Oh, for a Kulasekara in England

Sri Lanka hit by injuries to Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera and having Shaminda Eranga reported for a suspect bowling action on their current tour of England would have dearly loved Nuwan Kulasekara in their line-up for the third and final Test beginning at Lord’s on Thursday.

Unfortunately for them Kulasekara with 21 Test caps and 48 Test wickets behind him announced his retirement from the longer version of the game at the beginning of the month to focus his attention on the sport’s shorter formats in which he is considered a greater threat with the ball.

It was at Lord’s that Kulasekara made his highest Test score of 64 – the only half-century he scored in that format, and helped Sri Lanka earn a honourable draw against England after being made to follow-on 359 runs in arrears.

That remarkable rearguard action took place on the 2006 tour when Sri Lanka shot out for 192 in their first innings in reply to England’s mammoth total of 551-6 declared made a tremendous fight back to deprive the host of a likely victory. Sri Lanka eventually ended on a handsome 537 for nine wickets having batted a marathon 199 overs and keeping England on the field for two and a half days.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene played a captain’s knock of 119 in six hours, but after his dismissal at 371 Sri Lanka were still not safe from defeat. It was here that Sri Lanka’s late order and the tail showed guts and gumption.

Tillakaratne Dilshan batting at number seven scored 69 off 145 balls, but after his dismissal at 421-8 Sri Lanka were not out of danger yet.

It was at this point that Kulasekara joined Chaminda Vaas to frustrate England and earn Sri Lanka a creditable draw. The pair put on 105 for ninth wicket with Kulasekara’s share in the partnership being a gallant 64 off 133 balls.

He defied the England bowlers comprising Hoggard, Flintoff, Mahmood, Plunkett, Collingwood and Panesar for 189 minutes.

When Kulasekara was finally dismissed Vaas left unbeaten on 50.

The Cricinfo match report stated: “When England enforced the follow-on nobody expected them to need a third new ball; even this was repelled by the lower-order. Panesar was introduced with a relatively hard ball and Kulasekara twice lofted him over midwicket, the second of which brought up a maiden Test fifty off 92 balls and also carried Sri Lanka past 500.

In the first innings Kulasekara’s 29 was nothing more than an annoyance, his second effort turned into one of the more memorable rearguards and the highest score by a Sri Lankan No. 10.”

Kulasekara’s final Test appearance for Sri Lanka was also against England at Lord’s two years ago.

What Test cricket will be missing is Kulasekara’s lovely smooth action which helps him to hurl the ball at a lively pace, getting enough seam movement both ways to trouble the batsman. His skills lie in his ability to produce inswing and he is well known for his moderate nature to the batsmen, seldom being overly aggressive. He is regarded as one of the best swing bowler’s currently playing cricket.

Kulasekara came of age in the year 2008, when he took 47 wickets – which propelled him to the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers in March 2009. The retirement of Vaas and the inconsistency of Lasith Malinga proved to be a boon for Kulasekara as he leapfrogged them to emerge as the strike bowler of his side.

Despite lacking express pace Kulasekara made the most of his ability to swing the new ball and has been a standout performer in ODIs as his 186 wickets from 173 matches prove.

So it is no surprise that the 33-year-old fast bowler has decided to continue to play for Sri Lanka in the two shorter formats – 50 overs and T20.

In the present context of what the team is undergoing in England, Sri Lanka would dearly love to have someone of Kulasekara’s ability in the side not only to boost their bowling line up but also the tail which the current lot apart from Rangana Herath have fallen short of delivering.