Captains Joe Root (England) and Lahiru Tirimanne (SL President’s XI) faced up the creeping threat of coronavirus cheerfully in novel style — foregoing the alternative path of a namasthe as a replacement for the normal handshake that was deployed prior to matches in the era before the CV has all of us concerned …..
Michael Roberts
I was in Sri Lanka in mid-1997 on research work but took time off to watch an ODI match between the Indian XI led by Sachin Tendulkar and the Sri Lankan side led by Arjuna Ranatunga on July 18th. One distinct memory is that of a relatively unknown player named Lanka de Silva batting in an uncomplicated, neat manner to support Arjuna and finalize Sri Lanka’s charge to victory.
ESPNcricinfo staff …. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28749203/we-want-play-defensive-cricket-anymore-sri-lanka-mickey-arthur
Australia were cruising at 2 for 67 chasing 133 with Alyssa Healy rolling on 51 from just 34 balls. Poonam Yadav didn’t bowl in the first nine overs and Healy hit her fourth ball for six over long-on. But the legspinner changed the game with a dazzling spell. She bamboozled Australia’s much-vaunted middle order to take 4 for 19 and guide India to victory. She nearly took a hat-trick with Taniya Bhatia dropping a tough caught-behind chance from Jess Jonassen. Here’s how Alex Malcolm and Deivarayan Muthu described the action on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary.
Poonam Yadav is ecstatic after taking a wicket Getty Images
When Nandasiri Jasentuliyana led the Southern Province Schools Team against the Australian Schoolboy Team in 1958
Bipin Dani, in bdcricktime, 11 February 2010 where the title is “Sri Lanka hand in Bangladesh U-19 win”
Read the full story here https://www.bdcrictime.com/sri-lanka-hand-in-bangladesh-u-19-win/
Bangladesh’s triumph in the U-19 World Cup has a Sri Lanka connection to it. Former middle order batsman Naveed Nawaz, who played one Test and 3 ODIs’ under Sanath Jayasuriya is the head coach of the victorious Bangla team. Speaking exclusively over telephone from South Africa a day after the Tigers won the U-19 World Cup against India, he said, “Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) invested heavily on these boys. I saw these boys become mature and learn fast. Changing habits and being positive to change was the main slogan I used along with my staff.”
Gideon Haigh, in The Australian, 24 January 2020 with this title
In December 2011, Rahul Dravid delivered a justly celebrated speech at the Australian War Memorial, the Bradman Oration, lyrically evoking the plurality and diversity of cricket in the subcontinent. “The Indian cricket team is in fact, India itself, in microcosm,” he said, describing a dressing room drawn from every corner of the country that spoke 15 different languages and stood “not just for sport, but possibility, hope, opportunities”.
Filed under child of empire, cricket and life, cricket in India
Dan Coliasimone, in ABCnet, 1 February 2020, where the title runs “The inside story of Don Bradman’s final innings duck”
“Out from the pavilion came the short, slight, little figure whose name will still be in bright lights as long as cricket is played.” This is how a contemporary newspaper report set the scene for Sir Donald Bradman’s last innings.
Bradman b. Hollies… 00 — Photo supplied by State Library of South Australia
Though Lasith Malinga, who picked up four wickets in four balls, has been immortalized in the annals of cricket, another Sri Lankan bowler who picked up six wickets in six balls continues to be in oblivion. Even though this rare feat was achieved in a club game in England, Holsinger’s accomplishment merits a lot of recognition since not often do bowlers produce such an unusual phenomenon.
Dhammika Ratnaweera, in Sunday Observer, 15 December 2019, with this title “Pioneer cheer leader Percy launches book”
The story of one-man cheer squad Percy Abeysekera titled ‘I‘am Percy Cricket Crazy’ was launched yesterday at the newly opened Chance Sports Grand Showroom at Baseline Road Borella. The veteran cheer leader’s biography written by Darrshini Parthepan notes Percy’s unforgettable stories out of the boundary line in this book and the first copy was handed over to 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga from the man himself at the simple ceremony organized by Sportsinfo and Trimo Media.
