesn't seem to be of the highest quality, and I've previously read SL commentators saying there's insufficient investment in cricket outside Colombo.

 

[mominsaigol]

And how badly they have fallen is they missed out on champions trophy i mean can you ever imagined sri lanka who used to rule icc tounaments will sadly not be part of ct that shows they have became medicore team at all formats even Bangladesh has overtaken them unfortunately.

Sri lanka is still a better team in odi then Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a better test team though.

 

[FearlessRoar]

You forgot to mention Kumar Sangakkara in the OP.

Well, I think the decline of Sri Lankan cricket started when they stopped investing in cricket development programs and when politics became constantly involved.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

They have improved a decent bit in white ball cricket.

They were rubbish back in 2019. Current white ball teams are better.

Test cricket cannot be used to judge teams anymore.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I think they are improving now and are past their struggle pace now.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

I think they are improving now and are past their struggle pace now.

yeah way better than Pakistan... they faced a decline but recovered quite well from there.

 

[Pakpak]

I loved their 1990s team. I still watch highlights of their thrashings they gave us and India. Just a fantastic team, with flair, talent and superb tenacity.

Also love Sri Lanka as a country, have met many Sri Lankans and have had a great experience every time.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

yeah way better than Pakistan... they faced a decline but recovered quite well from there.

Lol how pak won odi series in aus and sa recently come back when sri lanka even win 1 odi in those countries.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

They actually declined after 2015 CWC, Sanga and Jayawardena left such a void that nearly took a decade for them to fill it.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

They have improved a lot in the last one year, one bad day on a patta doesn't make them bad.
SriLanka has the best batting lineup in test cricket from Asian countries.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Sri lanka is still a better team in odi then Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a better test team though.

No, you really haven't seen Sri Lankan cricket recently, they won a test match in England, gave a good fight in one other match. They also whitewashed Nz in home conditions.

This is a knee jerk reaction from you.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

They probably punched above their weight for a while and that makes it look like a fall.

 

[mominsaigol]

No, you really haven't seen Sri Lankan cricket recently, they won a test match in England, gave a good fight in one other match. They also whitewashed Nz in home conditions.

This is a knee jerk reaction from you.

I have, they have declined plain and simple.

If you have the audacity to claim current sri lanka > Past sri lanka you've lost your marbles.

Read the thread carefully, they have declined since their same nation that produced murli, Sanga, Jaysuria etc

 

[Kianig89]

Like Pakistan, no fast bowler in Srilanka

 

[Bhaijaan]

Strong men create Good times
Good times create weak men
Weak men create tough times
Tough times create strong men…

Forget about stats, Sri Lanka went from men like Ranatunga, De Silva, Mahela, Sanga, Murli, Vaas to significantly inferior beta boys for a long time. Their country has been in all sort of mess. The cricket team has finally shown some resurgence in the last year or so under Jayasuriya’s coaching. They’re finally playing with some passion you could associate with Lankan teams of the past. Some strong personalities are also emerging. Maybe the cycle is repeating itself.

Don’t give me lame generic excuses like poor administration, poor domestic structure, it was always like that.

 

[pratiktc]

It isn't really a decline per se. They have had a good 12-15 yrs generation of competence and then reverted back to mean. The outlier is their golden era.

SL in late 90s had risen on back of Sanath, Aravinda, Vaas and Murali and favourable home conditions become a competitive one day side but were still a mediocre Test team.

2000s were probably their best overall time as Murali reached his peak as a world class bowler and had some support for few years from Vaas. This was also SL's batting peak era as at any point of time they had 3-4 quality batters in the team across formats with Sanga and Mahela leading way (support from Dilshan, Samaraweera etc.)

Post Murali, herath was an adequate replacement at home and with H+M+S combo SL still stayed reasonably competitive for 3-4 yrs.

Subsequently SL has struggled with strike bowling. In their history they have 1 seamer who averages sub 30 with 100+ wkts so they cannot threaten in SENA. Their current spinners are also weak and unable to run through decent teams at home. Batting wise Karunaratne, Matthews and Chandimal have been adequate but too much mediocrity from likes of Kusal and DDS means they are always just an ok team instead of a batting powerhouse

 

[sweep_shot]

They didn't groom enough youngsters I guess.

Once likes of Sanga, Mahela, Dilshan etc. retired, there was a vacuum and that vacuum is yet to be filled.

Also, corruption didn't help.

 

[Bhaijaan]

The civil was also crushed the spirits of Tamil Sri Lankans. Lack of nationalism isn’t good for sports. Look at Pakistan.

 

[sweep_shot]

The civil was also crushed the spirits of Tamil Sri Lankans. Lack of nationalism isn’t good for sports. Look at Pakistan.

They won a World Cup after Tamil Tigers were defeated. Also, most people in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese. So, you are wrong.

Real reasons were corruption and not grooming enough young cricketers.

 

[Bhaijaan]

They won a World Cup after Tamil Tigers were defeated. Also, most people in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese. So, you are wrong.

Real reasons were corruption and not grooming enough young cricketers.

Who was Mutiah

 

[kron]

They won a World Cup after Tamil Tigers were defeated. Also, most people in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese. So, you are wrong.

Real reasons were corruption and not grooming enough young cricketers.

They would never have defeated Tamil Tigers if Indian government don’t help them. But yea corruption is rife there.

 

[Pakpak]

1996 winner
2007 final
2009 final
2011 final
2012 final
2014 winner

Thats a great record
In another life they would have been on an insane winning run had they won more finals

 

[shariqnoor]

Decline in school cricket. Firstly their school cricket got suspended in 2008 due to the Tamil Tigers war and then the quality declined as quantity was preferred. There were extreme mismatches in schools. A strong school used to get paired with a joke of a school team. A single player used to score 400 in a match.

Sri Lankan cricket always depended on school cricket just as Pakistan invariably produced good cricketers through club cricket. Once club cricket died in Pakistan, you see how much the talent levels have dropped. Same with Sri Lanka with regards to school cricket.