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Usman Khawaja: the pull shot that proved he would be a star
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Category Archives: work ethic
Usman Khawaja hits the headlines in OZ
Filed under Australian cricket, unusual people, Will Swanton, work ethic
Sharda Ugra chats with Piyal Wijetunga re Sri Lan ka’s Spin-bowling Prospects
Sharda Ugra, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title reads “The man preparing Sri Lanka for life after Herath”
There are no experienced spinners to replace the ageing spinner, but the country’s spin-bowling academy is busy identifying younger alternatives. If there was ever an opposition against whom Sri Lanka could consider a set of try-outs, West Indies would be it. In the light of Tharindu Kaushal‘s current entanglements over his action, Sri Lanka will certainly need to test the spin options that will be available to them in a post-Rangana Herath world.
Piyal Wijetunga
Roshan Mahanama calls Time on the Match-Referee Tasks
Courtesy of The Island, 15 September 2015, where the title reads “Roshan Mahanama to step down”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday announced that Roshan Mahanama will step down from the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees at the end of the year. Mahanama joined the elite panel in 2004 and has refereed in 58 Tests, 222 ODIs and 35 T20Is to date, including refereeing in three ICC Cricket World Cups and the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. He has made the decision to step down six months ahead of the expiry of his contract so that he can spend more time with his family and also focus on the development of his business activities in Sri Lanka.
Batting in England = more Science than Art … so say Rogers & Sanga
Simon Hughes, courtesy of The Times and The Australian, circa 20 August 2015
Two 37-year-olds will play their last Test match this week. Two left-handers playing for two different countries on opposite sides of the world bonded by one mission: to achieve their Masters in batsmanship. Chris Rogers and Kumar Sangakkara have, with their thorough research and meticulous preparation and forensic attention to detail, made batting more a science than an art. Both have proved in the past 12 months that you can tailor your game to different conditions and illustrated it is not only important but vital to do so in England. Both have adapted their methods to defy waspish swing and seam, inadvertently highlighting the one-dimensional approaches of their lauded teammates. They are the antithesis of the modern batsman, epitomised by Kevin Pietersen, who justify a failure to an ill-judged shot by announcing, “It’s the way I play”.
Pics from AP
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.
Sangakkara–Pic fr Getty Images Continue reading
Tharinda Kaushal from Ratgama takes Five in Neighbouring Galle
Andrew Fidel Fernando, courtesy of ESPNcricinof, where the title is “The roughest of diamonds”
Tharindu Kaushal‘s 30th over was to Ishant Sharma. It was the ultimate battle of wills. Ishant, with a Test match strike rate of 29, bats like the plague will break out if he tries a scoring stroke. Making 3 from 39 today, he was basically a carcass attached to a bat. Kaushal, with an economy rate upwards of four an over, sends a gift-wrapped full-toss almost every over.
In the end, it was Ishant’s stubborn passivity that triumphed. He played out the whole over to give Kaushal his first maiden of the innings. But through all the dross he sent down, through all the cheap leg-side singles and juicy overpitched deliveries, Kaushal was by a distance Sri Lanka’s most menacing bowler of the day.
Pic from www.dailymail.co.uk Continue reading
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”
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
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”
Kumari & Kshema Sangakkara 
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.”
Sanga interviewed in CRICKET MONTHLY on Sri Lankan Cricket Today
Pic from AFP
‘First-class cricket was a lot tougher when I started’
Kumar Sangakkara on the need for Sri Lanka to shift their focus from school cricket to the domestic first-class tournament
How Hathuru changed the Bangladeshi Fortunes
Mohammad Isam, in ESPNcricinfo.com, 3 August 2015, where the title is “Biggest thing for me is the change in players’ mindset – Hathurusingha”
With ODI series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha looks at the changes that are helping the side move forward. Following his appointment in May 2014, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha had a crucial role overseeing the side’s World Cup campaign and three successful home series thereafter. On the final day of the second Test against South Africa, which was abandoned due to a wet outfield, Hathurusingha spoke to ESPNcricinfo about the side’s results in the last seven months, the change in the team’s mindset, how he spotted Soumya Sarkar and his future plans for the team.
The last few months have been great for you. How do you feel having coached this side since last year? It gives me great satisfaction at the way the boys responded to the challenges that we had before with us, and then changed the culture we had before, believing in themselves mainly. I was very satisfied as coach.
