Rangaiyaa! Rangaaiyya! Budu Ammo! Herath raised aloft after securing a match fo Sr Lanka … or so one can imagine
Murali as bionic man … with censors; the science technicians at the Uni-of-Western Australia led by Dr Bruce Elliott, & Daryl Foster came to Sri Lankan cricket’s aid both ine arly 1997 and subsequently during the doosra controversy in examining Murali’s arm and testing hsis bowling action. This is part of the process. Reflect on Murali’s resilience.
Ravindra Goonetilleka’s study of Murali in Hong Kong 1997
Arjuna chastises umpire Ross Emerson at Adelaide Oval 23 January 1998 after Emerson no-balled [from the bowler’s end] no-balled Muralitharan for throwing in what we now know was pre-planned action
Muralitharan’s remarkable bowling figures
An avid servant of cricket meets a master batsmen
“Smiling Garlands” … Winners are Grinners …. etails of this event are not known
A rise Sir Davenell! A Great Ceylonese Coach receives the Highest Plaudits as “Deshamanya’ for President Kumarstunga in December 1996
Sri Lanka’s Record total of 952 for 6 wkts against India at the Premadasa Stadium after Jayasuriya & Mahanama crafted a massive tsand … during India’s 1997/98 tour of the island … SEE http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/101581.html
Jayewardene and Sangakkara put ona record partnership of 624 runs waginst South Africa at t he SSC grounds during the First Test match on 27-31 July 2006 … enabling Sri Lanka to win by an innings afterMuralitharan and Dilhara Fernando starred with the ball … http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/14588/scorecard/249193/sri-lanka-vs-south-africa-1st-test-south-africa-tour-of-sri-lanka-2006
Sanath Jayasuriya (Buddhist) and Chamnda Vaas (Catholic) in focused intensity as they approach the deities in a propitiatory rite at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade, 26 June 2000
Arjuna Ranatunga has a pirit nula — a sacred thread — tied round his wrist by Bellanwila Wimalaratna Thera in 1997. As in many sports, cricketers face tense moments: so the blessings of the Buddha’s recitations are seen as a form of fortification — partially different but not entirely dissimilar to the capacity of the deities approached by supplicants at shrines (Catholic, Saivite, Vaishanavite)
Sri Lankan and Australian teams in photo shoot before the inaugural Test Match at Asgiriya in Kandy in April 1983 …. which picture is significant too for reasons other than cricket: both Hookes and Dissanayake having their life cut short cruelly and suddenly — Hookes via a karate chop to the head aftera pub squabble and Minister Gamini Dissanayake in a planned assassination strike by an LTTE suicide bomber during an election rally in late 1994
In Memoriam DAVID HOOKES: Adelaide Oval awaits his funeral service, 24 March 2004
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AS IT HAPPENS I attended the memorial service for Hookes on that day …. and, needless to say, I was present at the same venue when Sri Lanka beat England on 23rd January 1998 –the occasion when Arjuna Ranatunga challenged Emerson — an action as unprecedented as brave…. Michael Roberts
A NOTE: several of these photogrpahs have been reproduced in ESSAYING CRICKET with moree xtended clarification in some instances. So visit my large-size book: ESSAYING CRICKET. SRI LANKA & BEYOND, Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo ….. 372 pages + xvi prelim pp + 60 pages of outstanding pictures
Orders/Enquiries to: vybooks@gmail.com ……Web: www.vijithayapa.com
Softcover: ISBN 955-1266-25-0 SL Rs 3499/ Aus $69 / US $60 / pd sterling 27
Hardcover: ISBN 955-1266-26-9 SL Rs 5399/ Aus $96 / US $83 / pd sterling 38