In this fifth and final interview with Roy Dias in our segment ‘Lords at Lord’s,’ he speaks on the wonderful bond the 1998 Sri Lankan team had built up and believes that unity helped the side to overcome some tough moments. Dias also says the understanding he had with captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Manager Ranjit Fernando helped the team to reach great heights.

by Rex Clementine

(Continued from yesterday)

He goes on to state that during Sri Lanka’s 1998-99 tour of Australia, after Ranatunga staged a dramatic protest following the no-balling of Muttiah Muralitharan by umpire Ross Emerson, he (Ranatunga) went through quite a few hardships and ultimately the case wasn’t against Muralitharan, but Ranatunga. Dias also feels that off-the-field happenings may have had an adverse effect on Ranatunga’s batting.

After a highly successful tour of England in 1998, a disastrous campaign followed during the ICC Cricket World Cup, less than a year later, when Sri Lanka defended the title in England. While underlining the reasons for the poor show, Dias reveals that the board told him that his services will no longer be required in the aftermath of the World Cup. His successor approached him to findout what was awaiting him, on his return home.

Here are the excerpts:

Question: That 1998 tour of England was a feather in your cap, as the team won both the tri-nation tournament and the Test Match. Would you say that the myth that foreign coaches were the best that suited Sri Lankan cricket was broken due to that success?

Roy: I wouldn’t say that. We as coaches are there to help each other. I don’t want to say so and so is good or bad or whatever. Once you start playing at Test level, what requires is motivation. You can’t change the style at that level. You have to encourage them and talk to them and give them confidence. Earlier, when you asked me about the subject of technique, I feel the coaches should be keen about technique, because that’s where the base is. Earlier, when we played, we had a lot of guys coming straight from school and putting pressure on us. We had to perform. If we didn’t, out we went. When Duleep, Sidath and I were the senior lot in the national team, I remember, we had guys like Aravinda, Arjuna, Roshan (Mahanama), Hashan (Tillakaratne) and Gura (Asanka Gurusinha); five great players trying to take our places. We had to perform. But now, maybe not even a couple of guys from the Under-19 level can walk into the national side. Earlier, when we played, we had a cabinet full of great players who could walk into the side. But now, that’s where we must focus.

Question: In the 1998 tour of England, Arjuna Ranatunga was the captain of the side with Ranjit Fernando as manager. How did that combination work?

Roy: Arjuna respected Ranjit a lot. Ranjit is a thorough gent and he knew how to work with Arjuna. He was always there to help us and the important thing is that he gave Arjuna a lot of confidence. There was a time when Aravinda was taken off the vice-captaincy. Both of us went and spoke to Aravinda to explain things. Arjuna treated Ranjit like a father and everything was spoken not outside, but inside. And whatever that was discussed within the team never went outside. Then when we discussed things, it wasn’t a case of the three of us, captain, manager and the coach discussing matters, but we brought in the whole group. At this level, you don’t have to tell people what has to be done. They know what to do. In junior teams, you may have to tell them, but not at the top level. Even when I was coaching Nepal, we had meetings and we discussed things and it’s up to the captain to decide what to do. I am not the sort of a person who will go to the boundary line and give messages. If I want to send a message, I will do that when there is a water break. The captain is there to run the show. I feel you must allow the captain to do whatever he wants. Ultimately, if something goes wrong, the captain takes the blame. I never told Arjuna, do this or do that.

Question: What was Arjuna like as a captain on and off the field?

Roy: He is a very strong character. Whatever decision he took, he stood by it and the players knew it too. His strong leadership qualities are one reason why we won the World Cup in 1996. No one expected Sri Lanka to win the World Cup at that point. Talking of the World Cup win, people talk of Aravinda (de Silva), Sanath (Jayasuriya) and Kalu (Romesh Kaluwitharana) for playing a major role, but one guy who doesn’t get mentioned in the same breadth is Asanka Gurusinha. He was the guy who stood there in the middle at number three and delivered. He’s the unsung hero of that World Cup campaign. We had a fantastic fielding side too. In 2011, we all expected the team to win the World Cup and that put pressure on the boys, but there weren’t any expectations in 1996.

The way Arjuna stood up for Murali was amazing. After that England series, we toured Australia later that year and I know what Arjuna went through when all the trouble was taking place. You see, ultimately things turned out in such a way that there was nothing to do with Mural, but it was Arjuna’s baby after he pointed the finger at the umpire. Murali’s issue ultimately became a case against Arjuna. I must say, at that point, the then Cricket Board Chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala stood by Arjuna as well and he got the best lawyers. Ultimately, we won the case.

Question: How did he eventually come out of that case?

Roy: He (Arjuna) went through a lot of hardships. At the height of the chucking controversy in Australia, there were official functions and he couldn’t come on time for those functions. He was late and he used to have a quick bite and get back because the lawyers were waiting for him. He went through hell in Australia. Arjuna, you know, is a bubbly character, but on that tour, you could tell the toll it was taking on him, because he was no more that bubbly character. His face was pale and he was down. It was very tough for him and I must say Ranjit Fernando as the manager backed him to the hilt.

Question: Did that affect his batting?

Roy: Maybe, yes. I know that Arjuna is a strong character, but definitely mentally he was down. Sometimes till 11 or 12 in the night he was in the room with lawyers discussing things and those were hard days in Australia. It wasn’t easy. Here we had come on a tour and he was sitting with lawyers and discussing the next step to be taken. The day the case was called, we had a day off and Thilanga also went with Arjuna. He called me and asked; “where are the boys?” I said that the boys were in their rooms. Then he told me that the verdict will be out in an hour’s time and wanted all the boys to come to the ground. The verdict was given at the Adelaide ground and I went to all the rooms and the boys were there. I told the boys we are leaving for the ground in 10 minutes and we got some taxis and all of us were at the ground. Arjuna was there and you could see his face. He was gone. It was so tense for us also. We were there for one hour or so. Suddenly, Thilanga came and said we have won the case and that was the time for celebrations. I must say the team stuck together. Those are fantastic memories you know.

Question: A few months after that Australian tour, Sri Lanka had a disastrous campaign in the 1999 World Cup in England, crashing out in the first round. What went wrong?

Roy: I think all the batsmen, starting from Sanath to Aravinda to all the other batsmen, no one scored. Then we expected a lot from Murali, but he never fired. Everyone had a bad tour. It’s unbelievable. I must say that there was nothing wrong with the team or anything.

Question: The previous summer in England, Sri Lanka had done exceptionally well to win both the tri-nation tournament and the one off Test Match. You were the coach on that occasion and less than one year later you were taken off from the position after crashing out in the first round. How disappointing was it?

Roy: It was sad in the sense that just after one tournament, my name was taken off. I was appointed when Thilanga was Chairman and I was taken off when an Interim Board was there. The sad part is that they should have called me and said “thank you, now we are looking for another management.” I knew Dav was coming. Sri Lankans knew through the papers. I thought the people running cricket at that time should have spoken to us. Letting us know through the papers was wrong, I thought. Personally, I will not do that to another Sri Lankan. Look, I didn’t have a bad stint in the end. I only had a bad World Cup. Overall, we had a good run.

Question: How did you know that Dav Whatmore was coming?

Roy: During the 1999 World Cup, before the last game, Dav came and told me that he had been asked to coach the Sri Lankan side again. He said, “but I don’t know what to do, because you are there.” I told him to take it. I knew after the 1999 Word Cup I was gone. So I told him to take it. Dav once told me that there’s no point being a good coach, but you have to be a lucky coach. How true.