A friend of mine informed me that Chaminda Vaas’ retirement from test matches did not make the news in Australia. Bastards. Here is my tribute.
It is easy to get caught up in the Ashes nonsense, but something else happened recently, a unheralded warrior left test cricket.
Chaminda Vaas.
There have been better players play for their country. Faster bowlers. Bigger wicket takers. But few have had the heart, commitment, work ethic and fire of this little man.
He leaves test cricket as the highest wicket taker of any non spinner his country has ever had, the 2nd highest tally for any left arm bowler in history and he is only the 2nd bowler from his country to take over 100 test wickets. That is some honour.
355 test wickets the little man got.
Not with pace or aggression, but with patience, skill and hard work.
Vaas is the sort of player who deserves more than he gets. He never show boated, didn’t get caught in sex scandals, and wasn’t a walking headline.
He was a test bowler, a very good test bowler, a great of his country, and one with the 17th most wickets in test history.
For 15 years he played test cricket, and he fought for every wicket.
His build is more like that of a jockey than of a faster bowler, but if the bigger guys had what makes him tick they would have been unstoppable.
He was often quoted as saying he knew he didn’t have the talent of the others, but that he worked harder than anyone else. He didn’t need to say it we could all see it.
When he was playing the game had a grace to it, like many of his countrymen he respected the game, but still played to win.
Whether with the bat or ball he was always fighting, and when he was at the wicket you know your team had a fight on its hand.
He was very easy to admire, but unfortunately almost as easy to ignore.
His retirement from test cricket has barely caused a ripple outside of Sri Lanka.
Another player retired from test cricket recently, and you can barely move without tripping over one of the eulogies to him.
That player leaves us with great memories and some regrets that he didn’t give us everything he had. Chaminda leaves us knowing that he got every bit out of himself.
Vaas earned everything he got, and you can’t say that about many people.
I always thought Sri Lanka would end up with a great spinner, and I always thought they would find a fast bowler almost as good.
They didn’t. They got a medium pacer with guts, determination, and spirit. One who put his small shoulder into the crease every time he was out there, one who bowled on some of the flattest pitches in the world with hardly a complaint and one who did it with a quiet dignified grace.
Sri Lanka was lucky to have a man of such character.
We are lucky to have a sport that produces such men.
Thank you, Chaminda.
One Comment
I noted his passing with some regret as well. I was a huge Chaminda fan. I remember a Sri Lankan tour of Australia when I was terrified every time he walked to the top of his run. He wasn’t bowling super quick or dangerous, but you knew he was one ball away from producing something unplayable.
Aren’t the Sri Lankans a good bunch? Vaas was classy, quiet and determined, Murali remains good humoured and exceedingly generous despite being pilloried in Australia and other countries, and Kumar seems like a bloody statesman, even when he’s taken your attack for 200 in a day.