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Arnold strikes unbeaten century after Sri Lanka follow on TAUNTON, England, July 15 - Russel Arnold struck an unbeaten century to stage Sri Lanka's fightback as the tourists, made to follow on, reached 243 for the loss of 3 wickets on the second day of their three-day match against Somerset on Wednesday. Having failed to wipe out the 260 run follow on deficit, and 266 runs behind Somerset's first innings score of 366 for 6 wickets declared, Arnold took up the challenge after the tourists had lost opener Sanath Jayasuriya cheaply with the total on 8 runs. The right hander, who has got few opportunities, made the best of this game as he reached 115 at the close with left hander Hashan Tillekeratne with him on 51. Earlier, Arnold was associated in a face saving partnership of 85 runs for the second wicket with Marvan Atapattu who scored 53, After Atapattu's departure Sri Lanka lost Mahela Jayawardene for 4 with the total on 127. But Arnold found an able ally in the dour Tillekeratne as the pair added 116 runs in their unfinished fourth wicket alliance. It was another disappointing day for Jayasuriya who was LBW to paceman Bulbeck for 4. He made a duck in the first innings. SCOREBOARD Somerset first innings 366-6 declared
(K.Parsons 101 not Sri Lanka second innings (following on) 'A' Team tour opener
today The South African second string cricketers flexed their muscles yesterday at the SSC grounds in a warm-up for today's opening three-day game against the Sri Lanka Board President's XI and the mood of their camp was echoed by Coach Graham Ford, the former first class cricketer who said, that the side was full of confidence although this was their off season. Ford said that the side was pretty well balanced and 'certainly we will give the Sri Lankans a good run. I think we can quickly adjust to the conditions here'. He said that the captain Dale Benkenstein carried much experience having skippered teams from the under-19 upto the under-24 level, and almost all the players were future hopefuls for South Africa. Players like Herschelle Gibbs, Nick Boje, Derrick Crookes, H. D. Ackerman form the Neucleus of the South African outfit. Except for Crookes, all three have represented South Africa at Test level. The coach added that the side for today's game would be drawn from only a few seniors while giving the opportunity for some of the young hopefuls to make an impression. The South African batting department would be spearheaded by right hander H. D. Ackerman who had the distinction of bettering former Test player Barry Richards longstanding record of 1,300 runs this season in the domestic first class Super Sport Tournament. Ackerman was in contention for a place with the main team to England and is disappointed he did not get the nod. Ackerman played for South Africa in a few matches against Sri Lanka during their recent tour there. The tourists main bowling strength would be pace. G. Gilder, H. Williams, Allen Dawson and H. Bakkes. The spinners are Crookes and C. Henderson. For today's game, opening batsman Sajith Fernando leads a relatively young side. With the exception of Sanjeewa Ranatunga, the Board President's XI consists of future hopefuls in Avishka Gunawardane, Malinda Warnapura, Upeka Fernando, Manoj Mendis and Anil Redeegammanagedara around whom the batting would mainly revolve. The bowling would be in the hands of pacemen Ruchira Perera, Hussan Rushdee, Warnapura and spinner Amal Dalugoda. The teams Board President's XI — Sajith Fernando (Capt.), Upeka Fernando, Sanjeewa Ranatunga, Avishka Gunawardane, Manoj Mendis, Malintha Warnapura, T. M. Dilshan (wicket keeper), Amal Dalugoda, Anil Redeegammanagedera, Ruchira Perera, Hussan Rushdee - Reserves, Hemantha Boteju, Bradman Ediriweera, Indika de Saram. South Africa 'A' from — Dale Benkenstein (Capt.), Nick Boje (V. Capt.), M. Bruyns, H. D. Ackerman, H. Gibbs, M. Van Jaarsveld, L. Bosman, Nick Pothas (wicket-keeper), Derrick Crookes, C. Henderson, Henry Williams, Allen Dawson, Ashwell Prince, G. Gilder, H. Bakkes, H. Paulse (Manager), Graham Ford (Coach), S. Jabar (Physiotherapist). Lankan athletes win seven golds, one silver
at Malaysian Meet Sri Lanka athletes plucked a rich haul 7 gold medals and one silver in the pre Commonwealth Athletes Championships which was concluded at Malaysia last week. Both Sujeeva Nilmini (5000m and 1500m) and Shashika Nimmi Soyza (400m, 200m) bagged two golds each while Jayamini Illeperuma (800m), Shantha Mendis (300 m steeple chase) and Lalith Galappaththi (1500m) were the other gold medallists. The solitary silver was won by Jayamini in the 400m event, who finished behind Nimmi. The event was conducted by the Malaysian AAA as a forerunner to the Commonwealth Games Scheduled to be held for September 11 to 22. However the performance of debutant Shantha Mendis who clocked 8.56:20 was the only noteworthy performer for Sri Lanka in the steeple chase. All other athletes came closer to their personal best. In the Philippines Open Championships which was concluded recently as in par with this event Damayanthi Dharsha won a gold for the 400 metre event. There were only one other competitor in addition to Dharsha. But to the surprise of everyone Sports Ministry decided on a red carpet welcome for that team. The medallists are due to arrive in the island today. Schools biggest Netball event at Kalutara on
July 18-19 Over 2000 school girls from 176 schools from the entire country will quest for glory in the 7th annual 'Milo' National Schools Netball Championships this weekend at Kalutara esplanade. A media briefing in this regard was held last Wednesday. Olivia Gamage, Director Ministry of Education (Sports) said that the event has attained tremendous popularity. This is undoubtedly the most popular and widely participated event in the country' she said. She explained that the event has helped them to spot talent and field them for international competitions. 'Our schools netball team finished runner-up at the Australian Championships in Sydney, in the international section. This feat we achieved mainly due to the co-operation we had with Nestle Lanka who sponsored 'Milo' tournaments for the last six years she said. We are very much thankful to them for their assistance. She said that they would pick a schools netball pool from this tournament for their future team selections. This year too the event was conducted in 11 countries as in the previous years and the top four teams in each age group (under 12, 14, 16 and 18) qualified for the final round. Bandula Egodage, Brand Manager, Nestle Lanka Limited said that they were sponsoring this event for the seventh year as it has become the most popular women sporting event. 'We have even agreed to conduct a 'Milo' Super League Tournament among the top 8 teams from this championships' he disclosed. He also said that Kalutara was selected as it had been a major force in the schools Netball arena for a long period. The event will be co-ordinated by R. P. Chularatne and Rahana Karunaratne the Director and Assistant Director of the Kalutara District Education Ministry under the supervision of Ministry of Education and Schools Netball Association. Six schools have been reserved to provide accommodation for 2000 school children and officials. The sponsors 'Milo' in addition to presenting medals, trophies and certificates have also decided to award a special trophy for the best player in all age groups. The opening ceremony of the event will be held on July 18 at 9 a.m. under the patronage of Reginald Cooray, Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Youth Affairs and Sports, S. Priyangani Abeyweera, Deputy Minister of Internal and External Trade and Food will be the special invitee for the closing ceremony on Sunday at 3 p.m. Have
your say Having won the World Cup our National Cricket team is in the forefront of global cricket. When the team is on the global stage, the team members, in my opinion need to develop in addition to their cricketing skills-the following as well, in order to match up to other international teams. An area which needs attention is to develop the skill levels of the players to give them confidence to speak clearly and effectively when interviewed by commentators on the electronic media. Unfortunately, some of the better communicators in our society has made the cricketers the butt end of jokes due to this ''area for improvement''. My suggestion to overcome this is to advise those cricketers who are poor communicators in English, to speak in their first language whether it be Sinhala or Tamil and use the services of an interpreter, and also obtain the services of the international commentators who are in the country at the moment to train the cricketers on answering questions when interviews on the electronic media, and to include training in use of gestures, body language and posture as well. Some of the other areas that need to be focused are: (i). Proper dining manner at formal functions to include use of cutlery, different types of glasses, appreciation of wines and food items from a-la-carte and formal dinner set menus of international hotels. (ii). Dress sense and deportment for different occasions/functions. (iii). Protocol at formal functions attended by VIP's of a country. The above is critical not so much at home but when on tours abroad, specially with the tour of England as defenders of the World Cup. This applies not only to the national cricket team but to all sports teams that tour abroad as well as to members of delegations, specially from the public sector. Sunil Dissanayake |
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