Lara on song again
Until a decade or so ago the West Indians were the most attractive cricket
team to watch particularly with the emergence of players in the calibre
of Sir Garfield Sobers, Wes Hall, Conrad Hunte, Basil Butcher, Seynor Nurse,
Charlie Griffith, Lance Gibbs, in the early nineteen sixties. They were
toned and united by that great captain Sir Frank Worrell. For nearly thirty
years they drew crowds to watch them, wherever they played in the world,
for their attacking and carefree brand of play.
Then Clive Lloyd pieced together an outfit in the mid nineteen seventies
that wiped out all opposition with monotonous regularity. It was awesome
and frightening batting the men from the Caribbean. Their conveyor - best
kept producing classic stroke makers and lethal fast bowlers.
But almost as if a curse from above had hit them the pit producing these
priceless cricketers suddenly began to run dry in the nineteen nineties.
They have had to depend on a few stars and amongst them the genuine left
hand batsman, Brian Charles Lara.
When at his best Lara has been compared to the best that ever has been.
The highest score ever in Test match cricket has struggled with his form
and fitness in recent times. In fact a bothering hamstring muscle nearly
kept him out of touring Sri Lanka. However, thankfully for the West Indians
and cricket fans in Sri Lanka Brian Lara is here and batting with elegance.
On his arrival the question was whether he could turn his batting form
around, not having scored a Test century for twenty two months. The last
was on that beautiful batting surface at the Adelaide Oval, against the
Australians. Most often batting is an absolute delight on that picturesque
ground in South Australia.
The surface at Galle had different qualities. It was slow and took spin
from the first session. Lara had to negotiate the master "offie" Muralitharan
from the word go. He mistimed some deliveries, was beaten on some occasions,
but was on the lookout to attack all the time. He swept the off-spinner
very fine early on and boosted his confidence.
Muralitharan also did not have his rhythm going on day one, Vaas, kept
the left hander quiet in spells, the other bowlers were up and down stuff
for him. Twice Lara edged deliveries perilously close to the wicket keeper
Sangakkara. Maybe a very good keeper against spin might have snapped up
at least one of them. He took that in his stride and advanced to score
the sixteenth century of his career.
Lara's l78 came in 361 minutes and he faced 295 deliveries. All that
he needed to regain both confidence and form. There is a whole lot of cricket
for the West Indians yet on the tour and it would have a great relief and
boost to see the great man bat the way he did.
The opening days of the series indicated that Muttiah Muralitharan will
once again be Sri Lanka's main weapon. He will be called upon by Sanath
Jayasuriya to bowl and bowl and bowl.
As he always does, Vaas, bowled intelligently and within himself to
earn his success. Another strike bowler is required. With Dilhara Fernando
sidelined through injury for awhile, Ruchira Perera could be the choice
or a recall for Nuwan Zoysa should be absolutely fit.
Dillon, Stuart, McGarrell, Ramnarine, Hooper had variety, but not sufficient
to really trouble the Sri Lankan batsmen through an entire series. The
batting of both teams is their strong point. The team that will bowl and
field extremely well on the day will be the side that can clinch the honours.
A revelation in the art of coaching
Book review
By Channa Gunasekara
Having been involved in the game for the past six decades or so as player,
coach, administrator and spectator, I found Ajith C.S. Perera's book, "Thinking
Cricket", a revelation in the art of coaching. Conceived in a totally different
dimension, as against the usual straight-laced method of diffusing coaching
knowledge, he has succeeded in marrying technical details to basic fundamentals,
in a simple and easy to understand style.
A keen student of the game, Ajith applied his knowledge as a Chartered
Analytical Chemist together with Man-Management skills acquired later in
his professional career, when compiling this rare book. All aspects of
the game, be it batting, bowling, fielding, captaincy, discipline, physical
training, umpiring or even net practices and equipment, (areas of which
are not usually covered in conventional cricket coaching manuals,) have
found space here. One could perceive the comprehensiveness of this stupendous
effort by the fact that he has brought into focus a little thought of subject,
"the power of mind". Like in most endeavours in life, success in this game
is achieved through strength of mind and character. In short, it is very
much a mind game, more so in today's high pressure environment and this
aspect has not been lost sight of.
Ajith, a very persevering young man with a deep-rooted love of the game,
has come up with a classic training manual, that one of lesser strength
would not have contemplated.
After collecting academic honours in the field of Chemistry, he, on
his own, qualified as a First Class Umpire, but on the eve of his "Test
Debut", he met with a cruelly horrendous accident which left him a paraplegic,
thus cutting short a promising career even before it had blossomed. Being
confined to a wheel chair ever since, did not daunt him from picking up
the threads of a broken dream and he persevered with a rare will and dedication,
to be a winner. "Thinking Cricket" is the result.
With my long association with the game and with whatever I have learnt
from it, I have no reservations in recommending this book to all coaches
and players, be they school, club, first class or Test cricketers. I am
only sorry that we did not have such a quality manual in our playing days.
Little more than nine years ago, fate dealt him the cruellest of blows
in injuring his spinal cord. For a less determined character, such a devastating
catastrophe would have been astronomical in its effects on future career
prospects. But not so for Ajith. Albeit with a change in direction and
emphasis, he is still a resourceful person to cricket and society, both.
"Thinking Cricket" is a tribute to Ajith's hard work, and experience and
determination in overcoming a huge trauma. - Michael Brearley, OBE."
Ragama CC's rise to the top
Ragama Cricket Club was formed in1989 by two keen men, cricket lovers and
cricketers in the calibre of Roshan Abeysinghe (a popular figure in the
cricketing arena) and Roshan Iddamalgoda (former cricketer of St.Anthony's
College, Wattala). It was started with some youngesters. It was the period
that Ragama badly needed a cricket club in its own region.
Ragama C.C. made its debut in the cricketing arena by playing in the
Division 3 tournament conducted by the BCCSL and was captained by none
other than the man behind the success of the club, Roshan Abeysinghe, which
included Roshan Iddamalgoda, Amal Silva, Ramesh Jayesekera, Asela Jayasinghe,
Dilshard Karim, Dilan Nishantha, Uditha Jayasekera, Uditha Wijesundera,
Melvin Croonie, Chrishan Thilekerathne and Saman Perera.
Ragama Cricket Club had many special days in its 11 year history. It
was 1995 a 50 Overs Limited Over Match, they created history against Ganemulla
C.C. where Ragama scored 467 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. It was indeed
a historical moment. This historic moment was published in the Wisden Magazine
1996 July publication in England and mentioned it is a World Record.
In 1995/96 under the captaincy of Chrishan Thilakerathne, Ragama C.C.
emerged champions in the Division 3 tournament conducted by the Board of
Control for Cricket In Sri Lanka. Thereafter qualified to play Division
2 in 1996/97 season under the captaincy of Emil Dias and emerged runner
up in the 50 Overs Limited Over Match and qualified to play Division 1
Sara Tournament conducted by BCCSL. In the Sara Trophy Ragama became the
Runners-Up of the tournament under the Captaincy of ever reliable Emil
Dias and qualified to play in the Premier Division l Tournaments this year.
It is indeed a great achievement by Ragama Cricket Club in its 11 year
history of Cricket.
The secret behind the rapid success of the club is well organized management
with lots of experienced personalities involved and headed by Roshan Abeysinghe.
Who later became the president of Gampha District Cricket Association.
It clearly shows how organized and well planned this club is and its management.
Gampha District means the second largest district in Sri Lanka. By becoming
the president of Gampaha District is indeed a great honour for its club.
The club has been very fortunate to have had a Vice Patron of the calibre
of Edward Silva. Western Provincial Councillor, who has very kindly donated
a land to the club. The club on completion will be unique to the Gampha
District as it will be the first of its kind. The modern gym as well as
the restaurant the club intends to operate will no doubt assist Ragama
C.C. as a great revenue earner which will once again be a great boost to
the cricketers.
To be the top guys in the domestic Cricket arena, one of the major aspects
to be a great player one must be educated in the basics. How a player must
adapt himself according to situations, whether it comes to batting, bowling
or fielding. That's why every cricket team has a coach. A coach must create
improvement, so that a batsman scores more runs, a bowler takes more wickets.
A good coach should be able to recall virtually all the incidents in a
day's play so attention can be drawn to them and the players' questions
can be answered with authority. You cannot do that if you do not concentrate
on the game. With regard to all aspects of a good coach Kirthi Gunerathne
is a great example. Ragama C.C. is lucky to have one of the calibre of
Kirthi Gunerathne. Kirthi had done the club proud by showing them the way
to play in the Premier under the Captaincy of Dammika Vaz, with giant clubs
like SSC., NCC., Bloomfield and CCC.
Indeed fielding is an important department as batting and bowling is
an art. Those who have mastered this art are considered immortals in cricket.
Ragama C.C. has its fielding coach Vipula Sittemage who had done the club
proud in the fielding Department. Vipula has guided them by educating the
modern techniques of sliding adding a sharp edge to fielding and is both
electrifying and effective.
With the support and assistance of all these experienced men, Ragama
C.C. surpassed all its difficulties and done the hard work made things
so easy for the most happiest man Roshan Abeysinghe the President of the
Club. One can assure that Ragama Cricket Club will be the best in the business
in future.
-Ramesh Joseph
Ruhunu rugby comes of age By Bernie Wijesekera
The inaugural Old Thomians Rugby Football Union's super rugby sevens proved
and instant success. This is part of their 150th anniversary celebrations.
This tournament played over two days was not confined only to schools teams,
but also to the old boys of respective schools to bring back nostalgic
memories.
The schools section produced exciting rugby all the way. There was keen
competition among the participants, especially among the lesser known schools.
Newcomers to rugby - Ruhunu Rugby Club, with a combined schools team
including the rural village schools stole the limelight. They nudged out
the fancied Royal team seconds before the long whistle - trailing 10 -
5, to win a thrilling final 12-10.
Royal with a couple of national youth players in their fold led by Haren
Kaluarachchi too displayed exhilarating rugby. However, Ruhunu, with no
let up, matched their opponents with hard fast running rugby to pip them
on the post - a right royal victory. The future of the sport holds good
at the national level, of course they must be given the encouragement,
support and exposure.
The solitary reaper at the start, who inspired and sowed the seeds of
rugby in Ruhuna was former Havies flanker Kumar Abeywardena.
In the end they were the toast of all rugby fans - including the Royal
team led by 'Kalu' congratulated them for their great win. It was a fine
gesture by the Royalist to show the fans that the spirit of the game is
more important than the final outcome. Another noticeable feature was the
Thomian skipper, Jeevan Gunatilleke, walking to the middle to congratulate
the Ruhunu team. STC lost to Royal after extra-times in a close contest
in the semis.
The schools 7s is part of their development programme and its going
to be an annual contest, said the chairman of the tournament committee
Nihal 'Baila' Samarasinghe. Nihal, thanked all those, who went on to make
it a reality. The Warden STC, Dr. David Ponniah, the president of the OTRFU,
Arjun Dharmadasa, the president of CR and FC, MIchael Matthysz, the Refs.
Society the participating teams old boys (who sacrificed much of their
time), the provincial teams to make it a reality. Smarasinghe, a man of
few words, but has plenty of action. To him nothing is impossible. The
OTRFU playing cohesive rugby off the field made it a success with a big
crowd watching the games on both days.
The schools section - Bowl, Two Havelock Town schools Isipatana - Lumbini
fought it out in the final. Patana won. The Plate final went to the Peterites,
who were unlucky to have not entered the Cup semis. They beat Thurstan
to win the Plate.
The SLRFU Dev. squad playing in competitive rugby for the first time
impressed. They are being coached by Hisham Abdeen. There was also a team
from Sabaragamuwa. But sad to mention that Trinity College failed to take
part in this rugby development campaign organised by the OTRFU. But their
'Golden Oldies' (seniors) were there to scrum down in this fellowship tournament
(over - 35) despite their weight and ran the ball well.
World Ranking Tennis tourney
The Sri Lanka Tennis Association has achieved another important milestone
when the International Tennis Federation has given the green light to the
SLTA to go ahead to stage a Men's Futures Tennis Tournament in Sri Lanka.
Futures Tennis is a World Ranking Tournament. The tentative dates for this
tournament in 4th to 10th March 2002. Futures Tournaments are held in close
succession to each other in a region. According to Boshan Dayaratne, CEO,
SLTA. Sri Lanka will host the first while India will hold the next two
in Chennai and New Delhi. Uzbeckistan and has already confirmed the participation
of their Davis Cup players in this tourney, while India has also shown
interest, he said. Most of these players in both countries have ranking
above 200 in the ATP ranking list. We are optimistic, that some of the
top players will participate as our tournament is the first tournament
in the circuit, he further said.
The events to be worked out are Men's Singles and Men's Doubles. The
draw will be restricted to 32. Qualifying rounds will be held on 2nd and
3rd March. Sri Lanka's Bronze Badge Umpire Asitha Attygalle is expected
to officiate at this tournament. The SLTA hopes to give live coverage of
this event.
Dilmah not responsible for uniforms
Dilmah Tea, the principal sponsor of the Sri Lankan cricket team, says
it is not responsible for the uniforms supplied to the team.
"We have received many complaints locally and from overseas that assumed
that Dilmah had supplied the uniforms. We wish to place on record that
Dilmah Tea only supplied the logos for affixing on the uniforms and was
not responsible in any way for the making and supply and supply of the
uniforms," the company said in a statement.
It was reacting to local reports that the team had received ill-fitting
uniforms during their recent Sharjah tour. (BW)
Junior World Cup begins in January
The Third Junior Cricket World Cup will get underway on January 19, 2002.
The tournament is scheduled to be held in New Zealand. Sixteen teams divided
into four groups will vie for this prestigious trophy. At the previous
World Cup held in Sri Lanka, India defeated Sri Lanka in the final.
The first match of the tournament will be between Sri Lanka and the
host New Zealand to be played at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln. Top two
teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the Super League and
will play on a league basis in two groups. These games will be played in
Lincoln and Christchurch. The Bottom two teams from each of the four groups
will participate in the Plate Championship which will also be played on
a league basis on two groups. These games will be played in Auckland.
The Plate Championship final will be played on February 8 while the
Super League final is scheduled to be played on February 9.
The four groups and the venues on which they will play.
Group 'A' in Auckland- India, South Africa, Bangladesh, American Qualifier
(AMQ). Group 'B in Christchurch- Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Namibia.
Group 'C' in Christchurch- Pakistan, England, Asia Qualifier, (AQ), East
Asia/Pacific Qualifier (EAPQ). Group 'D'- Australia, West Indies, Kenya,
Europe Qualifier.-MSA |
