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English cricket coach highly impressed
English Cricket Coach Mike Griggs who is in Sri Lanka on a voluntary coaching stint is highly impressed with the Sri Lanka Schools cricket standard and the enthusiasm for the game amongst the boys.

The 34-year-old Griggs who was one of the first to qualify as a ECB level three Coach in 1999 has already had coaching sessions with St.Peters and St.Benedicts and is expected to have similar sessions with St Josephs Colombo and St Anthonys Kandy this week.

Cricket means so much to these youngsters.They are very hardworking and have a tremendous enthusiasm to learn and most importantly are very talentedî,said Mike when The Sunday Times spoke to the coach during a practice session at the St.Benedict's College nets.

Mike who uses a mix of skillful games and techniques to drive his points relies mainly on the Digital Video Camera to coach his students.This camera helps the boys a lot.They are able to instantly have a look at themselves and see not only their weaknesses but also their strengths.In addition they can even correct their mistakes easily and see how they can learn and pick up things quickly.

The Coach also uses a series of excercises and games to improve a players hand to eye co-ordination. This is a very important aspect especially for a batsman.You must have a good hand to eye co-ordination to complement your skills.However the coach was also of the view that it's not only the Technique that matters when you are on the field.

You need to have a positive attitude and the will to win.You have to be strong mentally,believe it yourself and have that self confidence in you ,stressed the coach. -MF

Niluka and Chandrika to defend badminton title
Royalsits Niluka Karunaratne and Dharmasoka's Chandrika de Silva reigning national badminton champions will go all out to defend their title at the Golden Jubilee Nationals Badminton Chaampinships 2002 due to be held at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo from November 27 to 30. The championships is conducted by the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) and sponsored by Commercial Bank.

The SLBA is celebrating 50 years of conducting the national championships and 50 years of affiliation to the international body of International Badminton Federation (IBF) and the SLBA have made arrangements to conduct this championships on a international format in par with international tournaments.

The championships have attracted competitor interest with over 100 entries being received already. The special feature of this year's championships will be the comeback of two former national champions Niroshan

Wijekoon in the men's category and Kaushalie Dissanayake in the womens category. Former national champion Niroshan has won nine singles titles and 13 doubles titles at the nationals and has the distinction of securing the most of titles in the men's category. -MSA

Moors-Moratuwa water logged
By Shamseer Jaleel
The Premier League match between Moors and Moratuwa at Braybrooke Place did not take place as one of the bowler's run-up area was water logged. Other than this the ground was in good condition.

A.R.M. Aroos, who is in charge of the ground, was seen even at 3 p.m. trying to make the grounds ready for their match against NCC today (Nov. 24) Two other games in the same tournament were also washed off. They are NCC vs Panadura SC at Panadura and Bloomfied vs Chilaw Marians at Reid Avenue.

Ruchira returns as SSC rout Tamil Union
Left arm medium pacer Ruchira Perera picked up 4 for 34 on his return from South Africa as SSC trounced Tamil Union by six wickets at the P. Sara Stadium yesterday.

At the Sara Stadium: SSC bt Tamil Union by 6 wkts.
Tamil Union-151 all out in 46 overs (Nimesh Perera 65, Indika de Saram 20; Ruchira Perera 4/34)
SSC - 153 for 4 in 41 overs (Malin Silva 24, Jeewan Mendis 47, Mevan Porage 20 n. o)

KYCC routed
Indika Gallage and Nisitha Rupasinghe shared eight wickets between them as CCC recorded an easy 77 run victory over Kurunegala YCC at Maitland Crescent yesterday
Opener Bradman Ediriweera led the way with a fine unbeaten 96 as CCC hit up 232 for 2 in 50 overs. Kurunegala YCC were made to work hard for their runs as medium pacer Gallage (3/24) and leg spinner Rupasinghe(5/37) combined to reduce them to 155/9 in 47 overs.

At Maitland Crescent: CCC bt Kurunegala YCC by 77 runs
CCC-232/2 in 50 overs(Bradman Ediriweera 96 n o D Hunukkumbura 64 M Van Dort 33) Kurunegala YCC-155/9 in 47 overs(A Weerappuli 43 D Dharmawardene 33 N Rupasinghe 5/37 I Gallage 3/24)

Waranapura excels
A good all-round performance by Malintha Warnapura helped BRC to rout Air Force by six wickets at Katunayake yesterday. Warnapura picked up 4 for 18 with his slow medium pacers as Air Force were shot out for 86.BRC knocked off the target in just 21 overs to register an easy victory. Manoj Mendis top scored with 38 while Warnapura remained unbeaten on 23.

At Katunayake BRC bt Air Force by 6 wkts.
Air Force 86 all out in 25.1 overs(A Tahir 33 N Wijesinghe 21 M Warnapura 4/18)
BRC-91 for 4 in 21 overs(M Mendis 38 M Warnapura 23 n o U Eranda 2/40)

Colts win
Romesh Kaluwitharana and Jeewantha Kulatunge hit half centuries as Colts defeated Sebestianites SC on the Duckworth/Lewis System after rain intervened at the Moratuwa Stadium yesterday.

Sebestianites batting first were curtailed to 108 for 6 in 37.1 overs with Dulip Liyanage claiming 3 for 10.Set to make 133 in 37 overs Colts reached their target in only the 21 st over with Kaluwitharana completing an unbeaten 52 and Kulathunge hitting a sparkling 52.

At Moratuwa :Colts bt Sebastianites on D/L System
Sebastianites SC-108/6 in 37.1 overs(Dinusha Fernando 20 Marlon Peiris 16 n O.P Siriwardene 16 n o D Liyanage 3/10)
Colts SC- 133 for 2 in 21.2 overs(Romesh Kaluwitharana 52 n o Jeewantha Kulatunge 52)

Galle CC win
Galle CC pulled off a thrilling one wicket victory over Ragama SC at the Galle yesterday. After bundling out Ragama SC for just 97 runs Galle went through a few anxious moments before finally pulling off a close one wicket victory.

At Galle: Galle CC bt Ragama SC by 1 wkt.
Ragama SC - 97 all out in 39.5 overs(D. Ranatunge 20, S. Weerasiri 14; N. Kulasekera 2/37, C. Ramanayake 2/17 A. Ridigammanagedara 2/10)
Galle CC - 98 for 9 in 43.1 overs (R Karunasekera 25, C. Perera 15; S Arangalle 2/29, R. Dilruk 2/20, K. Jayasinghe 3/19)

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