Terror shocks cricket as Sri Lankan players escape with injuries

(c) http://www.dailynews.lk

Oh! What a shocking day it has been!

It was late night here in Canada, but a bright morning in Lahore, Pakistan. As usual, I had my dinner and was eagerly waiting to see SL knock down Pakistan wickets after a splendid batting performance that amassed a total of 606 in the previous two days.  Third day’s play was due to commence and I was tuning to several channels on the net, to catch a glimpse of the action. But, somehow none of them were working for me, and I decided to follow the match on Cricinfo. Instead of what I anticipated,  what I was destined to read on Cricinfo was a headline that said: ” Sri Lankan cricketers injured in terror attack.” I was shocked.  Even though, SL as a nation has experienced terror for the past three decades, no one in their wildest dream would have ever imagined that cricket, a sport loved by both friends and foes in South Asia would be its next target.  But, sadly, it happened on this day March 03, 2009 in front of the Liberty Market and just a few steps away from the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, and  also totally shattered the popularly held conception that cricket was immune from terrorism.

The team was traveling, from the tour hotel to the stadium, when armed masked gunmen  opened fire on the team bus.   Five Sri Lankan players and Assistant Coach, Paul Farbrace have escaped with somewhat minor but substantial injuries.  Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavitana were the ones most seriously injured; Samaraweera received shrapnel in the leg and Paranavitana in the chest. Ajantha Mendis received shrapnel in the neck and scalp. It was a great relief that no one had life threatening wounds.

The tour has been immediately called off and the team will return to SL on the earliest flight.  Pakistan has been plagued with security problems for sometime now, with the Champions Trophy taken off and several other tours canceled, the most recent by India. Despite all such concerns, Sri Lanka Cricket was willing to send the team there,  in solidarity with Pakistan. Given such a context, numerous questions would be asked of Pakistan’s security arrangements and Sri Lankan authorities’ agreements with them. But, none can match the shock, that, in a moment, our team could have been finished forever, if not for the brave Pakistani driver (Khalil) who drove them towards the stadium in spite of the heavy gun fire.

It was a very very dark day for cricket in general and unfortunately it will be remembered in the years to come, not for the right reason but for the wrong one. Let us hope that the SL players would have the courage and mental strength to overcome this moment between life and death, to represent our country in the global stage for many more years to come.

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Ajantha Mendis – ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year 2008

Sri Lanka’s newest discovery, Ajantha Mendis, who bamboozled the Indian “Fab Four” in the recently concluded test series, today, won the award for the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year, beating Ishant Sharma of India, Stuart Broad of England and Morne Morkel of South Africa.

Ajantha Mendis with his award

The Sri Lankan team also won the “Spirit of Cricket” Award for the second consecutive year, for the way they play the game.

Sri Lankan Captain with the "Spirit of Cricket" Award

Other notable Sri Lankan nominations included Mahela Jayawardene for both Test Cricketer of the Year and Cricketer of the Year. They were eventually won by Dale Steyn of South Africa and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies.

Apart of them, India’s ODI Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the ODI player of the year for his consistent performances with the bat and glove over the past year and his team-mate Yuvraj Singh, the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, for hitting an amazing “six sixes” in one over in the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship.

ICC Test Team of the Year Graeme Smith (SA, capt), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Jacques Kallis (SA), Kumar Sangakkara (SL, wk), Brett Lee (Aus), Ryan Sidebottom (Eng), Dale Steyn (SA), Muttiah Muralitharan (SL). 12th man: Stuart Clark (Aus).

ICC ODI Team of the Year Hershelle Gibbs (SA), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), Ricky Ponting (Aus, capt), Younis Khan (Pak), Andrew Symonds (Aus), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind, wk), Farveez Maharoof (SL), Daniel Vettori (NZ), Brett Lee (Aus), Mitchell Johnson (Aus), Nathan Bracken (Aus). 12th man: Salman Butt (Pak)

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The Serendip sensibility

Writes Ashok Malik on Cric Info …..

Murali-Mendis combination: a great mix of experience and youth

For an Indian cricket fan, the first Test match of the series in Sri Lanka was a humbling experience. The Indian cricket community and media not being given to patience, inevitably the attack will begin – on the captain, the poor spin bowling and the ageing middle order.

Frankly, that is an issue I don’t want to touch upon for the simple reason that one Test match is too little time in which to decide that entire careers are over and wholesale changes are needed. If the rest of the series proceeds like this, then perhaps there may be long-term issues to address. Even so, that is meat for another post, another time.

The point I want to focus on today is how Sri Lanka, for the past 20 odd years and certainly since the mid-1990s, remains the most underrated and under-appreciated top quality cricket team in the world. To an attack led by a fine fast bowler and one of the greatest spinners in history, they’ve added a lethal new weapon. Their cricket system has this enviable ability to churn out a series of elegant and/or devastatingly destructive batsmen, one after the other.

How do they do it? I’m no expert on Sri Lankan cricket and its infrastructure. I can only refer to what I’ve read and heard. One story never fails to make an impression. I read it years ago, shortly after the 1996 world cup was won by Arjuna Ranatunga’s men – by the blazing opening pair of Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana – when Rohit Brijnath wrote a piece in India Today on Sri Lanka’s cricket nursery.

I can’t recall the entire article but do remember a reference to the integrity and honesty of the Sri Lankan cricket work ethic. I think it was in Brijnath’s article that I read about the Wettimuny brothers, Sunil, Mithra and Sidath (Sri Lanka’s first test centurion). reproducing a fraying, century-old English coaching manual, page by page, painstakingly drawing the illustrations, copying the text.

It was an age before ubiquitous photocopying machines and scanners, I suppose, and being classicists, the brothers felt the young cricketers in their charge must learn cricket the right way. The romantic in me would like to believe that some of the young men in the team that smashed India on July 26 were beneficiaries of the Wettimuny way.

It is an unusual anecdote but to my mind a memorable one. The Wettimuny brothers’ act was perhaps the most moving tribute an international cricketer had ever paid to his art form, a reverential prayer to “Mother Cricket”, to borrow an expression South African coach Mickey Arthur used recently, albeit in another context.

I wish I could rattle off names of Indian cricketers who would gladly do the same to pay their dues, pass on their skills to another, less endowed generation. For me, that sentiment, that sense of obligation sums up cricket more than statistics, razzmatazz and other trivia.

I’ve never seen a cricket match in Sri Lanka – though I do want to go there for a test some day – but have visited Colombo three times. I’ve discussed cricket with auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, government officials, hotel waiters, bookstore managers, bartenders, you name it. The Sri Lankans love their cricket, are fiercely proud of their cricket team and badly want it to win.

Yet, it’s struck me that their pride and passion is never overdone or overaggressive. It’s not as if they’re trying to tell you that not only is the Sri Lankan team good but the Indian (and every other) team is bad or otherwise less than reputable. There is no deliberate running down of the other guy. Perhaps he exists, but I’ve never met the Ugly Sri Lankan Cricket Fan. I’ve encountered his equivalent in or from India, Pakistan and Australia more often than I’d want to.

To me, the best cricket tradition is one that plays the game hard, speaks in the contemporary idiom and yet salutes cricket’s glorious, unparalleled heritage. Among the three major Asian countries, I think Sri Lanka has it just right. Indian cricket swings wildly between (usually imagined) victimhood and overweening arrogance, including telling English county clubs whom to select or drop. Pakistan’s is another cricket establishment with just too many chips on its shoulder.

Sri Lanka is different. It fights and fights fiercely when it has to. Ranatunga was the prototype of the assertive, tough-as-nails Asian captain when he defended his star bowler – accused of chucking – through a gruelling tour of Australia. He took on the umpires, the other team, the unfriendly press – because he believed in his cause, his team, his country.

Even so, Sri Lankan cricket does not believe in a permanent war theory. The past is over; the mid-1990s are dead. The team and the country have moved on. The Indian and Pakistani cricket boards, on the other hand, are continually fighting yesterday’s wars.

If you’re ever in Colombo, visit the Cricket Café – at least that’s what I think it’s called. Among other things, it serves great sea food but that’s not the only reason I have fond memories of it. In its own manner, it’s a delightful little cricket museum, with memorabilia from, well, Old Blighty to New Ceylon. It has place for Hutton and Hobbs but, equally, for Murali and Mendis.

To me, this signified a small but important lesson. Sri Lankans love their cricket team and also love cricket. They don’t see the two emotions as either synonymous or mutually exclusive. I’ve never visited an Indian restaurant with a similar sensibility. Sure, I could go to one with posters of current Indian cricket stars – but would that be a celebration of cricket? There is a difference.

Sri Lankans, as a society, understand that difference. That’s why it’s impossible to grudge them victory, even when they’ve hammered your team.

Courtesy : Cric Info

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IPL or Eng Tour?

This is all the debate these days…

The English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently announced the schedule for Sri Lanka’s tour to England in 2009. It had been finalized only couple of days back by the Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, Arjuna Ranatunga and was said to fill the void created by ECB’s cutting down of ties with Zimbabwe cricket. Incidently, this tour clashes with the schedule of next season’s Indian Premier League(IPL), which a majority of Sri Lanka’s star players are part of. So, if the Eng. tour was to go ahead as planned, it would only leave 10 days for the players to play for their respective teams in the IPL. Thus, it has given rise to the question, as to whether to play for the Eng tour over IPL or play for IPL over Eng tour?

There are many sides to this story. From the players’ side, they are contracted to the IPL for 3yrs and also the Eng tour was unexpected. They had planned to play for IPL next season as there was no international committments and they would prefer the IPL over the Eng tour. They also complain that they were never consulted before finalizing the tour. Given the higher financial benefits of the IPL, and the relatively low pay for the SL cricketers, it seems justifiable on their part to prefer playing for the IPL.

On the other hand, the ECB has taken maximum use of a depleted SL Cricket (Board) to fill their void of the itinery. This tour was not there in the 2009 itinery for SL, it was created out of no where. But, it would help SL Cricket get out of the current bankruptcy. At the same time, it needs to be said that although the board is not required to consult players before they finalize tours, in this particular tour SL Cricket could well have done that, because they were aware that a number of players are contracted to the IPL and it would run concurrently. But, because Ranatunga had equalled the IPL to a sort of instant “maggie noodles” during the IPL, this doesn’t seem that surprising. In that case, though, it is ‘yet another’ poor administration effort on his part.

SL cricket fans are somewhat different to most other nations. We have not seen them throw stones at their cricketers, no matter how humiliatingly they may lose. It is a national obligation for cricketers to be committed to their international cricket schedules. As SL cricket fans we would love to see that our beloved cricketers pay back. Of course, personally, I’d love to see international cricket over IPL any day, no matter how exciting it may be. This, therefore, becomes a testing ground for patriotism. Which tournament would the cricketers go with – proudly representing Sri Lanka at the England tour or play Twenty20 for a higher pay at the IPL ?

On a lighter note, I’ve seen some blaming the IPL for this fiasco. Well, what we must understand is that IPL has both the good and bad, and it cannot be blamed for everything happpening. Furthermore, its administrators have never demanded the players to give the IPl priority ahead of their international commitments. Last time, we saw both Australia and WI play for some matches and leaving India early to play in the test series in WI. Also, if the players were to play for IPL and the tour was to go ahead as planned, it would look like a joke to have an under-par team sent to England – with a new captain, wicket keeper, etc.

Whatever it may be, I hope all of this ends in a good way- where there is a compromise between the cricketers, SL cricket and also ECB. That would ultimately do the game a wonder of good !

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Mahela’s exemplary leadership

… helps Lanka win Asia Cup

Ranjan SAMARASINGHE

Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup for the first time outside our country on 6th July 2008. This will soon be history.

Mahela

Mahela Jayawardena was put on the chopping block by many local pundits who called for his removal a few months ago, after the Windies tour. Where are these critics now? Why don’t they identify themselves and admit their ignorance and stupidity, where cricket is concerned?

They remain silent as they have no guts or backbone to face reality. They are not gentlemen. They will remain silent until they get another opportunity to decapitate someone, in fact anyone, to get some recognition in the cricketing world. An achievement which probably has eluded them in real life (as cricketers).

Those who followed and watched the Asia Cup will recollect comments made before the event.

Even Arjuna Ranatunge, the President of Sri Lanka Cricket had stated that India and Pakistan will go in as favourites. Maybe, he wanted to lure them into a false sense of confidence which would in the end benefit Sri Lanka through complacency.

Mahela Jayawardena maintained that every tournament that we participate, we go to win. If we think otherwise, it will not be a positive attitude for the team to embark on a tour of importance.

A statement well made, and by the person who knows his team best, and a person who has full confidence in himself and his players. That is why he is Captain. That is why he commands the respect of his team, and they give him more than 100%.

That is why, when Sri Lanka was down, in the finals with 60 odd runs for 4 wickets ( with Sangakkara, Mahela, Kapugedera and Silva back in the pavilion) the last two recognized batsmen, Sanath Jayasuriya and T.M. Dilshan staged a match winning recovery.

Jayasuriya played an unbelievable innings, explosive at the start in the way only he can perform against the faster bowlers, and later continued in a subdued manner against the spinners to ensure building up of a fighting score for his team.

The experienced Dilshan gave him the much needed support, curbing his natural attacking style for the sake of the team.

Further useful contributions came from Nuwan Kulasekera, Mirando and Vaas to ensure Sri Lanka had a respectable and defendable total. It was indeed a team effort, when the chips were down. This type of effort is only possible from a team which has belief in themselves, have self respect and give of their best to the Captain.

India was not going in to lose either. They have very strong batting line-up, and are a very proud team. They went in as favourites.

But, Mahela had different plans. He rested his new found weapon of destruction ( from SL Army) the smiling, childish looking Ajantha Mendis and the experienced Chaminda Vaas from the previous match two days before. Thus depriving the Indians of getting too familiar with Mendis. He did not mind losing that game, as Sri Lanka were already sure of being in the Finals.

This move would undoubtedly have had a psychological influence on the Indians, instilling some overconfidence, and complacency.

As a result, Sri Lanka lost a battle but won the War. Excellent planning, and preparation indeed. Another quality of good leadership and management. No doubt, with inputs from the Coach and team members.

Sanath

India were going well with Sehwag leading the way and were on target initially. But young Mendis who entered the fray around the tenth over completely turned this match with his flicking finger, dismissing the dangerous Sehwag and then Yuvraj Singh (first ball) in his first over.

Although M.S.Dhoni stuck on to establish some sort of recovery for the Indians, Mendis continued to destroy the remaining Indian batting line-up with effortless ease. He not only confused the batsmen but also the umpires and commentators. Nobody, except may be Sangakkara, had a clue as to what was happening.

Mahela used Mendis in short spells, maybe 2-3 overs at a time, and changed him even though he got wickets. In the end he had bowled only 8 overs,and got 6 wickets for 13 runs. A record breaking performance. He may have got 7 or 8 wickets if he had bowled his quota. People asked why Mahela changed him.

When the last pair was in, although they had no clue to Mendis’s bowling they were just playing him down. They did not try to score off him.

In my perception, Mahela did not want the match to drag on, as tail enders who are clueless can scratch around and get on your nerves. He brought on Kulasekera,and he cleaned up the last man. He did it for the team, and he did not want Mendis to get frustrated.

Ajantha Mendis is a find of a century. When we were wondering as to who will take-up Muralitharan’s role, as he too is a freak and is still causing untold misery to batsmen all over the world, this man Mendis, an uncut gem, yet to be polished, turns up from an unrecognized Army team, to take the cricketing world by storm.

Even the grumpy Bishen Singh Bedi acclaims that Mendis as a revelation, and is a clean bowler. Hats off to the Army, and especially Maj. Gen. V.R. Silva who is his mentor, and Chairman of Army Cricket. He has been responsible for uplifting the image of Army Cricket. A new turf wicket has been laid in Panagoda, and new recruits are being enrolled into the service to play Cricket and all facilities provided by the Army.

But for how long can we hide Ajantha Mendis and expose him only for vital games ? Already, I am certain he must be under a microscope, and his every move and peculiarities studied by scientists, doctors and analysts. Coaches will burn midnight oil trying to figure out what this guy is doing.

Before long, Mendis will also be countered, like Muralitharan, but only by a few exceptional batsmen. Before that Mendis will have to get maximum wickets and win matches for Sri Lanka.

We, as a nation stand duty bound to preserve and protect Mendis, and Sri Lanka Cricket to develop his skills to enable him to achieve the great heights that he is capable of.

Courtesy : Daily News (SL)

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Sri Lanka lift the 2008 Asia Cup

Sri Lanka outplayed the Indians at the National Stadium, Karachi, winning by 100 runs to lift the Asia Cup for a fourth time.

Watching this match, I just thought to myself, “has Sri Lanka rediscovered their mojo?” The past couple of months, in fact since they ended up as finalists at the 2007 World Cup, they haven’t quite played up to the best of their ability in the One-day version of the game. [This was one reason why I had lost some interest in jotting down my thoughts for this cricket blog, but still continued to keep up with the games, simply because, I was an avid fan of Sri Lankan cricket, no matter whether they win or lose. But, hey ! when is it a more appropriate time to blog than this? ] It all began with a series loss to Pakistan in Abu Dhabi (the SL team was not in full strength though) followed by a home series loss to England, and early this year, failing to reach the finals of the CB series that also featured Australia and India and later a defeat at the hands of West Indies. After the selectors decided the drop the sernior pros, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralidaran for the WI tour, youngsters such as Chamara Kapugedara, Mahela Udawatte and Thilan Thushara made some sort of an impact, but the best was yet to come. It was a 23 year old spinner “Ajantha Mendis” who was picked to the squad from the SL Army team that drew the most attention with his intelligent bowling.

Sanath Jayasuriya performed when it was most needed ….

Here it is, the man who made the debut that day in the Caribbean picking up impressive figures of 3-39 from his ten overs, completely turned the tables in Pakistan, leading his team to a comprehensive victory over the Indian team in the Asia Cup finals of the 2008 edition. Winning by a huge margin against Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates in the preliminary round, SL opened their account in the Super Four round with a magnificient victory over Pakistan. Kumar Sangakkara starred in the batting, scoring his 8th ODI hundred but it was Mendis, the ‘Mystery spinner’ as he is now often referred to in the cricketing circles, who removed key Pakistani batsmen to turn the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.

But, the best was yet to come. Having reached the Finals with a win over Bangladesh, they met India for more than the first time, in the history of the tournament. India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first, not only hoping to get some early breakthroughs but also because he was very much confident of the ability of his batting line up to chase any total. It certainly seemed to have paid off, when the Sri Lankan scoreboard read 66/4, with Sangakkara – 4( run out due to a miscommunication), Mahela Jayawardene – 11(b Ishant c Rohit), Kapugedara – 5(b Ishant c Raina) and Chamara Silva – 0(b Ishant) all headed back to the pavilion at the end of, only the 12th over. Since cricket is a team sport, it is all about taking responsibility and that is exactly what the Master Blaster Jayasuriya did by getting together with Tillekeratne Dilshan for an important 131-run fifth wicket partnership. When the dashing opener raised his century off 79 balls, rescuing Sri Lanka from a precarious situation, he send a strong signal to his fellow critics, as he has done all throughout his career, that the most important thing is to let the bat do the talking. We might never have seen him play in this tournament, had it not been for the Indian Premier League, which provided a efficient platform for the maestro, to not only showcase his rare talent but also to get back to fine form, when some of his own countrymen turned their backs on him.

So, he cracked another century, his 27th before been caught by Ishant Sharma off the bowling of Virender Sehwag in the 35th over. With some small but fairly important contributions from Dilshan(56), Nuwan Kulasekara(29) and Chaminda Vaas(19) down the order, SL managed to reach a total of 273 all out in 49.5 overs.At first glance, it appeared to be an easy target for the Indians not merely because of the extreme batting friendliness of the pitch, but also due to the quality batting line up they got. In fact, they proved it right by getting off to a flying start reaching 30+ in some 3 overs. Although Gautam Gambhir was picked up soon after off the bowling of Vaasy, Viru went berserk getting to his fifty in no time. The smart captaincy of Mahela was quick to introduce Sri Lanka’s newest trump card, the mystery spin of Ajantha (unknown to the Indians till then) in as early as the 9th over. Thereafter, there was just no way that the Indians could ever creep in to the game, because Ajantha tore through the top and middle order over by over leaving the Indians bamboozled. Viru was stumped and Yuvi, bowled in the same over, Raina’s stumps knocked down and Rohit trapped leg before giving the spinner fantastic figures of 4-8 in his first 4 overs.

Ajantha Mendis - successfully appeals for a wicket

Then, just as Captain Dhoni and Robin Uthappa tried to build up a partnership, the master spinner Murali, who had until then bowled superbly to contain the Indian batsmen, struck gold by removing Uthappa. Ajantha returned to continue his good work picking up both Irfan Pathan and Rudra Pratap Singh in one over. The new batsman in, Praghan Ojha appeared to be almost out and if not turned down by the Umpire, Ajantha would have collected his first ever hatrick in only his eighth game. Vaasy then joined the fun by capturing the wicket of Dhoni, India’s last hope of saving the game. Finally, Kulasekara bowled an excellent delivery to not only disturb the timber of Ishant, but also to give Sri Lanka a 100-run win and the Asia Cup trophy.

Sanath Jayasuriya set it up with his great batting and the fantastic bowling 6-13 of a youngster, Ajantha Mendis who showed not a glimpse of nervousness even on the big day, ensured that it was achieved. Jayasuriya was named the Expert Batsman of the Match and (any guesses ???) Mendis, who showed signs of a champion spinner in the making, received both the Man of the Match and Man of the Series award (17 wickets).

What an amazing performance by the Sri Lankans …..

I would say this has been by far, Sri Lanka’s best performance after the World Cup. Would this victory mark Sri Lanka’s resurgence on the field? Would it serve as a turning point to put the team back on track? The answers are not very far away, as SL joins the same opposition for a Test and ODI series, later this month.

Photo Courtesy : Daily News (SL)

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Bandara left out of Squad for CB Series

Following the Inter Provincial Tournament, the national selectors have named a 15-man squad for the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia next month.

The squad comprises of five fast bowlers lead by Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga, and the sole spinner being Muttiah Muralitharan. Fervez Maharoof, who was out of the test series against England, has been included, while Chanaka Welagedara who made an impressive debut in the third test against England will be replacing the injured Dilhara Fernando.

Ishara Amerasinghe, who played a single ODI in Pakistan last May has earned a recall to the side, together with another right-arm paceman Nuwan Kulasekara.

However, the suprise omission in the squad is legspinner Malinga Bandara who played a crucial role in making Sri Lanka the Runners-up of their last VB Series in 2005-06. He was the second highest wicket-taker of the series with 14 scalps to his name. Bandara, who has often earned a place only in the absence of  Sri Lanka’s leading bowler Muralitharan, has been quite impressive in the opportunites he has been given, even showing potential of being an all-rounder at times.

Dilruwan Perera, the opener who made his debut against England in October has been named in the squad while the promising batsman Chamara Kaugedara too has been called to the side after impressive performances in the domestic scene.

While the squad is a pace-heavy attack, the selectors hope to use either Tillekaratne Dilshan or Dilruwan Perera to support Murali, in addition to the regular Sanath Jayasuriya.

As usual Mahela Jayawardene will lead the side, with Kumar Sanagakkara as both his deputy and the Wicket-keeper.

Squad :
Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Dilruwan Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Chanaka Welegedara, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Farveez Maharoof, Ishara Amerasinghe.

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Cricket News for the period Oct – Dec : Sanga hits 192 vs Aus and Atapattu Retires

Oct 2007 : Sri Lanka lost the ODI Series against England 2-3.

Nov 2007 : Marvan Atapattu, who was dropped by the selectors after he refused to meet them, was later included in the test squad following the intervention by Sports Minister, Gamini Lokuge.

Test Series against Australia :

1st Test – Sri Lanka’s first innings were a flop as they were bowled out for 211 in response to a huge Australian total of 551/4d. But, in the second, they piled up 300 mainly thanks to a solid 82 from Michael Vandort. But, other batsmen fail to make an impression and they lose the test by an innings and 40 runs.

Talk about Muppets and Puppets : Marvan Atapattu top scored in the first innings with 51 in his return to Test cricket after a lapse of 2 years. Following this, he spoke to the media and criticized the selectors saying that “Sri Lanka cricket is not going the way it should be because it is a set of muppets headed by a joker.” However, frank he may be in his claim, while some applauded his courage to speak out, being a former Captain, his behavior was received with displeasure by others.

2nd Test – In reply to Australia’s 542/5 in the first innings, Sri Lanka got only 246, with the larger roles played by Mahela Jayawardene who hit his 19th test century and Kumar Sangakkara who made 57. Having to make a huge 507 to win the test match in the fourth innings, yet Sri Lanka didn’t give up hope. Marvan Atapattu made a sound 80, in what was to be his last test innings, Sanath Jayasuriya, a somewhat 45 and Sangakkara, an extremely beautiful 192, before being bowled out for 410. Sangakkara, who was in a mission to single handedly win the test, took to the strong Australian bowling attack to hit a strokeful 192, his 3rd consecutive 150+score. At 364/9, a ball that hit his shoulder was caught by Ricky Ponting off Stuart Clark. Following the player appeals, Umpire Rudy Koertzen most wrongly ruled him out. Although he had apologized to Sangakkara soon afterwards, by such an unacceptable decision, he not only ended any hopes Sri Lanka had of an outstanding series levelling victory, but also cut short a double century, Sangakkara really deserved.

Post Match : Marvan Atapattu announced his retirement from International Cricket.

Atapattu, who made his Test debut against India at Chandigarh in 1990 was an elegant batsman, one of the most technically accurate players of the game. He made 16 centuries, out of which, 6 were double centuries. Together with Sanath Jayasuriya, the pair formed the most successful opening combination for Sri Lanka. He played 90 Tests, averaging 39.02 with a career best of 249.

He was equally successful in one-dayers, hitting 11 hundreds and 59 fifties. With more than 8000 ODI runs to his name, he also captained the team from 2003 to early 2005, until an injury forced him to be out of cricket for sometime.

After a continous row with the current selectors, especially for not giving him a single game at the 2007 World Cup, he hit out at the selectors halfway between the Australia series. After the match, he announced his retirement from international cricket and joined the controversial ICL.

“Marvelous Marvan” was a great player for Sri Lanka over the years, one that no doubt would be missed, but the respect he earned as a Sri Lankan player has been marred by his recent comments against the selectors, and that too in a foreign country.

Nevertheless, We Wish Marvan Samson Atapattu a great future !

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Eight Sri Lanka stars join Twenty20 League in India

Ace Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and skipper Mahela Jayawardene have signed up for the new Twenty20 league in India next year, the cricket board said Monday.
The two stalwarts head a list of eight Sri Lankan players who have penned deals with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), vice-president Lalit Modi said in a statement.

Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Fernando complete the elite list.

The IPL, a Twenty20 competition to be held in India in April next year, offers three million dollars in prize money and will have eight teams to be bought by franchisees.

The top two sides would make it to an international Champions Twenty20 League to be played at an as yet undecided venue in October next year.

The IPL enjoys the backing of the International Cricket Council as against the rival Indian Cricket League, bankrolled by media baron Subhash Chandra.

Courtesy : Daily Mirror

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Maharoof shines in Sri Lankan victory

All rounder Farveez Maharoof snapped up four key wickets during a hostile spell of bowling as Sri Lanka drew first blood defeating England by 119 runs in the first day night one day international worked off at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.
The right arm fast bowler sent down his ten overs on the trot and had success in his first, third, fourth and tenth overs as he finished with outstanding figures of four wickets for 31 runs as England were bowled out for 150 from 34.5 overs while chasing Sri Lanka’s challenging total of 269 for 7.

Maharoof who came into the attack as the fourth change bowler responded magnificently by removing the top three England batsmen for the addition of just 30 runs and within a space of five overs.

Maharoof had a tough task as the England openers Alistair Cook and Phil Mustard had got off to a flying start and were maintaining the required run rate. The pair were just beginning to open out with Mustard hoisting a six and stroking a four from consecutive deliveries off paceman Chaminda Vaas.

However the conditions certainly suited the more friendly pace of Maharoof who moved the ball to a great extent helped by the strong winds blowing across the Dambulla Stadium. In just under three overs he completely changed the complexion of the game by removing Mustard, Bell and the prize scalp of Kevin Pieterson.

In fact wicket keeper batsman Mustard making his one day international debut for England was really threatening to take control of the situation having raced to 27 from only 17 deliveries with the help of one six and three boundaries.

This was followed by two splendid deliveries that really surprised Ian Bell and Kevin Pieterson as England slumped to 60 for 3 by the 14th over.

Maharoof kept on attacking the off stump at regular basis and was rewarded for some accurate bowling. He then finished off in style by ending the stubborn resistance of opener Alistair Cook in his tenth and last over. Cook held on determinedly until the 25th over before he lost his concentration and offered wicket keeper Sangakkara his third victim.

Before that skipper Paul Collingwod made his exit in a disappointing manner and when Owais Shah was deceived by a slow delivery from Lasith Malinga, England had lost half of their side for 91 runs.

They never recovered from thereonwards as the Lankans added the finishing touches in style to go one up in the five match series.

Earlier Skipper Mahela Jayawardena hit a solid half century to guide Sri Lanka to a formidable 269 for 7 from their 50 overs. The elegant right hander completed his 42nd one day international fifty after the openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga had provided with a solid start.

But it was skipper Jayawardena who actually consolidated the innings with some intelligent bating on a slow wicket after he had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Jayawardena was prepared to wait for the loose deliveries and stroked just three boundaries during his top score of 66 from 73 deliveries.

But he also decided to work the ball into the gaps and took the singles during a fourth wicket stand of 59 runs from 60 balls with Chamara Silva. This was after Jayasuriya and Tharanga set the pace with a opening stand of 71 runs from 12 overs.

Jayasuriya was shaping up well for a big score having raced to 41 from 35 deliveries with the help of one six and five boundaries.

However Ryan Sidebottom celebrated his return to the England side by claiming an important breakthrough to end a productive opening stand between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga.

Sri Lanka’s performance was even more significant considering the fact that this was one of the highest scores recorded at this venue. Sri Lanka of course made a slow start to the match and were quite happy to study the conditions during the early stages of the innings.

Tharanga and Jayasuriya crawled to 11 without loss in the first four overs of the day as England’s seamers struggled with the strong winds at the Dambulla Stadium. In fact it took Sri Lanka five overs before they registered their first boundary with Tharanga forcing Anderson off the back foot behind point for four.

That was the signal for the pair to open out with Jayasuriya claiming two boundaries in Sidebottom’s next over and then launched Anderson over long on for the first six of the innings.

Just as Jayasuriya seemed set for another explosive innings Sidebottom struck to end his innings – just two balls after England had given him a reprieve.

England claimed their second victim five overs later as Sri Lanka’s scoring rate slowed down when Tharanga was surprised by a slower bouncer from Stuart Broad and chipped lamely to captain Paul Collingwood at backward point for 40.

Sri Lanka had earlier left out leg-spinner Kausal Lokuarachchi in favour of an extra batsman in Jehan Mubarak, while England delivered a shock of their own by preferring Graeme Swann’s off-spin to left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.

Courtesy : Daily News

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