Opinion Curious case of Reiffel & Dharmasena

Bharat Sundaresan<br> They hail from completely different backgrounds,but Paul Ronald Reiffel and Handunettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena shared quite a few similarities during their international careers.

New DelhiFebruary 17, 2009 04:33 PM IST First published on: Feb 17, 2009 at 04:33 PM IST

They hail from completely different backgrounds,but Paul Ronald Reiffel and Handunettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena shared quite a few similarities during their international careers. Despite being crucial cogs in their respective team’s successful World Cup campaigns in 1999 and 1996 respectively,neither ever got the recognition that he deserved,and both ended up performing under the shadows of their more illustrious peers. While both Reiffel and Dharmasena optimized their limited abilities with the ball to the fullest,they also proved to be stubborn customers with the bat,and often got their teams out of sticky situations.

Both the Sri Lankan,who played for the aptly named Nondescripts Cricket Club back home and the Australian,came across as laid back individuals,despite being extremely dedicated and professional sportsmen on the field.

And it only seemed natural when the duo quietly made their respective international umpiring debuts without much fanfare,while all the noise during the Australia-New Zealand and Sri Lanka-India series seemed to be based around team standings.

In the process,Dharmasena,who stood in the first ODI at Dambulla,became the first World Cup winner to adjudicate in an ODI,while Reiffel got his opportunity to add his name to the record-books nine days later at the MCG. Incidentally,the only other cricketer,who was part of a World Cup winning squad and turned to umpiring,was former West Indian fast bowler Vanburn Holder,but he never got to officiate in an international contest.

Throughout his injury-prone career,the Victorian,who was nicknamed ‘Pistol’,ran in with purpose and troubled batsmen with his nagging length and the useful seam movement he generated off the wicket. Reiffel was often deemed to be un-Australian due to his quiet and non-confrontational demeanour on the field,but he managed to claim more than 100 victims in both ODIs and Tests. His real rise to fame came during Australia’s watershed tour of the West Indies in 1994-95,when Reiffel was left to lead a young pace-attack,after strike-bowler Craig McDermott got injured. But again his achievements ended up being over-shadowed by the rise of a future legend,Glenn McGrath.

Dharmasena also played a similar role for Sri Lanka in the mid-nineties as he proved to be the perfect foil for Muttiah Muralitharan,by blocking one-end up with his tight flattish off-spin. Along with Sanath Jayasuriya,the pair were instrumental in the island nation’s dramatic World Cup win,as they completely dried up the runs for the opposition batsmen on the dry sub-continent pitches during the middle overs,and run-making often seemed literally impossible.

Dharmasena,who shares his birthday with Sachin Tendulkar,did seem to make a huge guffaw with his first decision in international cricket,when he adjudged the master-batsman LBW. And it didn’t take the critics too long to note that the off-spinner never managed to get Tendulkar out during his playing days.

It is unlikely that the genial duo of Reiffel or Dharmasena ever exchanged too many words when they played against each other,including during the ’96 Cup final at Lahore. And it wouldn’t be surprising if their interaction is limited to a few nods when they do eventually officiate together.