Sanga talks to Scyld Berry at Durham about cricket life and times
Scyld Berry courtesy of the Daily Telegraph where the title is “Kumar Sangakkara, cricket’s new elder statesman, proves there is more to life than records and milestones”
England are still in flux. Sri Lanka are already preparing. Their touring team will play two one-day internationals in Ireland this week while Kumar Sangakkara, their world-class No 3, today starts the first of two championship matches for Durham. If Sangakkara increases his Test batting average from 58 to 61, he will go second on the all-time list, behind Sir Donald Bradman. With this end in mind, amid his overall pursuit of excellence, Sri Lanka’s left-hander will be playing at the Riverside against Yorkshire, in preparation for Sri Lanka’s two Tests against England in June.
Pix from North News
“There is no shame for a cricketer in saying that records and milestones are important,” Sangakkara said. “The whole point is the way you go about achieving them, and understanding whatever you do is subordinate to what the team wants.” Continue reading
Tributes to DH De Silva
I. Hafiz Marikar: D H was the best sporting Municipal Comissioner of Kandy
The popular Municipal Commissioner of Kandy D.H.de Silva is no more. At the time of his death he was 82′. He was the eldest brother of D.S de Silva. He was live wire of the Nomads Sports Club and the Colombo Municipality and later served at the Kandy Municipality. His brother D.S. de Silva played Test cricket for Sri Lanka and later was the Chairman on the Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee when Sri Lanka finished runner-up to India in the 2011 World Cup.
His other two brothers were D. P. de Silva who went on to play unofficial tests for Sri Lanka and Gunasiri de Silva too was a good cricketer, *DH a product of Mahinda College Galle was a superb stroke maker and opening batsman. He was famous for good starts and laid the foundation for a big score. He had the privilege of leading the University of Peradeniya, Kandy CC, Municipal Council Recreation Club Kandy and Kandy District and also played for SSC.
DH wan one of the pioneers to form the Nomads Sports club and they were housed at the former SSC grounds. He was a member of the SSC team which won the Division II championship and gained promotion to Division one. He did a lot in the promotion of sports be it football, cricket, hockey volleyball, table tennis, lawn tennis etc. He was the best ever Municipal Commissioner of the Kandy Municipal Council, and he served under late Tilak Ratnayake, who was the Mayor. Today in Kandy it was due to his efforts that table tennis improved. He got the MMC’s of that era and organized a TT table for every community center.
He gave his best for Lawn Tennis at Garden Club and also put up a court at Katukelle. D.H. built side wickets at every play ground to promote junior cricket.
He was a live wire of the Kandy Garden club and promoted Tennis in a big way. At cricket he trained several top class cricketers. some of them are Sajith Fernando and Kumar Sangakara.
He migrated to Australia and Kandy lost a great sports promoter. He was known as “neyama matha”. He was very close friend to my late uncle M.E. Marikar and later I was involved with him in promoting sport. We served in the Kandy District Cricket Association Committee. He is the one who helped most of the sportsmen in the Municipal Council Play Grounds Department, to do coaching. The last time when he was in Kandy, he came to see me and told me to continue my good work like your uncle did in the sporting field.
The day before he left, he invited me to Kumar Sangakara’s residence, and we met and talked of the old times. That was my last meeting with him. DH was also the Charity commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council, when the First Test was played at Asgirya. He served with me in the organizing committee with people like late Dr. C.D.L. Fernando, late Z.M. Jahuffer, Deva Amungama, Dr. A.S. Uduwella, Malocm Perera, Aubrey Kurrupu, Raja Abeyanayake.
Filed under performance, Sri Lanka Cricket
“BLACK CUNTS” !! A Racial Outburst from Lehmann becomes a lesson for all time
Daniel Brettig, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo
Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has called his racial outburst against Sri Lanka in 2003 “the biggest mistake” of his life, and also offered an insight into how he manages the diverse personalities and egos present within the national team, from Mitchell Johnson to David Warner. Lehmann has returned to work at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane following a long and wildly successful summer with the Test team, and is currently planning for the challenges ahead over the next two years, including the 2015 World Cup in Australia and the defence of the Ashes in England a few months later. Continue reading
Who should new England coach Peter Moores pick for Test series against Sri Lanka? Hughes inquires, Bloggers serve up
Simon Hughes in The Daily Telegraph
Alastair Cook insists he and returning head coach Peter Moores will be free to forge a new England without undue influence from Andy Flower. Moores, who was sacked from the same job in 2009 after less than two years in charge, will join captain Cook in attempting to reinvigorate a side that has limped to the lowest of ebbs this winter. The task in front of the pair is a sizeable one, with a raft of decorated senior players having exited the stage and a winter of dreadful results – including an Ashes whitewash – to put right.
Filed under English cricket, performance, player selections, Sri Lanka Cricket
Eight Lankan Captains assembled in the 1980s
from left facing we see Michael Tissera, C I Gunasekera, Vernon Prins, Sathi Coomaraswamy Ranjan Madugalle, Gamini Goonesena, Anura Tennekoon and Bandula Warnapura
April 27, 2014 · 12:16 pm
Remembering Neil Chanmugam. Two More Appreciations
Mahinda Wijesinghe: “Neil Chanmugam: A Distinguished Cricketer of Yesteryear”
Celebrated alumnus of S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia, cricketer, Neil Chanmugam (1940–2014) who passed away on the eve of celebrating his 74th birthday, first made his mark as a fresher in the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter of 1958. S. Thomas’ having been dismissed for a modest 192 runs was in danger of letting Royal amass a comfortable total but Chanmugam coming on first change dismissed 3 of the top 4 Royal batsmen with his wily off-spinner and restricted the Royalists from running away to a big total, and eventually the match petered out to a tame draw. Neil played for S. Thomas’ College in 1958 & 1959. Continue reading
As Determined as Sporting as Fervent: An Indian Reading of Sri Lanka’s Ardent Cheerleader, Pissu Percy
Nihal Koshie in the Indian Express where the title reads “Meet Percy Abeysekera, the indomitable Sri Lankan fan”
“For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.” This line** was written by Grantland Rice, the American sports writer but has been Percy Abeysekera’s life story over 18 years; ever since he watched Arjuna Ranatunga’s side win the 1996 World Cup title.
Since that glorious night, Percy, the most famous non-playing Sri Lankan at a cricket ground, has suffered heartbreaks at Bridgetown, Lord’s, Wankhede and Colombo as his team lost four of four finals at World Cups – 50 and 20 over cricket. But after his side broke the jinx by beating India in the final of the World T20 on Sunday, Percy had this to say: “Winning is not the only thing, it is everything.” Continue reading
A Dynamic Cricketer, Neil Chanmugam
I. “Debonair cricketer Neil Chanmugam is no more” —Lal Gunasekera in The Island, 25 April 2014
Former S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, Tamil Union and SSC cricketer Neil Chanmugam is no more. He was 74 at the time of his death. After his retirement from cricket, he took to golf. He passed away on Tuesday (22) and his funeral took place at the General Cemetery Kanatte, yesterday (24), amidst a large gathering of relatives, friends, former cricketers and employees of Maharaja Organisation, where he was Group Director at the time of his retirement. Continue reading
Filed under performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, tower of strength, unusual people