Didn’t you used to be… Arjuna Ranatunga

The rotund figure of Arjuna Ranatunga was a permanent fixture in the Sri Lanka team from his debut in 1982 until his retirement in 2000. He may not have been a natural athlete, but there cannot have been a more important player in Sri Lankan cricket since their Test inception 25 years ago.

Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has set more records and Aravinda de Silva stroked more runs, but Ranatunga became one of one-day cricket’s best improvisers and a shrewd captain who added bite and a will to win to Sri Lankan flair.

He led the country to their finest-ever triumph when beating Australia in the 1996 World Cup final, spurred on by memories of merciless beatings at the hands of the Australians in previous years. He even struck the winning runs in his 47 not out.

“The advantage was that I started in 1982 and I saw the treatment we got,” recalls Ranatunga, who played in 93 Tests and 269 one-day internationals.

“Every time we went to Australia and New Zealand we got beaten in three or four days and they used to say we were a good cricket team but they were the stars. We wanted to be a threat to them. If you are not a threat they are not bothered. We were talented and a good cricket nation but we never believed we could win overseas.

“When we beat New Zealand in Napier in ’95 that was the time when some of our players realised we could beat New Zealand and Australia in their own grounds. I got satisfaction beating any country, but especially Australia.”

Ranatunga, now 43, says his team only realistically hoped to reach the semi-finals Instead they won every match they played, thrashing England in the quarter-finals, India in the semis and Australia in the final.

It is no surprise that Ranatunga, the man who led his team off the field in protest at Murali being no-balled for throwing in a match at Adelaide in 1999, is now as passionate in his beliefs in the world of politics. An MP for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, he was for a time Deputy Sports Minister but is now on the back benches again. He was a member of a cricket board advisory committee until earlier this year, when he quit in protest at how the Board did not consult the former players on the panel enough before making decisions.

It’s hard to keep up with the latest committees in Sri Lanka, such is the volatility of their turnover. This is not lost on Ranatunga, whose understanding of cricket administration and politics in Sri Lanka is such that he is keen for his son, Dhyan, to pursue a cricket career in England after studying at Dulwich School.

Dhyan, a right-hand opening bat and wicketkeeper who can also bowl leg spin, began playing when he was four. He was overlooked by Surrey only because they were sceptical that he would seek to learn his trade and then return to Sri Lanka afterwards.

“I would have no problem if he wanted to play for England,” Ranatunga says. “I personally would prefer him to play for England than Sri Lanka.

“I’d love to see him play for Sri Lanka but with the political set-up, corruption in cricket and Arjuna Ranatunga being his father, it would be difficult for him.

“In England he’s just a normal child. He’s respected because he’s good enough. Here, there will be people who bear grudges. That’s normal in this country. That’s one of the reasons I took him to England.”

You might think Ranatunga would be the perfect modern day players’ union boss, fighting for player power, fair pay and justice. Curiously, he is quite the opposite and appears content that he had his career when he did, at a time when money and politics were largely absent from the game and when the spirit of cricket was still pure.

“When money gets involved it can kill the game,” he says. “In 1996, just before the final, I received this fax from the cricket board. It said if you take a wicket you get this much money, if you score so many runs you get this much. I was so angry that the board would distract the team’s focus.

“I spoke to the vice-captain, the manager and then the team. Murali came over to me, took this note and threw it in the dustbin. If that happened now the players would take photocopies and put it in their files.”

This almost bitter attitude towards the way the game has drifted is further evident in his memories of a bygone age – like the 1984 Test at Lord’s, when Sri Lanka drew and three of their batsmen scored centuries.

“We won their respect,” Ranatunga says. “They only printed enough tickets for three days. Ian Botham and David Gower carried beers into our dressing room and said, ‘Have a drink with us’. Ian was in our room every day. I was still a schoolboy at the time. I preferred to sit next to David Gower because he was a left-hander like me.”

Ranatunga’s opinions will no doubt be sought by the media during England’s tour, and why not? He’s one of the most perceptive thinkers on the game, while he was never worried about speaking out.

His comments on the Darrell Hair and Inzamam-ul-Haq spat last year are especially interesting, though we must remember that he is biased on this topic: Hair was the first to no-ball Murali for throwing.

“It was difficult to talk to him (Hair),” Ranatunga said. “We were brought up in a different culture in Asia. When we were playing with Dickie Bird or David Shepherd and you’re bowling, after an LBW appeal has been turned down you might say, ‘Missing leg stump?’ It’s an education.

“But some of these umpires are like teachers. Some players’ behaviour gets provoked because of the umpires. If you take Dickie Bird and David Shepherd I can’t remember a single incident. When you might be about to cross the line they would say, ‘Son, do your job’. Then that’s the end of it and after the game I would thank them.

“Some umpires have said to me, ‘Come and have a beer’ or, ‘Sorry skip, it wasn’t a good decision’. I like to play cricket like that but now it’s all about money and technology. I think I was blessed that I retired at the right time.”

Ranatunga in brief
PLAYED FOR: Sri Lanka (1981/82-2000); Sinhalese Sports Club (1988/89-2000/01); Western Province (1990-1993/94).

TESTS 93; 5105 runs @ 35.69; 16 wkts @ 65.00.

ODIs 269; 7456 runs @ 35.84; 79 wkts @ 47.55.

FINEST HOUR Winning the World Cup in 1996 was, by some distance, the greatest moment in Sri Lankan history. And it would not have been possible without Ranatunga’s inspiring, hard-nosed captaincy. Sri Lanka were 66/1 outsiders before the tournament but cruised to the final, where they hammered their bitter rivals Australia, with Ranatunga fittingly striking the winning runs. “They panicked very badly,” he tells SPIN, “and we won under pressure.”