Gary Sobers as youngster 
Sobers greets Sathasivam in Sri Lanka with gift 
Sobers in his prime –murdering bowlers 
Continue reading
Outstanding Men from beyond the shores who have assisted Sri Lankan Cricket
Filed under sportsmanship, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, welfare through sport
Sri Lanka’s First Test Encounter at Lords, 23-28 August 1984, on Video
Lords 1984 …………. Not many had TV at the time, so these clips are memorable !
Sidath Wettimuny scored 190 impeccable runs
Duleep Menids batting in the 1980s Continue reading
Essaying Cricket: Sri Lanka and Beyond
Michael Roberts
- Articles on World Cricket, Sri Lankan Cricket politics, sledging and chucking
- Comments on partisan TV coverage and cricket team reactions to bomb blasts
- 35 Articles by Guest Authors including Harsha Bhogle, Peter Roebuck, Mike Coward, Mike Marqusee & Sambit Bal and a range of Lankan authors, names familiar as well as surprising
- A breathtaking collection of 157 photographs
Publisher: Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo, 2006
Softcover: ISBN 955-1266-25-0 AUD $65 / pd 25
Hardcover: ISBN 955-1266-26-9 AUD $90 / pd 35
Filed under Australian cricket, Bradman, confrontations on field, cricket and life, cricket governance, cricketing icons, foul tactics, Mahela Jayawardene, murali, performance, player selections, politics and cricket, reconciliation through sport, Sangakkara, shane warne, sportsmanship, Sri Lanka Cricket, technology and cricket, tower of strength
‘Playing Cricket: What a privilege!’ — says one of the giants of Sri Lankan Cricket,Kumar Sangakkara
Donald McRae, in The Guardian, 17 May 2014, where the title is “Kumar Sangakkara: ‘It’s been an amazing privilege to play the game’.”
Kumar Sangakkara is freezing at the end of an abandoned day of county cricket in Sussex. Wearing a huge borrowed jumper from the visitors’ dressing room occupied by Durham, for whom he played two matches while preparing for Sri Lanka’s one-day and Test series against England, the great batsman still smiles through the rainy cold. The longer he talks, and the deeper he thinks, the more his eloquent intelligence and personal warmth crackles like a small fire of hope.
After an hour in his company it is hard to avoid a nagging contrast. England’s team is full of bright and engaging men but, lately, it has become absurdly difficult to talk to them. Access to England’s best cricketers has been so controlled that even a request, in the recent past, to interview a junior player has had to be tied to “a sponsorship opportunity”. Such encounters often feel like a carefully managed exercise to curb honesty and personality. Continue reading
Unique Pictures in ESSAYING CRICKET
SATHA not guilty — standing beside his lawyer Colvin R de Silva Continue reading
Reflections from Roy Dias: Q and A with Rex Clementine
Rex Clementine, in The Sunday Island, May 2014
Sri Lankans have not produced stellar performances in Test cricket away from home over the years and the team’s bowling deficiencies has been pointed out as the sole reason for that. However, the team has never been short of batting talent and the best thing is they come in pairs. In the last ten years, we have had Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara dominating having taken over the mantle from Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya. Previously the burden was shared by Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga who took over the reins from Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias. Dias was an accomplished batsman with style put ahead of efficiency. His technical brilliance was the reason for Sri Lanka Cricket to draft him as the Head Coach of the national cricket team in 1998. He had a remarkable time teaming up with Ranatunga the captain and Ranjit Fernando the Manager as Sri Lanka won their maiden Test Match in England in 1998. Continue reading
Reviewing Sri Lankan Cricket Today
Scyld Berry, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph where the title is “Sri Lanka emerge as rivals to resurgent Australia as leaders in world cricket, albeit belatedly”
Take the opposite of a bow, you gentlemen of the International Cricket Council – for there has never been a woman involved at a high level, let alone now, which may be one of the causes of its inherent failings. Why was cricket in Sri Lanka not encouraged when England and Australia ruled the ICC and the global game, as they did until less than 20 years ago?
Sri Lanka has become a vital force in world cricket. England supporters may think they are the lesser touring side this summer, because they have been granted only two Tests whereas India play five. But maybe Sri Lanka are making a bigger contribution to the sport’s health and growth than India, given its obsession with the IPL – or England. Continue reading
Hemā. Cricketing Memories and More. An Appreciation of DH de Silva
Michael Roberts, courtesy of http://www.islandcricket.lk
HEMA de Silva was my skipper, a compatriot in cricketing arms and a pal — a true mate in the best Australian sense of the term. He is known in the Lankan cricketing world as “DH.” But, to me and others at Ramanathan Hall in Peradeniya University, he was “Hemā.” He remains Hemā.
Our association did not quite begin that way. As a fresher in the Aloysian cricket team at Galle I faced him as opponent, the captain of Mahinda. I dropped him at third slip off Vernon Regis; but, if my memory serves me right, ran him out with a direct hit from fine leg after Percy Amendra had glanced the ball from a spin-bowler and I ran from first slip and threw the ball as I turned — with the angle & distance of my run indicating the direction & length required. Later he returned the ‘favour:’ getting me out caught and bowled after I made 65 runs. Continue reading
The Aloysian Allrounder Chaturanga De Silva’s Emergence
Ranjan Anandappa, courtesy of a news item in 2013 with title “Chaturanga de Silva – good investment for future Sri Lanka”
At a time when Sri Lanka are in search of quality all-rounders, Moors Sports Club cricketer Chaturanga de Silva is no doubt a good investment for the country’s future cricket. Chaturanga hails from Galle and played for St. Aloysius College, Galle and was an outstanding member in their cricket teams from the junior level to the first eleven.
As an all-rounder who bats and bowls left handed, he made a big impact in the recently concluded Mercantile Premier Cricket Tournament by excelling in all three departments of the game which enabled him to proceed on a scholarship to the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Australia. Continue reading
Atapattu’s Awkward Ascent
Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, from The Island
Chairman Mao said that Chinese intellectuals prefer foreign muck to local perfume. The same could be said of some Sri Lankan cricket fans. Paul Farbrace has been praised as the mastermind of the Twenty20 triumph. Dav Whatmore deserved credit for improving the fitness of the 1996 World Cup squad. But, one should not forget the contribution of our own officials. In the 1980s, coaches and managers such as WAN Silva, Ranjit Fernando, Abu Fuard and Neil Chanmugam toiled with little reward. Abu Fuard was a merciless disciplinarian, without whom the wins of the amateur era would not have happened.
We must applaud the return of a local coach – Marvan Atapattu. The delay in his appointment was shocking. The former captain has served a long apprenticeship as batting coach. He was unjustly ignored after Graham Ford left us in the lurch. Continue reading