Category Archives: cricketer politicians

Lessons for Sri Lankan Cricket from Pakistani Cricket under Imran

Aubrey Kuruppu, in Sunday Times, 24 August 2019, with this title “Rameez Raja’s Sri Lankan link”

Chatting to Rameez Raja, a former captain of the Pakistan team, was not the daunting prospect that I feared. He put me at ease straightaway and, once started, he put me in mind of Tennyson’s Brook. The worlds, and thoughts, flowed and he was not averse to calling a spade, a spade.

Rameez, who represented his country in 57 Tests and 198 ODIs, also led the Pakistan team for a short period.Though initially n the shadow of his elder brother, the multi-talented Wasim Raja Rameez was good enough to go the distance and play in three World Cups.

As the former Pakistani opener says, he has a love affair with Sri Lanka. It has a great place in my heart”. His initial tour as an Under-19 player was to this country. His first century (122) in international cricket was at the Sara Stadium in 1986.

 

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Just One Cake among the Many enjoyed by the ‘Masterminds’ of Sri Lanka Cricket

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August 3, 2019 · 5:23 am

Sri Lanka’s Overstuffed and Rotten Cricketing Dispensation

Hilal Suhaib, in islandcricket, !8 July 2019, with this title Who stands in the way of improving Sri Lanka’s first-class cricket structure?”

The standard of Sri Lanka’s first-class tournament today is so inferior that, when Sri Lankan cricketers graduate to play for the national side and are scrutinised at the Test level, they make greenhorn mistakes that should have been ironed out at club or school level. The top Test teams tend to debut players who don’t resemble novices and are prepared for the big league, while Sri Lankan newcomers look out of their depth and in over their heads, even 30 innings into their careers some.

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Hilal Suhaib’s Assessment of Sri Lanka’s Selections and World Cup Performance

Hilal Suhaib, in IslandCricket.lk, …., https://www.islandcricket.lk/news/featured/sri-lanka-2023-world-cup/?fbclid=IwAR2tOft4Zg5HmX4SSCo3HuD-Sv3V6h-ptSW6g16PdG9EZ9ymFMduSzdcoWg

Sri Lanka exceeded my expectations at the 2019 World Cup — a winless exit was a strong possibility. Dimuth Karunaratne’s men overcame the challenges set by their own camp to end the tournament with three wins. There is no criticism of this team for not making the semis. Not losing to Afghanistan is a praiseworthy accomplishment today for a nation that once won the ODI world title and were for many years considered strong contenders to enter the final stages of any ICC tourney.

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Pinnacles, Troughs and Trends in Sri Lanka’s Cricketing History

Michael Roberts, reprint from Lions of Lanka, produced by the Lanka Monthly Digest, 2019, to coincide with the 2019 Cricket World Cup …. http://www.lionsofsl.lk/article2.html

Cricket was one channel of Westernisation during British colonial rule. But it was also a medium for Ceylon to challenge the ideas of racial superiority so prevalent among the island’s ruling Britons. By the 1920s the Ceylonese team were proving their superiority over the Europeans in annual matches. The Maharaja of Vizianagram was so captivated by all-rounder Edward Kelaart in the early 1930s that he invited him to play for his Indian team. Meanwhile, F. C. de Saram made the headlines when he scored 128 runs out of a total of 218 for an Oxford University side that faced the touring Australians in May 1934.

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Machinations in Sri Lanka Cricket …. Dharmadasa and Shammi Silva in the Spotlight

N Krishnamurthy in Cricket Age, 20 December 2018, where the title is The inside story of Dharmadasa and Shammi Silva meeting”

As the election time has arrived at Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC), the candidates and certain camps have also started to tighten up their strategy. Obviously, the attempts have also been started to bring opposite camp’s stalwart! In one such scenario, few days ago the notorious and controversial treasurer of Thilanga Sumathipala camp Shammi Silva tried to convince Jayantha Dharmadasa!

  Dharmadasa Shammi Silva

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Navin Dissanayake on Same Page as Imran Khan: Swipe at Sumathipala’s Betting Shop Background

News Item in Cricket Age,  29 November 2018

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s world cup winning captain and current Prime Minister, recently came hard on corruption in cricket. One of the most respected voice in world cricket, Imran Khan said that the game must be play in right spirit. “Any person, who has the slightest connection to betting, will be removed from the cricket in Pakistan” he said in a statement.

Former Sri Lanka Sports Minister Navin Dissanayake gave an interesting prospective [on this item of news] by seeing the current status of the game in the Island. “In our country, we made a betting business owner as the head of cricket” he posted on his official Facebook account. Those, who knows the insides of Sri Lanka cricket, immediately got the point that Dissanayake was referring to former Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) president Thilanga Sumathipala.

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Reflections on Sri Lanka’s Topsy-Turvy Journey in Cricket — Mark Nicholas

Mark Nicholas in ESPNcricinfo, 22 October 2018, where the title runs “Sri Lanka’s cricket legacy is glorious, but what does the future hold?”

The first two Sri Lankan cricketers to catch this observer’s eye were Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. Dias, slim and elegant at the crease, played the game in beautifully straight lines and had a hand in important moments during Sri Lanka’s early days at the top table, most especially against Pakistan and India. Mendis was a bull of a fellow on first look but the most genial of cricketers, whose explosive strokeplay at Lord’s in 1984 won him many a heart. It was for the Indians, however, that he reserved his very best cricket, making hundreds in both innings of the 1982 Madras Test and then leading his country to a famous series win in 1985 with a match-saving hundred in the final Test at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. It is close to impossible to describe how much this meant to his people. It was more than a victory for cricketers; it was a victory for character and for relevance – a precursor to the days when Arjuna Ranatunga would bow before no one in the pursuit of his country’s place in the world order.

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A Muckraking Essay from Krishnamurthy about Hathurusingha

N Krishnamurthy  in Cricket Age, 30 September 2018, with this title : “Exclusive! Is Sri Lanka Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha No More A Buddhist?”

Ever since his arrival in Sri Lanka as national Team head coach, Chandika Hathurusingha has become the most powerful and manipulative at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC). Especially, after the shameful departure of Thilanga Sumathipala led administration on May 31st, he has extended his control over several other non cricketing expects [sic] as well, like in which airlines Sri Lanka team should travel!

 

SLC too, in a bid to hide its incompetent and wrongdoings, gave Hathurusingha all the authority! Though, Sri Lanka Cricket is still in shambles.

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Packer vs the ACB: Haigh’s Revelations

Daniel Brettig, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, … http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/23408427/story-gideon-haigh-story-packer-affair .. where the title reads “The story behind the story of the Packer affair”

In his acknowledgements for the first edition of The Cricket WarGideon Haigh admitted that “the person who wrote this book was not easy to like”. While he was talking mainly from the point of view of those who would help him put together this landmark chronicle of the World Series Cricket split, its origins and aftermath, there were many in Australian cricket at the time who chose not to like Haigh, or his book idea, in a manner that was both frustrating for the author and telling about the times in which he embarked on the task.

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