When Stewart's squad beat the South Africans in the test series, every one looked up to him, because with his admirable captaincy he had turned the game around for the Brits and their game was in the ascendency after a long stay in cricket's wilderness.
But he has hit all his good work for six with his unbecoming behaviour by swearing at the Lankans. Cricket, Stewart should have been taught when he was knee high to a bat is a gentleman's game. This is one of the attributes among several others that are taught all sportsmen and women, beginning their careers.
It is Stewart's country that gave this wonderful game to the world. He should have known better than to behave like their soccer hooligans are famous for.
A time honoured adage is that winning or losing is not what matters but how one played the game. One must be humble in victory and determined in defeat. Apparently these attributes do not seem to be in Stewart's make up. So the sooner the England captain gives up the leadership, the better it will be for him, the game and all that it stands for.
Stewart will do well to have a chat with our skipper Arjuna Ranatunga as to how a captain should behave and act. Ranatunga is the epitome of what a captain and a gentleman. He is calm, unruffled. Arjuna leads by example not by abuse. He is a clever reader of the game. He knows how to outwit a batsman - not by using swear words, but by using his shrewed cricketing brain. In other words he never loses his cool. That is why we tagged him 'Captain cool' which tag has now come to stay.
Our advice to Stewart is not to be reticent but to have a word with Ranatunga. It will help him to brighten his captaincy image which has more years to go. Just a reprimand will not suffice for his atrocious behaviour. As a captain he should be an example. The punishment should fit the crime and be a deterrent to the others.
Cricket is a game, that is too good to be spoilt by mediocre individuals! The Emirates Trophy victory in the final was achieved by a wonderful team effort and it also went to underline the excellent team spirit that is now prevailing in the Lankan camp.
Nothing tangible could be achieved if there are 'camps' in the team. In the past having toured with the team, I can vouch for the fact that some members were not giving their best to the captain and the team.
But captain, vice captain, coach and manager have been constantly been talking to the players and instilling in them what marvellous results could be achieved by being one attacking force. Every member is now putting his shoulder to the wheel and this is obvious from the results achieved. Well done!
Before the team took wing to England, spoil sports tried to drive a wedge between the members and make them fall apart. But that the team did not fall for this trap but rallied round skipper Ranatunga and gave him more than their best speaks volumes for their guts, determination and courage to perform well and bring honour and glory to themselves, game and country.
When Stewart won the toss and England were going strong at 132 for no loss, it looked like they would reach something near the 300 run mark. But once the stand between Nick Knight and Mike Atherton was broken and the top order got rid of, the England tail failed to wag as they had done in the two previous games. The Lankans managed to restrict them to 256, which total was a challenging one considering that the England bowlers had the conditions to their advantage. We had said earlier that the England tail was notoriously fragile. Muttiah Muralitheran once again proved what an extraordinary bowler he is. Be it the limited-over or the established game, Muralitheran is a bowler par excellence. A vicious spinner who can at times turn the ball at right angles what ever the wicket, he proved that he can be a match winner at all times.
Then when Darren Gough knocked back Jayasuriya's stumps in the first over, it looked as though the Lankans were up against it.
But as we said the Lankan batting runs deep. Kaluwitharne cut out the frills and played an innings of great responsibility. He is now a mature Test level batsman. Together with Atapattu, who is giving the Englishmen a lesson in classic batsmanship took the Lankans on the victory trail and supported by deputy skipper Aravinda de Silva gave Sri Lanka a victory that they will savour for a long time.
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Minister of Sports S.B. Dissanayake promptly sent in their messages of congratulations to every member of the squad. They richly deserved the plaudits ``Well done'' and all the best for next Thursday in the one off Test at Lords.