Category Archives: Angelo Mathews

August 5, 2017 · 11:07 am

Sri Lanka and India seem to be playing on two different surfaces

Saádi Thawfeeq , in Daily  News .\,Saturday Saturday, August 5, 2017
It seems like Sri Lanka and India are playing on two different types of pitches at the SSC – venue of the second cricket Test of the series.Whereas the Lankan bowlers struggled to gain purchase off the second day pitch toiling for the best part of 68 overs to capture six Indian wickets for 278 runs, it was a totally different story when the Indian bowlers came on.
Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella stumps India’s Ajinkya Rahane for 132 on the second day of the second cricket Test played at the SSC grounds yesterday. (Pic by Saman Mendis)
Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella stumps India’s Ajinkya Rahane for 132 on the second day of the second cricket Test played at the SSC grounds yesterday. (Pic by Saman Mendis)

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August 1, 2017 · 11:33 am

Slashing Clementine and Other Extremist Critics

 Gerald Peiris[1]

Remember the mighty Indians with ‘all time greats’ like God Tendulkar, Azar, Dravid, Viru, Ganguli et. al. losing disgracefully, first in Delhi and then in Calcutta (in 1996);[2] Sri Lanka hammering more or less the same team for 960 or so runs in Colombo;[3] and then, getting them for a paltry 54 in an ODI in Dubai (with Murali and Vaas breaking records in successive matches)? Why should SL, smaller than one-third the size of one of the smaller states in India like, say, Tamilnadu, be producing a succession of ‘all-time greats’ and ranking perpetually among the high flyers all the time?

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, chaminda vaas, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing records, Indian cricket, patriotic excess, performance, Sidharth Monga, Sri Lanka Cricket, taking the mickey, unusual statistics

July 31, 2017 · 4:32 am

The Galle Test Match: Assorted Reflections

ONE > Rex Clementine: “Kohli praises Dimuth and PradeeP”, July 30, 2017,

Indian captain Virat Kohli praised the efforts of opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne and fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep after his team completed a comprehensive 304-run win in the first Test between the countries in Galle on Saturday. Karunaratne was dismissed after a well-compiled 97 runs while Pradeep took career-best figures of six for 132.

 Indians as happy chappies-ESPNcricinfo

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July 27, 2017 · 4:19 pm

India outclass Sri Lanka in All Departments

Sidharth Monga,  courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 27 July 2017,  where the title runs thus “Fleet-footed India outdo Sri Lanka in the Galle maze

India like to be ruthless when ahead, in that they don’t like to leave the door open in order to make a statement. Even the ever-present threat of rain in Galle is not likely to make them enforce a follow-on on a 10-man Sri Lanka, even if they bowl them out in the first hour on the third morning. Prospects of a three-day finish might not be tempting enough for this team, which has seen the pitch drying out quickly, and which knows from first-hand experience that chasing anything on a quick-drying Galle surface can be treacherous.

India’s Abhivav Mukund, successfully takes a catch to dismiss Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella, left, during the second day’s play of the first test cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, July 27, 2017. — AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena

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July 25, 2017 · 4:04 am

Angelo Mathews: Highs and Lows … but still Potent

Andrew Fidel Fernando, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title reads “Can Mathews arrest batting slump?”

Angelo Mathews, 30 years old, former captain, once the owner of a fearsome average, now merely a very good one, potentially a great batsman still, but man, the last 18 months have not been kind. For a player of such indisputable quality, it has been a strange decline.Remember how he had been in 2014 – that last great year of Sri Lankan cricket – when out of nowhere, he hit a harvest so golden, so irrepressible, that he bludgeoned attacks into pulp, nurdled without relent, left no advertising board unstung by his boundary hits, and even when off the field, probably coughed up, sneezed and exhaled runs.

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Filed under Andrew Fidel Fernando, Angelo Mathews, cricket and life, cricketing icons, cricketing records, English cricket, performance, Sangakkara, Sri Lanka Cricket, tower of strength

July 18, 2017 · 5:06 pm

An Enthralling Test Match: Lanka beat Zimbabwe … Just!

One ILLUSTRATION among the Enthusiasts Comments .. after over 111.2 in the SL second innings

MD FURKAN UDDIN: “What a match we are watching. congratulations both team for play some good cricket.”

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June 25, 2017 · 11:44 am

Malinga’s Monkey Bouncer draws Ministerial Castration

Amal Jayasinghe, in Sunday Island, 24 June 2017, with the title “Malinga in hot water over ‘monkey’ comment”

Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga faced an investigation this week after he compared a government minister to a monkey following criticism that the country’s cricketers were too fat. Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said he ordered an inquiry after Malinga lambasted him for questioning the endurance of Sri Lankan players following their failure to reach the Champions Trophy semi-finals. “He is now under investigation for making statements to the media in breach of his contract with Sri Lanka Cricket (board),” Jayasekera told AFP. “In my criticism of the appalling fitness levels of our players, I did not name Malinga, but he has chosen to put the hat on and attack me publicly.”

Malinga told a television network the minister knew nothing about cricket. “I don’t care about criticism from those who are simply warming chairs,” he said. “What does a monkey know about a parrot’s nesting hollow? This is like a monkey getting into a parrot’s nest and talking about it.”

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June 23, 2017 · 3:23 am

Sri Lanka Cricket in Humpty-Dumpty Situation

Suresh Murugaser, an original essay entitled “What ails Sri Lanka Cricket!” … with highlighting emphasis in the text being an imposition by The Editor, Cricketique

Let’s face it. All is not well with Sri Lanka Cricket – both the organisation and the game itself. I’m simply making a few observations in the hope that the powers- that-be take notice, and make calculated efforts to put things right.

  1. School Cricket

This is the cradle and nursery of our cricket culture, and it even produced cricketers who were able to walk into the Sri Lanka side. What’s happened is that, under the Schools Cricket Association (which, till very recently operated independently of Sri Lanka Cricket), which was under the purview of school Principals and Masters-in-Charge, has become a law unto itself. Continue reading →

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June 12, 2017 · 9:51 am

How Good Fortune and Intelligent Backroom Decisions enabled Lanka to beat India

Michael Roberts

Four huge ‘sequoia trees’ stood astride the path to the Champions Cup at the commencement of the tournament: South Africa, India, Australia, England.  But, as I write on Sunday night 11th June, a combination of English rain and good cricket from the minnows has felled Australia as well as that outsider prospect, New Zealand; while the Safs and Indians are battling for one semi-final spot – an outcome that will knock one of them out.

My focus here is on the factors that have given Sri Lanka a 50/50 chance of making it to the finals after they snuffed out India on Friday last with a commanding batting performance. Two sets of factors assisted Sri Lanka: (A) fortune; and (B) strategic choices and good tactics.

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June 11, 2017 · 4:51 am

India’s Practice Match turns Turtle

Mahinda Wijesinghe,  in The Sunday Island, 10 June 2017 with title “A ‘practice game’ that became a nightmare to the Indians”

All the chips were down for Sri Lanka having to meet upbeat host India at the Oval, especially after the latter’s resounding win by 124 runs a few days earlier against arch-enemy Pakistan at Edgbaston. Acting captain Upul Tharanga, who top-scored (57) in the previous game had been suspended for two games due to slow over-rate by the bowlers during Sri Lanka’s loss to South Africa. Skipper Mathews, returning to the side to play an ODI since August last year, announced that he will not be able to bowl; this meant a seam bowler short. The woes were adding fast. Indeed, in pre-match banter, wicket-keeper Dickwella mentioned that the Indians had stated they (the Indians) were taking this as a ‘practice match’! Continue reading →

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