Category Archives: child of empire

November 24, 2017 · 1:35 pm

Michael Tissera: Cricket Personified … A Leader To Die For

Estelle Vasudevan, courtesy of ThePapare.com, 8 March 2017, where the title is “Michael Tissera, Cricketing Royalty”

To many of the younger Sri Lankan cricket fans, the name Michael Tissera, though familiar, is probably not one that brings to mind any vivid memories. However, students of the game will know Tissera as one of the pioneers of Sri Lanka cricket, a man whose influence reached well beyond the boundary ropes in the island nation.

The accolades and awards he has won are many and his name will forever be etched in Sri Lankan cricket folklore but as the saying goes ‘he who would search for pearls must dive below.’ And so, in an attempt to do that, the slightly awe-struck bunch of us sat down with the great man himself, in what turned out to be an enriching encounter.

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Filed under child of empire, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricketing icons, performance, player selections, sportsmanship, Sri Lanka Cricket, tower of strength, unusual people, work ethic

November 23, 2017 · 9:43 am

World Cricket in Chaotic Times: A List of Abandoned Cricket Tours

An Item in The Island, 18 October 2017 with the title “Wars, riots and abandoned tours”
article_image A Sri Lankan player boards a Pakistan military helicopter after terrorists opened fire on the team bus during the 2009 tour.

The dramatic announcement on Friday (October 17), that West Indies would be cutting short their tour of India because of a pay dispute, was not the first time a major international cricket series had come to an unexpected end. Here’s a snapshot of several other tours that ended abruptly in unusual circumstances. Continue reading →

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Filed under child of empire, cricket and life, cricket governance, politics and cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, terrorist intrusions, unusual statistics, violent intrusions

November 16, 2017 · 1:41 am

Sri Lanka Cricket Squad is Injury-free!!!

Sa’adi Thawfeeq, in Daily News, 16 November 2017,

Injuries have been part and parcel of the Sri Lanka cricket team in recent years contributing largely to the poor standard of fielding. To say that injuries have been eradicated calls for some sort of appreciation. “Everyone is talking about injuries in cricket now finally after about 10-15 years we have zero injuries going into the Indian tour,” Prof. Arjuna de Silva told the Daily News. “Today’s Test series Sri Lanka is going into against India we have zero injuries. There are 42 players in the squad and all of them are available for selection.”

Dr Arjuna de Silva

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Filed under Australian cricket, child of empire, cricket and life, patriotic excess, performance, welfare through sport, work ethic

October 7, 2017 · 8:25 am

Test Cricket of A Different Kind, 1 November 1948

Srilal Fernando

This article appeared earlier in The Ceylankan, a quarterly produced by the Ceylon Research Society, a body of Lankan enthusiasts in Australia.

Sometime around 2001 a couple of autographs came up for sale at Christie’s auction house in London: they were of the visiting English women cricketers who played a match in Colombo against the Ceylon women in the first “test” of its kind in 1948. I was lucky to trace two of the test cricketers from the Ceylon team who now live in Victoria, Beverley Roberts (now Mrs Juriansz) and Enid (Gilly) Fernando. Incidentally Gilly is called Gilly after AER Gilligan the Australian cricketer and answers to no other name.

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October 3, 2017 · 1:04 am

Don Bradman out for Nought

Abhisek Mukherjee, courtesy of Cricket County where the title reads “Don Bradman and his ducks”

Don Bradman averaged 99.94 at the highest level for Australia. The First-Class average, if anything, was lower (95.14), which still remain the highest by a distance. Ducks, thus, are a statistic one does not usually associate with the man. Abhishek Mukherjee lists Bradman’s First-Class ducks. Don Bradman made 16 First-Class ducks. Surprisingly, seven of them came in Tests. As we know, if he had scored an aggregate of four from those seven innings he would have finished with a three-digit Test average, which makes the ducks even more unbelievable. (See the photo gallery of Don Bradman’s ducks here)

Don Bradman is bowled for a duck by a googly from Eric Hollies in Australia’s first innings in the final Test match against England at The Oval, London, on August 14, 1948 © Getty Images

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Filed under Australian cricket, Bradman, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing icons, performance, sportsmanship, tower of strength

October 2, 2017 · 6:15 am

The Don and Sanga at 40: Side by Side

Mahinda Wijesinghe, courtesy of The Island, 2 October 2017, where the title is “A statistical comparison of two cricketing icons”

Statistics can be misleading. Some use it to their own advantage, just as a drunkard leans against the lamppost – not for illumination but for support.

Bradman at the Oval

Sanga

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Filed under Australian cricket, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing icons, cricketing records, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, unusual statistics

September 20, 2017 · 7:41 am

Wrist-Spinner Breakthroughs: Yadav and Chahal

Alagappan Muthu, coutesy of ESPNcricinfo, 19 September 2017, where the title is Kuldeep, Chahal, and cracking the India XI”

Wristspinners are becoming an indispensable part of one-day cricket. They are fun to watch – even on bad days – but on the good ones they have the ability to make the strongest batting line-ups seem like the second XI of a village team at a county fair. While Australia might not have been so terribly undone – the margin of defeat in the series opener was only 26 runs via DLS method – Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav might feel like they are at the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

On Sunday, they were playing together for the second time — having done so earlier in the fifth ODI in Sri Lanka. That was the first time a pair of specialist wristspinners bowled in an ODI for India – that’s across 43 years and 922 matches. The statistic is certainly eye-popping but there is another implication to it. That only rarely do teams need more than one of these tricksters. Clearly there’s a debate here, so let’s get into it.

Yuzvendra Chahal celebrates after dismissing Glenn Maxwell Associated Press

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September 5, 2017 · 1:52 pm

Brian Lara’s Cowdrey Lecture Revealing Reflections

George Dobell, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title is “Embarrassed by how West Indies played in the nineties – Lara”

Brian Lara has implored the top sides in world cricket “to ensure that the integrity of the game is upheld” and admitted there were times he was “truly embarrassed” by the behaviour of the West Indies side he represented.

Michael Holding kicks the stumps in anger Getty Images

Lara, delivering the MCC Spirt of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s, not only called on batsmen to “walk” but suggested the leading sides had a responsibility to “show the way and lead the way” in which the game is played.And, despite the outstanding record of the West Indies sides of the 1980s and early 1990s, Lara felt they were occasions when the tactics they employed resulted in them “playing the game in a way it should never, ever be played.” Continue reading →

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Filed under child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing icons, cricketing rules, English cricket, foul tactics, performance, politics and cricket, sportsmanship, verbal intimidation, violent intrusions, West Indian Cricket

August 31, 2017 · 9:42 am

That Outstanding Bangladesh Test Victory

ONE+ Mohammad Isam in Mirpur, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, August 2017, where the title is “Shakib’s quest for excellence inspires Bangladesh”

Some people might never agree to put Shakib Al Hasan in the same league as the legendary quartet of allrounders from the 1980s. For starters, he doesn’t bowl pace. He has played too many matches against Zimbabwe, and a series against a depleted West Indies. Even his position as the No. 1 allrounder in the ICC rankings is a result of the side he plays for, as he constantly gets more rating points by playing against higher-ranked teams.
Bangladesh’s cricketers celebrate a famous victory over England Getty Images
Not that Shakib has tried to force the issue on anyone, but the numbers and list of achievements are growing. He played a central role in Bangladesh’s thrilling 20-run win in the first Test against Australia. In Bangladesh’s first innings, he struck a fifty and strung together a counter-attacking partnership with Tamim Iqbal to lift them from 10 for 3. He was then a constant threat in both of Australia’s innings, and finished with a second 10-wicket haul.