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Dilroy,
first Sri Lankan referee to be appointed, Regional Referee-Trainer
by the (IRB) Dilroy is the second Asian to be appointed as a Referee-Development officer. The only other appointment from Asia is from Japan. This appointment was made by Steve Griffith, present IRB's Referee Development Officer and took up his appointment in May 1997. Griffith - was an international referee. He is responsible for IRB's merit-based Int. referee selection process and for referee programmes for developing and emerging unions. Recently Dilroy was picked by the IRB to officiate in the World Cup Group 'C' qualifying matches in Malaysia and Qatar. Keep-fit Fernando, without doubt is the fittest Ref. here and prepare himself physically and psychologically for each game. Be it weather rain, sun or humidity. He keeps on running with the eye on the ball. His regular training programme which is the cornerstone for his success as a competent Ref. His appointment is a just reward for his commitment for the game. He forget other chores be it family or otherwise. On the field whilst officiating his loyalty is for the game and act without fear or favour. Of course he may make a human error that, too, when he has to focus attention on 30 players unlike a cricket umpire. Asoka de Silva has done proud for cricket as an international umpire. He was highly commended by the visiting teams for his unbiased decisions. He is rated high in the Int. panel and has gained worldwide acclaim. Fernando too has done likewise whenever he blew away from home. He achieved this thanks to his mental skills. Dilroy hails
from a battle- scarred family and has come up in a hard way to achieve
success on and off the field. Knowledge has bitter roots but sweet
fruits. Sri
Lanka reach 132 for 2 Earlier Graham
Thorpe conjured an outstanding 123, scoring his final 61 runs with
last man Matthew Hoggard, as England pressed home their advantage
against Sri Lanka. Left-hander Thorpe and Hoggard emerged as the central figures on a day of cloudless skies as they turned their side's faltering progress before lunch into a compelling finale to the innings. England were 454 for nine and Thorpe 61 when Hoggard strode to the crease. The Yorkshire fast bowler proved a staunch ally in a last wicket stand of 91 which lifted the total to 545 all out in reply to Sri Lanka's 162. When Thorpe pushed Chaminda Vaas into the covers for a quickly taken single to reach three figures, his joy was unlimited. He whirled his bat and punched the air before hugging Hoggard in mid-pitch to celebrate an 11th test hundred in his 75th match. Though Thorpe engineered much of the strike early in their partnership, Hoggard gradually shouldered his share of the workload with growing confidence. He faced 94 of the 185 balls that their stand occupied. The Thorpe-Hoggard stand provided a real sting in the tail after Sri Lanka had held up England's progress in the morning session during which they were reduced from 426 for five to 454 for nine at one stage. Kandy
win 45-0 It turned out to be a ferocious forwards battle. The sailors played a robust game in the loose and even pushed the heavy Kandy eight in the set pieces, but tended to make mistakes and were constantly blown by referee Jamaldeen. It was Kandy's experience and the way they adjusted themselves to the wet conditions that proved to be the winning factor. Capably led by Pradeep Basnayake, after a few hic-ups midway in the second half, they got their act together. Kandy stood firm in defence with Nalaka Weerakkody keeping the sailors at bay with his booming kicks to touch. Nalaka had a big hand in this win scoring 25 points for the winners - six spot kicks, a conversion and he even put the icing on the cake with a dandy try. It was a fine team effort where every player had a touch on the five tries scored by Kandy. Wingers Sanjeewa Jayasuriya, Sameera Silva, hooker M. Bucks, flyhalf Niloufer Ibrahim and Nalaka Weerakkody scored a try each. For the sailors it was a sad tale of woe when they missed several scoring chances with the line staring at them. Referee Nizam Jamaldeen. SA
cricket coach Ford sacked The decision was announced following a meeting of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) general council in Johannesburg. A minute's silence was observed to mark the death of former South African captain Hansie Cronje, who was killed in a plane crash on Saturday. In a statement the UCB said: "The General Council has decided to terminate the contracts of national coach Graham Ford and physiotherapist Craig Smith. "The affiliates of the UCB have been asked to forward names of possible replacements to UCB CEO Gerald Majola before the National Cricket Committee meets on Monday 3 June 2002. |
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