Mahela Showed Style and Grace in his Leadership

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Sreelata YellamrazuFeb 16 2009

by Trevor Chesterfield

It was a scene, briefly caught by the television camera, yet it highlighted as well as reflected the hidden drama of a growing personal dilemma.

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There was Mahela Jayawardene's wife, Christine, displaying her anguish moments after his dismissal without scoring in the triangular final at Mirpur in Bangladesh last month. Forget that Sri Lanka won a low-scoring game thanks to Muttiah Muralitharan's astonishing batting heroics.

What that TV picture represented is how Christine Jayawardene, always a great supporter, was reflecting her agonised understanding at Mahela's dismissal. It became more meaningful in the light of what transpired last week when he decided to quit as captain. There would have involved long and deep discussions between the two, as well as with his family.

Being as caring as they are, her display is not an isolated event. As a man who always displayed dignity, long before handed the captaincy role, he is a player who despite criticism to the contrary, always kept in touch with the grassroots of the game. And developed as a streetwise captain as well.

It had been through his leadership skills that in November 2006, he received the International Cricket Council's captaincy award, which he dedicated to the team. And you don't win such awards without good reason, as competition would be tough.

Yet those past players and media notables on the ICC panel who judged him felt he was better than Australia's Ricky Ponting, India's Rahul Dravid and England's Michael Vaughan. In 2006 that was a tough trio to overcome. It also highlighted the type of captain he is.

During the twelve months under review between September 1, 2005 and August 31 2006, the ICC panel had much to consider.

There was the highest Test innings by a Sri Lankan of 374 (against South Africa in Colombo in July), putting together a world Test record partnership of 624 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara in that same game. A match-winning century at Saravanamuttu Oval against South Africa in the fourth innings of that game earned a 2-0 series success.

There was the appointment as captain for the 2006 tour of England when Marvan Atapattu fell injured, and led his side to an impressive 5-0 limited overs series whitewash of their hosts. No one can ignore, either, his two remarkable Test innings at Lord's: 61 and 119, and crucial as part of Sri Lanka's rearguard efforts to retrieve a match from an almost impossible position to secure an unlikely draw.

When he received that captaincy award, it was not at all about Mahela Jayawardene but about team effort and performance. Recall if you will, these words spoken in Mumbai that November evening.

'(Winning this) means the team has done well. As you all know, the captain is as good as his team,' he explained. 'The whole team deserves this award; they have worked very hard. I am still a stand-in captain. Hopefully Marvan Atapattu can regain his full fitness and take over as captain.'

In making the award, the ICC had designed it to recognise not only the most successful leader. The criteria they used is that it is also intended to reward the player who has displayed excellent tactical awareness, has best fulfilled obligations to the game as set out by the ICC and the Laws of Cricket and has best demonstrated the spirit of cricket during the period under review. His leadership style also led to Sri Lanka winning the ICC Spirit of Cricket awards in 2007 and 2008.

None of this was mentioned in the fallout when he felt the time had arrived to hand the leadership baton to another. As he mentioned once late last year, when it is time to go (as captain), he would know. As has long been known, he has set high standards. His ODI stats for 2008/09 did not measure up to the levels and the reaction of his wife showed her inner anguish at his dismissal.

There has never been any of the hubris in his approach that local (and on occasions) foreign critics so often try to use as part of their attacks, or in some cases use other sources to attempt to justify their own comments. Captaincy at any level is tough; at international level, it is the sort of cutting edge which you either have or do not.

If he felt that 212 runs in 15 innings at 14.13 in the 2008/09 season is a good enough reason to step aside; it explains how he has placed the team first and not carried on and batted his way back to the sort of Test form for which he is noted. It takes a lot of courage to take this step and explains how senior team members expressed surprise at his decision. Yet as he explained in that award ceremony in 2006, it is a team game and no one is bigger than the team.

As giant West Indian, Ian Bishop agreed, Mahela became a clever captain, one who knows how to exploit weak areas and develop strong ones. He had become thoughtful and created bowling changes to suit the occasion to take wickets when none seemed to be on offer.

My own association with Mahela goes back to 1995 and South Africa's under24 tour of the island where he scored a century (160 at Bloomfield) after all but quitting the game because of the death of his brother Dishal through cancer.

Stylish, athletic and a thinking player, his silky skills and strokeplay often suggests that he is inclined to display a too casual approach when seemingly in control. This is an illusion. What is disappointing is when his hecklers sit through what is a quality half-century or classy three-figure score; they allow their negative opinions to surface: more muted perhaps but there is this emphasis that he should do it more often. Yet an examination of his record suggests otherwise.

Also, having experienced the dual captaincy story first-hand when Hashan Tillakaratne and Atapattu filled the Test and ODI roles, he knew it is not a sacrificial road he is prepared to travel. The politics are bad enough without being encumbered by such machinations.

Now he heads for Pakistan on a final tour as captain and is hoping that at least he can provide a final flourish before stepping back into the team as an ordinary member.

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