Category Archives: sportsmanship

September 17, 2015 · 10:09 am

Profound Thoughts on Kumar Sangakkara as Cricketer and Thoughtful Man

Harendra Alwis, courtesy of Groundviews, 24August 2015, where the title reads “Kumar Sangakkara: The greatest hero of our time” … in blue to match his image:kumar glances

The Cricketing world will pause for a moment, to celebrate the legendary career of Kumar Sangakkara that draws to a close, and then move on; a bit richer for the legacy he leaves behind, for the standards he raised, expectations he upheld and for his story being entwined with the story of Cricket. He has already confirmed his place among the greatest test batsmen the game has ever seen. Continue reading →

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August 28, 2015 · 1:00 am

Sangakkara’s Ecumenical Farewell at the Oval

Do take time off to watch and listen to this meaningful moment at the P Sara Stadium or Colombo Oval where Sri Lanka’s first Test Match had been played in the 1980s. It was serendipitous that the other cricket team surrounding the moment, so to speak, was from India. Sri Lanka had been peopled way back in the first millennium BC (if not earlier) by migrants from the Indian subcontinent. Its foundational culture was of varied Indian origins and its principal religions are rooted in the Indian dispensation…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydj1ayv5hhQ …. AND … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydj1ayv5hhQ

Sanga farewell AFP Pic from AFP Sanga family Yehali, Kumari, Kumar & Kshema Sangakkara, with the young ones –Pic from AFP Continue reading →

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August 16, 2015 · 4:44 am

The Best of the Best: Paul Farbrace in Considered Praise of Kumar Sangakkara

Courtesy of The Badger … islandcricket.lk

Paul Farbrace paid tribute to Kumar Sangakarra who retires from Test cricket after the 2nd Test against India in Galle by classing him as the greatest ever Sri Lanka player.  Farbrace, the current assistant coach with England, had two stints coaching the Sri Lanka national side. Between July 2007 and July 2009 he was assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss and then returned as head coach for a short but very successful stint between December 2013 and April 2014. He knows Sangakkara well and would trust him with his life…

“If I had to pick a batsman in world cricket to bat for my life I would pick him every single time,” Farbrace said. “In all forms of the game, in all conditions, I think he has been Sri Lanka’s greatest player. There were  times when I’ve swayed between him and Mahela (Jayawardene) because they are both such quality players and they are people that you want in your team. The pair of them have been absolutely brilliant. Both during my periods there and other times.

KUMAR Sangakkara–Pic fr Getty Images Continue reading →

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August 12, 2015 · 5:14 am

Kumar: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow –Q and A with Rex

Rex Clementine in Q and A with Kumar Sangakkara, in The Island, 12 August 2015,where the title is “Sanga on cricket and life after cricket”

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The curtains will come down on Kumar Sangakkara’s illustrious Test career following the second Test Match against India at P. Sara Oval. The star batsman is the highest run getter (12,305) among those still playing while his batting average of 58:03 is significantly higher than several modern greats like Sachin Tendulkar (53:78), Brian Lara (52:88), Rahul Dravid (52:31) and Ricky Ponting (51:85). The 37-year-old, who returned home on Friday after his stint with English county Surrey, spoke to journalists here in Galle on the eve of the first Test on a host of subjects.

Question: What’s the reason for you to play only two Test Matches?

Kumar Sangakkara: The reason for the two and two Test split even though it is not ideal was the agreement I had with the previous selection committee when I was discussing my future. I had plans to retire immediately after the World Cup but they wanted me to try and play a bit more Test cricket. This was all I could offer them and I said as long as they were okay and the board was okay, I will be willing to play four more Test matches. They were ok with that and I said if they were not, to tell me that that would be fine. And that I can then retire after the World Cup. That’s why it’s a two and two split. Continue reading →

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August 3, 2015 · 1:40 pm

Kumar calibrated within the Sangakkara Family and the World of Cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo and Cricket Monthly, August 2015, where the title reads “The cult of Sanga”

the Sangas Kumari & Kshema Sangakkara Sanga cover drives Kumar’s classic cover drive —Getty

When clients came to see Kshema Sangakkara in the late 1980s and early 1990s, many were made to wait. A renowned civil lawyer, Kshema would be busy in the backyard of his colonial home, which had sat proudly on a Kandy hillside for close to a century. “Why don’t you come now?” his wife Kumari used to ask. “They have been waiting here a while.”

“So?” Kshema would reply. “Let them wait. They have come to see me. I can’t see them until I’ve finished working with my son.”

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June 15, 2015 · 8:33 am

An Arranged Marriage in Cricket Today in 2015? Pakistan-Sri Lanka

Ahmer Naqvi,  courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title reads “Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s arranged marriage”

Some time over the past decade, in a way both subtle and inevitable, Pakistani and Sri Lankan cricket embraced the familiarity, intimacy and resignation of an arranged marriage. For most of the outside world, their relationship is probably defined by the 2009 terrorist attack.*** Yet perhaps the greater truth has been what has happened since. Since 2011, what used to be a biennial cycle of Test tours has become an annual one for the two sides. Moreover, in the past ten years, Sri Lanka have been Pakistan’s most common opponent in Tests and ODIs, and the T20s they’ll play soon will give Sri Lanka the clean sweep as Pakistan’s most regular opponents.MAHELA AND PAKS The teams have more in common than you think, and that includes friendships off the pitch © AFPThe two countries have quite a few things in common, particularly a disdain – both politically and in cricketing terms – for India. Indeed, one of the reasons that Sri Lanka’s cricket fraternity and society at large have been so forthcoming towards Pakistan is because (according to several of them) they know the experience of cricket isolation caused by a state of war. The cricketing culture in both countries is marked by a high tolerance for the unusual, and each of bowling’s latest innovations/sins frequently involves their players.

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May 24, 2015 · 6:07 pm

Appreciating Bertie Wijesinghe at 95

Mevan Pieris

p106-RB-WijesinhaR. B. Wijesinghe, son of former Trinity cricketer Alexander Wijesinghe and of his wife Beatrice Gunasekera, is the oldest living Thomian cricketer whose 95th birthday falls on 24th May 2015. RBW known to all as Berti entered the great school by the sea in 1926 when warden MacPherson was about to hand over the reins to Reginald de Saram, and where his elder brother Alex was already studying. At the tender age of fifteen, Bertie was picked to play his first big match against Royal in 1936 under the captaincy of Donald Fairweather. The Thomians who batted first ran into trouble losing six wickets with only 65 runs on the board when the dimunitive dark little Berti walked out to join Norman Siebel the stocky left hander. A record breaking partnership of 136 runs realized for the 7th wicket with Berti making a polished half century in his debut and Norman making a record breaking century.

10 Ceylon team walks out '48Berti among his mates as Ceylon team walks out to field against Bradman’s Invincibles in 1948 Continue reading →

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May 23, 2015 · 4:55 am

Male Hormones seek Empowerment in the Women’s World of SLC

Courtesy of ADA DERANA, 20 May 2015, http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=30942

The committee appointed to probe shocking allegations of the Sri Lanka women’s team management and national selectors seeking sexual bribes from players, today submitted its report to the Minister of Sports.The Committee Report of the three-member committee, headed by Retired Supreme Court Judge Nimal Dissanayake, was handed over to Minister of Tourism and Sports Navin Dissanayake, the ministry said in a statement.

SHENANIGANS Continue reading →

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May 21, 2015 · 12:08 pm

DD! The Mahindian who penetrated the Colombo Domination of Lankan Cricket

Anonymous Friend, courtesy of The Nation, May 2015

The earliest sportsmen who brought honour to Galle were mainly cricketers. There are several of them who did much for cricket and especially to cricket of the South. Among them Douglas Dias Wikramanayake Jayasinha – affectionately known as “DD”, stands out as the first Southerner to play for the All Ceylon team at a time when the team was made up of Europeans and the elite of Colombo. 

DDJ1

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May 17, 2015 · 12:06 pm

Skanda, a Fine Gentleman and Cricketer, to be Our Man in Canberra

The Island, 17 May 2015. where the title is “Key post for cricketer and gentleman Skanda”

Former cricketer and Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka S. Skandakumar has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia. Skanda, as he is popularly known, retired in 2008 after 34 years of service at George Steuarts. He was group Chairman at the time of his retirement having joined Sri Lanka’s oldest company in 1974 as an Executive.

SKANDA and murali George Steuarts’ 21st Chairman S. Skandakumar (right) in conversation with Muttiah Muralitharan

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