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A six for the ladies

By Michelle Henricus and Sandrina Abeywardene

Practice makes perfect. "Imagine with just three months we reached the quarter finals. What if we had six months practice,? asks the Sri Lankan Women's Cricket captain Venessa Bowen.

The Sri Lankan Women's Cricket team were fortunate to get a chance to play in the World Cup last year due to the pullout of Japan. As soon as they got the green light the ladies were on the field with their coach Guy de Alwis practising hard.

After rigorous training, they set off to India to meet the rest of the teams who have been playing much longer than they have.

The team led by Venessa Bowen made a great impact on their first ever one day International on foreign soil. Their first match against West Indies was a thriller for the young ladies as they had the mighty Windies up against the wall having restricted them to just 80 runs in 30 odd overs. "Playing against the West Indies was a great challenge. They won the toss and elected to bat. Rasanjalee the vice captain was the opening bowler and well, she was as nervous as can be, but with the first ball straight at the bat and no run scored, she gained supreme confidence to carry on," Venessa said.

Then it was just a matter of time and the other bowlers ripped through the strong batting line up of the West Indies. When it was time for the Lankans to bat, the opening pair were a bunch of nerves, but facing the first ball was all they needed. The Captain had only a couple of deliveries to face to win the match for the side with a glorious boundary, and yes, there was jubilation among the young ladies as it was their first ever victory abroad, and they had done it in style.

"Though we won that first match we did not relax. It was hectic as we had to practice in our free time. We lost to New Zealand and rain gave us three points against India. This gave us the opportunity to face England at the quarter finals," recalled Venessa.

This was a match the crowd was waiting for. England against Sri Lanka the underdogs.

" That day we were extremely nervous as we saw for the first time a huge crowd. We'd never played in front of so many people. I won the toss and elected to bat. The crowd cheered on as we progressed. The England bowlers were great and they got us all out for just 110 runs, which is not such a big score to my mind. But I thought well, we could defend this total. But though we battled it was of no avail. England was stronger than us and they won the match."

"It was very disappointing. We could not look at our coach for fear of what we would see, but all in all it was OK," added Vice captain Rasanjalee Silva

Looking back the World Cup for Venessa and the girls was an achievement of a life time.

"I never could forget the nerves that were knotted in my stomach, or how I played. Thinking now makes me wonder what made me so nervous. Maybe it was the crowd and their continuous cheer that got to me," she recalled.

Since the World Cup, the ladies have been a bit quiet. Or have they? No! they are hard at practice for the forth coming Pepsi tournament which will commence in mid March up until April.

This will keep the National side on their toes.

" Since most of our girls represent Colts Sports Club we won't be playing against each other. This will be a added advantage for us to improve our all round skills."

"Most of our players are bowlers, and we are very good on the field as well. The only thing we lack is more batting practice. So through this tournament we hope to improve that," Venessa said.

The great news is that the Pakistan ladies team is scheduled to be in Sri Lanka around April to play 3 one day International matches and a three day test match, with our young Sri Lankan side.

"We are looking forward to this tour. Then at least we'll get more practice and try to achieve great status in the world as our brothers have," Venessa said.

Wondering what the captain does when she's not playing cricket? Well she's a very busy lady during the day, at her ticketing career at Quantas. So is Rasanjalee who has a full time day job.

Their only goal for the future is to bring home the next World Cup which will be played in the year 2000. Just like the Sri Lankan Cricket team did in 1996.

"We need much more exposure and more One Dayers, plus more batting practice to make our dream come true," Venessa added.

Dear daughter

Develop the world of imagination

My dearest daughter,

Yesterday I was at a friend's, and I was amazed at how bored her little boy seemed. He either wanted to watch TV or came every few minutes to his mother and said, "What can I do?" I remembered a time when you were young,when the day did not seem long enough for you to do the many things you wanted to do. There was no TV then for you to sit and while away your time. I think daughter even if there were the many games you played even as a very young child - those fantastic games of make-believe Tarzan, Robin Hood, one of the Secret Seven - in your imagination there were so many possibilities to explore.

Today I wondered seeing that little boy, whether the electronic media has taken away the joy of a mind, denying to it the fantastic world of imagination. My friend explained that her son was reluctant to read and so spent hours watching TV, looking at improbable fantasies or gruesome realities depending on the programmes. Except for a very few cartoons we do not have many children's programmes. I wondered is there no way for children to enjoy their childhood in the way they should. I can remember a time when a child made mud-pies and cooked rice using crushed brick for chillies. What fun those games were and the sound of children's laughter and voices filled the air. Today an aura of silence surrounds the child whilst the electronic media or computer games shatter the atmosphere with their metallic sounds.

I think in a sense it is the fault of us adults who in order to find time for ourselves abrogated the time we spent with the children and used the electronic media as a substitute. Even the nightly ritual of reading a story to the child has been given up. I think daughter, parents should consider the needs of their children and encourage them to develop their imagination, build a world where for a while dreams are real.

Ammi

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