Category Archives: cricket tamashas

Vale: Dean Jones, A Straight-Talking, Hard-Hitting Aussie

Rex Clementine

The Aussies were in Galle for the first Test of the series in 2004 and Dean Jones joked in commentary. He said that it took him less than four hours from Singapore to Katunayake but five hours to get to Galle from Katunayake! He was driving home some pertinent points. Travel in Sri Lanka before the highway days was a nightmare. Sri Lanka Cricket did not raise objections with the television company that employed Jones nor did the Sports Ministry. His criticism was well taken by all and sundry. Jones didn’t mince any words. He was a bold critic. As The Island’s former Editor Mr. Gamini Weerakoon used to say, ‘A good journalist works with his resignation letter in the pocket.’

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Filed under Australian cricket, cricket and life, cricket in India, cricket tamashas, cricketing icons, memorable moments, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, tower of strength

Lanka Premier League Shoot-Out Re-Jigged

Andrew Fidel Fernando in ESPNcricinfo, 2 Septmber 2020

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced fresh dates for the Lanka Premier League (LPL), which has now been scheduled between November 14 and December 6. However, government approval for a shorter quarantine period for players, officials and broadcast staff is yet to be secured; it is this hurdle that had forced the postponement of the LPL, originally slated to begin in late August. The SLC officials have asked that the quarantine period for those arriving in the country for this tournament be reduced to seven days, from the present 14-day period.

There is no known community spread of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka at present, but quarantine protocols have been incredibly strict PA Photos/Getty Images

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Filed under Andrew Fidel Fernando, backyard cricket, child of empire, cricket tamashas, performance, politics and cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket

West Indies vs Ceylon at the Oval in January 1967

Sanjeewa Jayaweera, in Sunday Island, 19 April 2020, with this title “Ceylon vs. West Indies in 1967”

Neil Chanmugam in full flow

I have been fortunate to have watched two World Cup finals at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia and Wankhede in India in addition to several matches at Lords and Oval in England and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Australia. However, my fondest and most precious memory as a spectator was the encounter between West Indies and Ceylon played at the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo, then known simply as ‘Oval.’ The three-day match was played between 21 and 23 January 1967.

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket tamashas, cricketing icons, memorable moments, performance, sportsmanship, Sri Lanka Cricket, The Oval in Colombo, unusual people, unusual statistics

A Cricketing Treasure Trove: SLC Museum

 

The Sri Lanka Cricket Museum at Maitland Place seemed to attract few visitors even during the Royal-Thomian …. so our sparkling moments in cricket history enshrined in trophies remain buried though not quite dead.

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Filed under Aravinda de Silva, cricket and life, cricket tamashas, cricketing icons, cricketing records, memorable moments, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket

West Indian Maestros at Whistle-stop Cricket in Ceylon in the 1960s

Trevor Jayetilleke, in The Island, 14 March 2020, with this title West Indies cricket teams of the 1960’s and Frank Worrell”

Apropos the letter written by Mr. K. K. S. Perera and published in the Opinion Columns of your journal of the 4th March, please permit me to add my comments/observations to the facts expressed by Mr. Perera.

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Naveed Nawaz: Sri Lankan Coach with All-Conquering Bangladesh U19 Squad

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.”

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Filed under Bangladesh cricket, child of empire, cricket and life, cricket tamashas, memorable moments, performance, Under 19 cricket, unusual people

Monkey-Come, Monkey-Scratch! Fraser-McGurk Go!

ESPNcricinfoo News Item = Jake Fraser-McGurk to return home after being scratched by a monkey,”…. https://www.espncricinfo F.com/story/_/id/28589265/jake-fraser-mcgurk-return-home-being-scratched-monkey

Jake Fraser-McGurk will not take any further part at the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa and will return home instead as a precautionary measure after being scratched on the face by a monkey at a nature reserve while on a team outing in Kimberley.

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket tamashas, taking the mickey, Under 19 cricket, unusual people, violent intrusions

Princely Flutters to World Super Power in Cricket: India’s Story by Prashant Kidambi

Gideon Haigh in Weekend Australian, 24 January 2020, where the title runs

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”.

 

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Pissu Percy becomes a Book

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.

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MCC Cricket Season to be launched at Galle in late March 2020

News Item, 31 October 2019, ….. https://www.lords.org/lords/news-stories/mcc-champion-county-match-to-be-held-in-sri-lanka

The traditional curtain-raiser to the new English domestic season, which dates back to 1970 in its current guise, will be played at the Galle International Stadium between 24th and 27th March 2020. The Champion County match, which sees MCC play the winners of the Specsavers County Championship in a four-day first-class match, was played at Lord’s until 2010 when the match first moved abroad.

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