Category Archives: sportsmanship

December 28, 2017 · 4:40 am

An Exemplary Moment: Some Lankan Cricketers absorb Dhoni’s Advice

News Item in Daily News, 28 December 2017, with title “Lankan Players take cricket lessons from MS Dhoni”

Former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not just grown as a player but as a person over the years. The respected cricketer is not just admired by his teammates but also his opponents for his distinctive ground play and game awareness.

Upul Tharanga, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Akila Dananjaya get valuable tips from Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni at the end of the third T20 international at Mumbai. Continue reading →

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November 25, 2017 · 9:54 am

Sri Lankan Cricket History: Abstracts of Two Essays by Michael Roberts in 2007 and 2009

  FC “Derek” de Saram in full flow CI Gunasekera & Mahes Rodrigo walk out to bat Kehel Yakaa mesmerises

“Landmarks and threads in the cricketing universe of Sri Lanka,” Sport in Society, 2007, 10(1), 120-142 ….

….  Published online: 19 Feb 2007

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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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November 24, 2017 · 10:37 am

Forces and Strands in Sri Lanka’s Cricket History

Binod Kumar Mishra — reviewing Forces and Strands in Sri Lanka’s Cricket History, by Michael Roberts, Colombo, Social Scientists’Association, 2006, 64 pp., 21 photographs, bibliography, Rs. 300 (paperback), ISBN 9559102826

Cricket brought to Sri Lanka the reputation of, and a genuine recognition as, a nation. The rationale for such an observation is the infamous reputation Sri Lanka has earned due to decade-old ethnic rivalry and insurgency that has threatened the concept of nationhood in the country. The World Cup triumph in1996 and the heroic performances before and after that event have put Sri Lanka prominently not onlyo n the sports map, but also on the political map of the world in a positive sense. But the story of the rise of Sri Lankan cricket is not a normal rags-to-riches story but is filled with events that in some sense correspond to its political history.
Arise Deshamaanya Davenel !!

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November 24, 2017 · 8:33 am

Peas in the Same Pod. Kohli blesses Dickwella

Rex Clementine, in The Island, 24 November 2017, where the title is “Kohli pays tribute to Dickwella”

Indian captain Virat Kohli told journalists that young Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella reminded him of himself in early days. Like Kohli used to get under the skin of the opposition as a young player, the 24-year-old Sri Lankan’s tactics of time wasting angered the Indian players, but the captain said that all was fine.

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November 19, 2017 · 10:27 am

When Young Tissera led Ceylon to Victory over India, 1964

Rex Clementine, in Sunday Island, 18 November 2017, where the title is “Young captains have lot to learn from Michael Tissera
article_image The Ceylon team that beat India in an unofficial Test match in 1964. (Picture credit Darrell Lieversz)

Young cricket captains have got a lot to learn from one of the finest captains produced by the country – Michael Tissera. The exemplary manner in which Tissera carried himself both on and off the field was tremendous. He was only 24 when the captaincy of the Ceylon team was thrusted upon him. Having been thrown to the deep end, his positive approach helped him to come out with flying colours. Continue reading →

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November 2, 2017 · 12:03 pm

Thisara’s Humane Touch captivates Umpire Raza

Bipin Dani, in Pakistan Observer … https://pakobserver.net/pak-umpire-wins-heart-sri-lankan-skipper/

The 43-year-old Pakistani umpire Ahsan Raza has all praise for the Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera. Before taking the field in the the last T-20 match between the two nations in Lahore on Sunday, Ahsan Raza became emotional and had tears in his eyes when Thisara Perera consoled him.

   

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October 6, 2017 · 9:31 am

Budu Ammo! Herath in Strife! Rangaiyya! Rangaiyya!

courtesy of ESPNcricinfo

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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”

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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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