Category Archives: murali

September 8, 2012 · 4:35 pm

Jaffna Schools stun Trinity College in Murali Harmony Cup

Media Release

Jaffna Combined Schools stunned Trinity College, one of the tournament favourites, with a brilliant four-wicket win on the opening day of the Murali Harmony Cup on Sunday. The upset by Jaffna’s talented young cricketers was one of the highlights of an action-packed first day to the tournament that included 10 matches played in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mankulam, Oddusuddan and Vavuniya.

The IODR Oval school cricket ground in Oddusuddan is the flagship venue of the 20-team reconciliation tournament staged to promote community-building and friendship in post-war Sri Lanka.The five-day tournament has been jointly organised by Muttiah Muralidaran’s charity the Foundation of Goodness, travel company Red Dot Tours, the International Cricket Council and the Sri Lanka Army.

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September 8, 2012 · 11:05 am

Murali Harmony Cup in the North launched by Mahela and Sanga

Sri Lanka cricket legends Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara launched the 2012 Murali Harmony Cup on Saturday by opening the newly-built IODR Oval in the previously war-affected northern town of Oddusuddan in Mullaitivu Province. The school cricket ground is the flagship venue of the 20-team reconciliation tournament staged to promote community-building and friendship in post-war Sri Lanka. The tournament has been jointly organised by Muttiah Muralidaran’s charity the Foundation of Goodness, travel company Red Dot Tours, the International Cricket Council and the Sri Lanka Army.

The IODR Oval was built thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Indian Ocean Disaster Relief Fund (IODR) and Grange Hotels from the United Kingdom. The development transformed a hitherto barren sports field into a functioning cricket facility for local children with the addition of a large pavilion, toilets, astro-turf cricket nets, scoreboard, sightscreens, an improved outfield, coconut-matting centre wicket and general beautification including the planting of trees.

“This is a wonderful development that will help hundreds of children play and enjoy the great game of cricket,” former Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara told the media shortly after ceremonially opening the venue in front of hundreds of school children, local invitees and spectators. “The children and families of these areas have suffered terrible hardships through three decades of war, but now we are blessed with peace and they deserve the chance to play sport and live a full life.” Continue reading →

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August 21, 2012 · 1:42 pm

Murali on Laxman: “I rarely managed to get the better of him”

Muttiiah Muralitharan, in The Island and Indian Express

I am truly sad that V.V.S. Laxman has retired. And a tad surprised too. I was expecting him to play against New Zealand, but, well, he’s made his decision and I respect him for that. Laxman is easily one of India’s greatest players and in my book, among the best players against spin of all time. We had great many battles against each other, and rarely did I manage to get the better of him (Muralitharan dismissed Laxman only twice in 10 Tests against each other). He was a very difficult batsman to bowl to. Even the great Shane Warne struggled against him. And the same goes for me.

He had a very unusual style of playing against spin, and I knew that the only chance I had against him was early on. Once he got used to the wicket, there was no stopping him. No doosra or any other weapon seemed to work against him. He always knew what I was bowling, and was forever ahead of the game. And I have sat back and enjoyed all of his amazing innings against Australia, the 281 in Kolkata being my favourite. Continue reading →

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August 9, 2012 · 1:18 pm

Test tour Down Under: Sri Lanka’s last chance saloon

Sa’adi Thawfeeq, in The Nation, 5 August 2012

Cricket Australia has finalised their home international fixtures for the forthcoming summer Down Under where Sri Lanka will be one of three countries making a tour there. Sri Lanka arrives after Australia has completed a three-Test series against South Africa.  The most interesting aspect of the Sri Lankan leg of the tour is that Cricket Australia has deemed it fit to give Sri Lanka a full three-Test series after a lapse of 17 years and also a Test match to coincide with Boxing Day at their most sacrosanct venue the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The last occasion Sri Lanka played at this hallowed venue only brings back bitter memories for it was here on December 26, 1995 that Australian umpire Darrel Hair no-balled Sri Lanka spinner Muthiah Muralitharan for ‘chucking’. The funniest part of this incident was that Hair had officiated in a one-day match at Sydney against Muralitharan prior to the Test and not seen anything wrong with his action where the spinner bowled ten overs. The consensus of opinion was that Hair had timed his no-ball to gain maximum mileage in front of a massive 55,000 crowd and during an event of such magnitude as the Boxing Day Test. The reason why he did that is best known to him.
If Hair thought that he could put an end to Muralitharan’s budding career (he was playing in his 23rd Test) with his pre-meditated move to no-ball the bowler out of the game he was in for a rude shock. Although Hair may have gained maximum publicity at the height of the Muralitharan no-ball controversy it was to later cost him his career as an umpire and eventually forced him out of the game. If Hair thought by calling Muralitharan during the Boxing Day Test would thrust a ‘nobody’ like him into the limelight and cast him as a true Australian hero to some he was totally wrong. Continue reading →

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March 31, 2012 · 9:30 am

Evaluating Rangana Herath with Plaudits – Rex and Scyld

The Lessons We could learn from Herath —Rex Clementine in The Island, 31 March 2012

The country’s one of the most respected cricketers, Kumar Sangakkara once called Rangana Herath ‘the work horse’ of the team. Now that he has emerged as country’s premier bowler, we should talk about his other virtues as well and how tough the rise for him has been having represented two unfashionable entities – Maliyadeva Vidyalaya and Moors SC. (Only two seasons back he left Moors after an association of 14 years after the club got demoted).

Loyalty and perseverance are two virtues of Herath that we should admire. Although HeThe rath made his debut in 1999, opportunities were rare for him due to the presence of champion Muttiah Muralitharan and Sri Lanka always had Sanath Jayasuriya to bowl a bit of left-arm spin.

But occasionally Herath was used in Test cricket, particularly against Pakistan once John Dyson developed this idea that Pakistan were in fact susceptible against left-arm spin. Continue reading →

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November 1, 2011 · 1:06 am

Knee-jerk selections and failures in Tests without Murali

Rex Clementine,in the Island 1 November 2011

 Pic from Island

 The barren period for Sri Lanka without a Test win continues as the national cricket team has now spent 15 months without tasting success in Test cricket. In that period Sri Lanka has played 13 Test Matches, losing four games and drawing nine matches. Naturally, Sri Lanka’s bowling deficiencies due to the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan and the absence of Lasith Malinga is seen as the main reason for the disappointing run. True the bowlers have not been penetrative enough, but the four matches that Sri Lanka lost in that period were due to   batting collapses that cost the team dearly as on all those instances barring the current one the fate of the series was decided on that batting collapse.

Pic by M Kiran for AFP Continue reading →

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October 15, 2011 · 2:17 am

Lessons learnt from the Australian and English cricket series for Sri Lanka

Ravi Ladduwahetty,  in the Island, 14 October 2011

The Sri Lankan cricket team will be very disappointed that it lost the Test and the One Day International Series to Michael Clarke’s Australians. If one were to critically analyse it,Sri Lankawill also be disappointed that the batsmen did not have any solutions to the disciplined bowling attack of the Australians, especially the seamers. Special mention should be made of Ryan Harris and it was he who kept it very simple. He kept the deliveries outside the off stump, got the Sri Lankans to play those swung that away from both the right and left handers.

The Galle wicket for the first Test was prepared to suit spinners. Australian skipper Michael Clarke, walked up to the media box and said that he wished he could bat on that track. What he said by innuendo was that the wicket was very dry and that the side that batted last was going to have a torrid time. In all due fairness to Clarke, it was a pitch that was difficult to bat on. That held true withAustralia, still one of the best batting line-ups, was against what was a very mediocre Sri Lankan bowling attack. But the rider is thatSri Lankadid not have Muttiah Muralitheran and Chaminda Vaas who have retired and Lasith Malinga, who does not want to play Test cricket. So,Sri Lankadid not have the depth in bowling and was struggling on a dry track. Continue reading →

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September 22, 2011 · 1:39 pm

Aussies celebrate their hold on the Murali-Warne Trophy

 Pic from Sunday Times

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September 21, 2011 · 2:34 pm

Tom Moody reviews Sri Lankan Cricket Scene

From SKYNEWS at http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=662380&vId=

Sri Lanka haven’t won a Test since Muttiah Muralidaran retired back in July last year, a run stretching over 10 matches following the draw with Australia in Kandy. The game’s administration in the country is also struggling, a permanent replacement is yet to be appointed for former coach Trevor Bayliss. The Australian departed following April’s World Cup, before the country’s sports minister dissolved the cricket administration in July amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, while rumours continued to circulate about players who were unsure of new captain Tillakaratne Dilshan’s leadership qualities.

But former Australian Test player Moody, who coached Sri Lanka from 2005-07, believes getting past the departure of retired greats like Muralidaran, fast bowler Chaminda Vaas and batsman Sanath Jayasuriya will be the nation’s biggest challenge. Continue reading →

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September 8, 2011 · 6:12 am

From Murali to Mendis, there’s method in the madness

Peter Roebuck, in the Sydney Morning Herald, 8 September 2011

Pic from AFP

Pic from Reuters

No country has in recent times produced more original cricketers than Sri Lanka. Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Murali and Ajantha Mendis stand out as the most unorthodox players of their generation. In that time,Sri Lanka has endured a civil war, reporters have been eliminated, the defeated presidential candidate languishes in jail, and the cricket community has for 15 years been run by interim committees. Maybe chaos can be liberating, maybe organisation can stifle.

Murali’s freakish style has been admired and debated but not copied. Like Thommo, he has been inimitable. In his youth, he turned the ball prodigiously but latterly he relied as much upon disguise. Jayasuriya was the first of the modern breed of blasting openers; he struck the ball with awesome power. Malinga is a round-armer, a bunch long assumed to be extinct who ruled the roost briefly between the underarmers and overarmers. Continue reading →

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