Sri Lanka cricket legend Aravinda de Silva said fear of failure and losing should be eradicated from the minds of children and youngsters be allowed to express themselves freely to showcase their talents to achieve great heights in any sphere of life.
“I believe that should be the attitude of all senior individuals who are responsible to guide our future generation of not only cricketers but sportsmen,” said Aravinda making the keynote address as the chief guest at the Observer SLT Mobitel school cricket awards at the BMICH on Thursday.
He virtually pleaded with coaches not to admonish them for making mistakes but guide them while at the same time urging players to bridge the communication gap.
“My advice to coaches, masters in charge, administrators is to understand that these children are just like your children where at home they will be very naughty and you try to correct them. You will never disown them at any stage. You will always be supporting them,” he said.
“Fear of failure is the worst thing for a child to bear. I have got here standing in front of you after failing in so many areas but failure is something which will teach you how to fight back and get back up and running. Cricket is a great game which will show that over the years,” said the former Sri Lanka captain.
One of the greatest attacking batters the world has seen, Aravinda dwelled on imbibing confidence and self-belief in children so that they will become great leaders in future.
“Confidence comes from not always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. Today we talk about behaviour about our cricketers. Media, administrators, teachers, coaches, everyone must understand that these children are all human beings just like us when we were young. Along the way you need to understand these boys are going to make mistakes in the future. Our duty is not to punish them but to guide them. That we need to start at a very young age,” he said.
He felt the need for coaches to have some sort of child psychology knowledge when handling the future generation of the country. “Coaches coaching school children should at least have some sort of child psychology understanding and communication skills embedded in them. These children need to be handled very carefully because one word can shatter their careers. If we don’t let them be themselves and harness the talent they have, we are going to lose great individuals. This is something we need to really change and understand as senior coaches, administrators and more so parents. There is so much pressure on some of these youngsters and they get into a shell,” he pointed out.
He also reminded the award winners to stay grounded and not get carried away because this was just the beginning of their careers. “The most important thing is to understand that these awards really wouldn’t mean much unless you understand that these are temporary things. You have to keep improving from where you have started and this is only the beginning,” he said.
Aravinda de Silva giving his life experience of 57 years, related two incidents which fashioned his international career.
“As a young boy, the habit of going out there and taking on the bowlers at any cost doesn’t matter the situation my attitude was to go there and attack. That was my nature,” he said.
Playing for a President’s XI against Zimbabwe at the Oval, he was asked by the captain not to play a rash shot and get out because the selectors were watching. He was virtually asked to defend against his will. “This is something which kept on working in my mind. When I walked in John Traicos, one of the best off spinners was bowling. They had seven fielders around my bat,” he said.
“I would never, even if it is the first ball, play a defensive shot if I saw a field such as that. I would be attacking. I defended four balls and the fifth ball got out to a bat-pad catch. I got a pat on the back because I did not play a bad shot,” he recalled.
But deep inside he was disappointed. “I was watching the game and thinking I could have easily gone after him (Traicos) and made some runs. Advice was given in good faith but you need to always analyse what is good for you,” said Aravinda who decided to attack against the same opposition at another venue next time.
“I told myself I don’t mind getting dropped, I will go after the bowling. I hit a few boundaries and made 20-odd in 7 or 8 balls. I kept on going and scored 40-odd,” he said.
“You have to listen to your coaches but you need to always communicate with your coaches so they understand your psyche because sport and especially cricket is 90 per cent up there (mind). That is very important for even coaches to understand,” he said.
The other occasion was when he made his highest Test score of 267 in Wellington against New Zealand after failing in the three One-Day Internationals and had lost his confidence after two ducks and 1 before the Test match at Wellington. However, he decided to go out with his friends and forget about the match. “I realised not to think about cricket too much but be relaxed and play my normal game,” said Aravinda who scored one of the fastest double hundreds all within a day.
On inquiry during a visit to a school in England, he found it interesting that they had adopted what Sri Lanka did a long time ago. “The 1996 World Cup changed the art of playing ODIs because we had the talent to do that.
“I hate when people compare our times to nowadays. I don’t agree because things keep on changing but we shouldn’t change our values. That is something we need to inculcate in all these youngsters at a very young age. Best time to do it is in schools and these types of events where you can implement and guide them,” he said.
He also urged school cricketers to build good relationships and friendship with those whom they play against. “While congratulating the award winners, those who didn’t receive awards should be very happy for those who won the awards. This is something this country lacks. We need to support each other. Enjoy everyone’s success,” he said, suggesting the Most Popular Cricketers be chosen by votes of players nominating someone from a rival school.
“Coaches I beg of you. Let these children go out and play their natural game. Losing matches is something where they can learn by discussing what they could have done better. Don’t blame them for making mistakes but how to do it in a better way. We have to change our thinking if we want to be a great cricket nation in the future,” he said. (AO)