Everyone here must have read The Marvan Identity. It’s hard to find what happened to The Marvan Supremacy. It never existed thanks to a rebel. But we definitely saw The Marvan Ultimatum.
From 4 frontline bowlers to 3, from 3 frontline bowlers to 2. The progress was very evident. Then there were bits and pieces cricket legends and Test openers batting in the middle order in ODIs. There isn’t a better sight in world cricket than Gangnam Mendis’ googly bamboozling batsmen and Dimuth Karunaratne’s audacious batting to finish ODI matches. All this in preparation to dominate world cricket and win a world cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The marvellous Marvan had it all figured out. It was very helpful to have a selector like Jayasuriya who had a great eye for talent. For example, his decision to have the next big thing Rambukwella as a main spinner in the A team was truly a bold move. Picking proper squads and teams came naturally to the man. In addition to that, Marvan had an astute captain in Mathews to lead the team by example. It’s truly an honour for SL that Clarke and McCullum used to text Mathews for advice.
The young players were heavily influenced by Marven’s cool attitude towards them. He’s one of a kind coach. Having biryani and fanta with the team trainer and fielding coach was a trademark that symbolized the brotherhood in the Sri Lankan camp. This is a unique feature of SL cricket and is something the other top cricket teams lack. Just look at the smiles of SL players if you don’t believe me. Just look at the body language of players like Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. They are a well fed and happy bunch. There were rumours about a plan to have a strip club at SLC. Yes, you guessed it right, this was months before Chris Gayle even thought about having one at home. The great MCC member Marvan surely knew how to cheer them up.
Everything was clicking and they were set to wipe floors with South Africa in the world cup quarter final. The Marvan Supremacy was about to happen. The Sri Lankan fans were excited to witness it. We even sent two of our SLCF representatives to the Sydney Cricket Ground. They were confused and curious about The Marvan Supremacy at the time, but they were just about to experience a masterpiece. This is when the unexpected tragedy happened. A seasoned campaigner, namely Kumar Sangakkara, had other ideas. He had been long known as a rebel with a foreign accent. He thought he was bigger than the no-nonsense coach Marvan. He embraced a different approach and decided to put South Africans to sleep during the new ball spell. Kumar skilfully managed 5 runs off about 40 balls, but the tactic did not have an effect on South Africa because he had not listened to his father that morning. Sadly, for Sri Lanka, The Marvan Supremacy never happened. Kumar’s reckless behaviour had cost Marvan and Sri Lanka a great moment in cricket history.
Since it was never his fault and he wasn't responsible for anything, Marvan was given the green light to ahead after the world cup to keep mesmerizing SL cricket fans. The man was a tough nut who knew how to stick to his guns and keep picking 2 or 3 bowlers to set the cricket world alight. While he was clearly making progress again, some changes happened in the SLC administration. Marvan’s good friend Nishantha, who knew what a great mastermind Marvan was, lost his position in the administration. A knew lot were in power and they started to meddle with Marvan’s meticulous planning to make Sri Lanka the pinnacle of world cricket. This had a negative effect on the players and losing to Pakistan and India at home was the end result.
The great man was heartbroken by the way he was treated and decided it was time for The Marvan Ultimatum. It was a very sad day for Sri Lanka cricket and its followers. They had made a truly influential coach the scapegoat for the team’s failure. Let us pay tribute to the great man and wish him best of luck for his future endeavours.