• Fazmy the hero
  Zahira sweep aside Thurstan to usher new chapter
• Sri Lanka 51/0 in reply to Leicestershires 245
• REFLECTIONS
  Susanthika — shut out?
• When match Referees will be out of a job
• Sri Lanka's fastest wing three gives best of his time to protect motherland
• 15-member pool for Rugby Sevens at C’wealth Games
• Deepika — a triple milestone

by Ravi Nagahawatte
Zahira turned a new leaf in the annals of inter-school rugby when they annexed the President’s Trophy with a memorable 11-9 victory over Thurstan in the knock out finals, which was worked off at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

The win signalled Zahira’s dominance in the school’s premier age group of rugby, as they outclassed the Thurstanites with their best weapon available yesterday, which was sheer speed.

Guilty of letting down Thurstan were the three quarters who could have been best termed as excess baggage that the team were forced to carry. Apart from kicker Mohammed Rilwan the rest looked a pale shade of their reputed selves and failed all the way to the very end.

The Zahirians once again played the game at an electrifying pace and had the cutting edge over their counterparts in all aspects of the game. Their threes ran like "gazelles" ,and exposed the Thurstan goal line to all dangers in both halfs. It was on one such occasion that Zahira surged in to the lead when the opposition skipper Nuwan Kumara was swamped upon by the fast running Zahirian threes, and in the ensuing maul the Thurstan forwards were blown off side. Winger M. F. M. Fazmy, who played a major role in the teams victory by scoring all the points, kicked right the penalty which was from twenty five metres.

TRADED PENALTIES
The scores changed from 3-0 to six- all as penalties were traded by both sides with the last scoring opportunity in the opening half coming Zahira’s way when centre Haniz forced play in to the Thurstan twenty with a determined run. The scores remained six- all at half time.

THURSTAN SNATCHED LEAD...
The Thurstanites commenced the second half with an "upsurge" of activity in the Zahira half and snatched the lead seven minutes after the restart with a well directed twenty two metre penalty by Rilwan.

However, their lead seemed insufficient to survive the next twenty odd minutes as Zahira pulled "upfront " with an unconverted try fourteen minutes later. Opting for a short tap when awarded with a penalty, the winners scored through Fazmy who ran almost untroubled from ten metres out. The try, though, went unconveted. Thurstan’s Rilwan missed an easy penalty in the dying minutes of the game.

Referee: Asela de Silva

LEICESTER (England), July 24 — Sri Lanka made a positive start to their three-day warm-up match against Leicestershire finishing the opening day on 51 for no loss after dismissing the English county for 245.

Double centurian against Glamorgan fortnight ago, Russel Arnold was unbeaten on 27 and Sanath Jayasuriya on 16.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan bowlers did well to restrict Leicestershire’s batsmen the tourists three pronged pace attack producing the goods. Leicestershire looked as if they would plunge to a low total when the side was 81 for 5 at lunch. But defiant knocks by number 7 batsman J. Dakin 79 and No. 9 D. Millns 46 lifted the homesters to respectability.

The pick of the Lankan bowlers were off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who claimed 3 wickets for 41 and right arm medium pacie, Chandika Hathurusinghe 3 for 64. Opening bowlers Pramodya Wickramasinghe and Suresh Perera shared two wickets apiece.

SCOREBOARD

LEICESTERSHIRE First Innings

D. MADDY c P. Jayawardene b Perera 26
I. SUTCLIFFE c Hathurusinghe b Wickremasinghe 17
D. STEVENS b Hathurusinghe 1
B. SMITH c Jayasuriya b Hathurusinghe 0
A. HABIB c P. Jayawardene b Hathurusinghe 0
P. NIXON lbw b Perera 20
J. DAKIN c P. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 79
D. WILLIAMSON c Jayasuriya b Wickremasinghe 20
D. MILLN not out 46
C. CROWE c P. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2
M. BRIMSON c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 1
EXTRAS (lb-8, w-9, nb-16) 33
TOTAL (all out 87 overs) 245

BOWLING: Wickramasinghe 17-4-54-2, Perera 17-4-60-2, Hathurusinghe 27-7-64-3, Muralitharan 23-8-41-3, M. Jayawardene 3-0-18-0.

SRI LANKA First Innings

S. JAYASURIYA not out 16
R. ARNOLD not out 27
EXTRAS (nb-8) 8
TOTAL (for no wicket, 10 overs) 51

To bat: M. Jayawardene, P. de Silva, A. Ranatunga, H. Tillekeratne, C. Hathurusinghe, P. Jayawardene, G. Wickramasinghe, M. Muralitharan, S. Perera.

BOWLING (to date): Dakin 3-0-21-0, Millns 1-0-14-0, Williamson 1-0-6-0, Crowe 3-1-3-0, Brimson 2-1-7-0

Susanthika — shut out?

SAF Games gold medallist, Asian Games gold medallist, World Championship silver medallist. The track that she lit up like touching quick silver is now long lost to her.

Where is Susanthika Jayasinghe, the local wonder girl who pushed the champion of the world in the women’s domain, Merlene Ottey into third place at the World Championships only a year ago on her way to becoming the only Sri Lankan to reach such dizzy heights after Duncan White?

But the door seems shut to the country’s only Olympic hope whose beginnings were not with a silver spoon in her mouth. But as a 7-year old barefoot from the outskirts that is Wariyapola.

Today, Susanthika, who tested positive for drugs in an off season test compulsive for world athletes, awaits the findings of the International Amateur Athletic Federation. She has alleged rigging. That her urine sample was not sealed in her presence. Also, that she was given an injection by a Sports Ministry doctor when she complained of migraine.

The question is whether some of the authorities don’t want Susanthika Jayasinghe to run again?

Form is temporary, Class is permanent

The recent lean patch with the bat by Sanath Jayasuriya has caused a flutter among local fans. To a point of some saying he has lost his blitz. The blitz that ushered in a new dimension to one-day cricket by his ‘over the top’ stroke play.

But as the cricketing bible goes, "form is temporary, class is permanent". A catch line so often paraphrased by Pakistan commentator, Chishty Mujahid.

Jayasuriya’s class remains. Its a slump in form that has not brought out the best in Jayasuriya of late. In his recent innings where he got himself out, it was a rash stroke of indiscretion when he looked liked getting set. Either playing across the line or edging to slips. But he did produce the same heavies and slashes in his brief knocks.

Its only a matter of time before we see a big score coming from Jayasuriya’s bat.

Mahanama, Kalpage, Nawaz...

While the cricket selectors have done a good job in giving young talent a chance, what has nevertheless left room for criticism is the stark disregard in recognising some deserving players who have made their presence felt not just the other day. The exclusion of all-rounder Ruwan Kalpage and left hand batsman Naweed Nawaz has led to much public debate. What some fans point out is that strangely it is most often than not Bloomfield cricketers who do not find favour of the selectors. From Mahanama to Kalpage to Nawaz.

Naweed Nawaz forced himself into reckoning with some impressive performances on the domestic club scene in the last two years. While doing duty at second string level against touring teams, Nawaz came close to playing for Sri Lanka when he was flown in as a replacement for the injured Hashan Tillekeratne during Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies. However, he served as a reserve.

He was sidelined for sometime by undergoing surgery for appendicitis. Since then, the selectors have turned a blind eye on deserving talent. Nawaz, a product of D. S. Senanayake College, has the technique of equally good defence and aggression. He is one of the conspicuous omissions from the Sri Lanka ‘A’ squad against South Africa ‘A’.

By Mahinda Wijesinghe
Australian pace bowler Glen McGrath bowls a screaming bouncer at Indian maestro batsman Sachin Tendulkar, and wonder of wonders, they exchange knowing smiles! Not the customary glare and a few vituperative words that go along with it. Our own Aravinda de Silva, with just 18 runs more for a well-deserved hundred, flat-bats a return catch to McGrath and both smile! Smiling faces, muffled appeals and friendly on-field chit-chats between opposing players without the quality of their play being affected in any way.....no, this is no dream. It really happened the other day, at Lord's no less.

Germs do not breed on sterile surfaces
For a change, the usually harried umpires also had an enjoyable game. Absent were the frenzied appeals with players rushing to hug their mates even before the umpire had delivered the verdict. Not to mention the joy it brought to 35,000 spectators on the ground and to millions of others glued to their TV during the Princess Diana Memorial One-day International played between the M.C.C. and a Rest of the World XI. And, who even dreamt of a Match Referee for this game? If cricket is played in the manner it was meant to be, the word Referee is blasphemy for cricket lovers. They are for boxers and wrestlers when they are indulging in their pugilistic pursuits. In fact, if cricket is played in this manner, Match Referees will be out of a job! It is no coincidence that Referees appeared simultaneously with big money. When the game is 'clean' who needs Match Referees for cricket? After all, germs do not breed on sterile surfaces.

Cricket rises to the occasion
What a match the Princess Diana memorial match, played to commemorate Dr. W. G. Grace's 150th birth anniversary and collect funds for the Princess Diana memorial fund, turned out to be. Funny, how on occasions such as this, games becomes so absorbing. The game of cricket, more often than not, rises to the occasion. For instance, after the MCC scored a respectable 261/4, with comparatively unsung West Indian, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, contributing a sterling century, the Rest of the World, after a relatively poor start, accelerated and reached the target with 6.3 overs to spare. There was no case of wickets falling and the match petering out. The game rose to the occasion.

When two ties took place
Then there was the gala Australia v England encounter arranged to celebrate the centenary of Test cricket, in March 1977, at the Melbourne cricket ground. The largest gathering of international cricketers were assembled at great expense for this match with the Queen too in attendance. The match began with much fanfare. Finally, after being dismissed for 95 (Lillee 6/26) in the first innings, England had a victory chase of 463 in the fourth innings. None gave England any chance of getting within sniffing distance of this figure. However, Derek Randall (174) played a heroic innings and England were dismissed for 417 runs and lost by a mere 45 runs. Wonder of wonders again, this was exactly the same result that ensued when these two sides met 100 years earlier! The other game when cricket rose to the occasion was during the testimonial match played in honour of Don Bradman in the 1948-49 season at the end of his stupendous career. Bradman, as usual, made his customary century — after Colin McCool dropped a catch when the Don was on 97 enabling him to run 3 — and eventually his team had to make 403 runs for victory. They were dismissed for 402 resulting — in a dramatic tie!! Finally, one cannot forget the fantastic series played between Australia and West Indies in 1960-61. Cricket was at a low ebb with poor attendances at matches. In fact, this situation gave birth to limited-overs cricket. Before the Australia v West Indies series, Bradman the Chairman of selectors, spoke to the Australian team of the need to liven up the game and gave a categorical assurance that no player will be dropped if he failed while trying to play attacking cricket. The result was that for the first time a Test match ended in a sensational tie and the series is considered the best-ever played. As Frank Worrell, the charismatic West Indian skipper said referring to the ticker-tape parade his team was given: 'It was a most moving and a touching experience, and why we wore dark glasses was not to keep the sun away — thank you folks'.

Only the third umpire for a place?
That is what this great game is all about. Perhaps if modern-day international cricketers study the video of the Princess Diana memorial match, they will realise that the game of cricket they otherwise play with so much stress and strain can be played differently without curtailing their earning capacities. In fact, more people will pay to watch the game being played in a wholesome atmosphere when players, umpires and spectators all enjoy themselves. A game where, perhaps a Third Umpire can have his place, but not a Match Referee, a sport once considered a gentlemen's game, where the expression 'it isn't cricket' denoted something dishonourable and 'a straight bat' meant the opposite. O Tempora O Mores.

By Ravi Nagahawatte
Travelling to Colombo for matches probably gives Navy ruggerite Mohamed Sherifdeen, much more pleasure than on a trip abroad. As for the thirty year-old petrolman the rare occasions that he is in the main city of the country happens only during the rugby season. Then after the conclusion of it he is back in the troubled areas of the North for a noble cause which is to protect his country. The best years of his youth were spent with a gun in hand and away in the dense thick jungles where terrorist activity is most intense. And today, he finds, being in the Forces, the reason for not making it to the national side. "We are so committed to the war that our chances of playing for the country is very remote," mused Sherifdeen who has been in the national pool for the past several years.

Joining the Navy when just out of his teens, the young Sherifdeen was recruited into the Sports Unit for short distance running as he had excelled in athletics at Embilipitiya MMV and Hambantota MV, the two institutions where he received his education. The speedster, who once clocked 11.00 seconds in the hundred metre dash, soon received an invitation to play rugby by guru Brian Baptist. And in the midst of pleas by the track and field coach not to leave, Sherifdeen took up position in a game which needed more than running skills.

Sherifdeen is by far the fastest wing three quarter in town. The breathtaking speed with which he runs, coupled with the most peculiar way he handles the ball - he runs with the ball gripped between his fingers with one end of the egg shaped object facing the opponents and the other facing his team mates - resembles an athlete running with a batton in his hand. Perhaps all those years which were put into becoming an athlete has not yet left his system! "Everybody was worried at the beginning that I would drop the ball, but I soon acquired balance", said Mohamed. However, he had ideas of quitting it all and going back to athletics when the frequent tussles for the ball while practising, made rugby more a headache rather than an enjoyabale recreational activity. An ex-player of the Navy and now a senior official of the team, Harsha Mayadunne had advised Sherifdeen to shift from the position of second row forward to the back division which began to bring out the best in him. However, Mohamed was still not convinced whether to continue or not till he played his maiden game which was against Havelocks. With two tries to his name and after enjoying a grand game, that enthusiasm which was built up nine years ago, still remains the same.

Unlike today where his team is always battered by the opponents, the "sailors" once were the losing finalists in the Clifford Cup Knockout Championships back in 1989. Sheriffdeen had only been a reserve then. He recalls the period between 1990 - '93 which he terms as the peak of his career. "I enjoyed great success in the local Sevens tournaments and scored heavily in every outing", reflected Sheriffdeen. He had once touched down after covering almost the full length of the ground - ninety metres - but failed to bring into remembrance more about the incident. Infact, his talents were recognised so much by the local clubs that he once proved an instant choice for Petersons when Navy opted to pull out of the tournament in 1993. Two years later, he even received a compliment from a Fijian during the Inter-Club Sevens Tournament when he beat two defenders in one swift move on his way to a try. "It would be nice if we could have had you in our team", the foreigner had told him.

MANY A NARROW SHAVE DEFENDING COUNTRY
The eldest in a family of four boys, Sherifdeen probably knew little of the hardships in the Forces before joining the Navy in 1987. What prompted him to be a part of the Armed Forces was the constant reports which he heard of massacres and bloodshed due to terrorist activities in the county. As a person who is quite familiar with the happenings of life and death, Sherifdeen it today very much a lucky individual who has escaped death many times. He recalled an incident when a buffel - a special type of vehicle used in war - was blasted while it was manoeuvred on the road, and Sherifdeen, who had taken the jungle path instead of the tarred road, had seen a ball of smoke in the sky with human body parts and the tyres of the vehicle in the thick of it. Today, he has two of his brothers who have taken in his footsteps. "The second is in the Air Force and the third is in the Army." And his outlook on the war is that it has to be fought to the bitter end as he sees no other way to an end to it.

MOHAMED SHERIFDEEN - ready to take off (PICTURE BY KAMAL WANNIARACHCHI)

RIDDEN MANY A STORM ON RUGBY FIELD The battle hardened sailor has ridden through many a storm. Some might call it survival. But for Sherifdeen that tackle which brought down a charging Bati Ponaia was a combination of both. However, in the end he was left with a dislocated shoulder. And if we run through our mind the dare devil act that day, Mohamed did something that would have even eclipsed the 'David -Goliath encounter' in terms of bravery. However, after two years of agony - where his shoulder had kept coming out of its socket - he had got the injured arm operated by Dr. Wasantha Perera. "Today it's good as new", commented Sherifdeen. Given the current rugby set up where foreigners as well as locals are paid for their services, the village lad from Ambilipitiya believes that sports should remain just a recreational activity.

Sherifdeen, who married two months ago, plans to continue in the sport for as long as he can and vows that his dream of playing for Sri Lanka would someday come true.

By Althaf Nawaz
A sixteen-member pool has been picked for final trials in preparation for the Sevens Rugby Tournament which will be held at the Commonwealth Games in early September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The pool consists of some experienced players along with some new faces who had performed well in the ongoing domestic tournaments. Ten out of sixteen players will be finally selected soon after the league tournament which will see the final squad in training. The Sevens stalwart Sudath Sampath is tipped to lead the squad.

Meanwhile, the national selectors will have a close look at the performances of these players to select the best available talent for the Rugby Asiad which is to be held in Singapore in October. The Lankans are slated with newcomers India and Malaysia while the other group consists of Thailand, Singapore and China. The winners of each group will meet in the final. The winner of the Asiad will have to confront the World Cup fourth placed team. At present Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Chinese-Taipei are in the World Cup group from the Asian sector.

According to Rugby Union Chief, Dr. Maiya Gunasekera Sri Lanka has a good chance of winning the Asiad and beating Chinese-Taipei. "This year we have a fairly long calendar of overseas tours which enables the boys to get more international exposure. Our first hurdle is defeating Chinese-Taipei and we will go all out to achieve it, Dr. Gunasekera said.

By Anto Fernandopulle
There is little doubt that Deepika Rodrigo was the best player at the Chrys Gunaratne Memorial Table Tennis Tournament held at the Thomian gymnasium. She won the triple crown. All the top players participated. The National Savings Bank sponsored the tournament.

The late Chrys Gunaratne's finest achievement was the men's open singles title in the YMCA Silver Jubilee Championships in the fifties. He provided ample evidence of his prowess when he beat the All India Champion Jayant Vora in the final in four sets. Chrys was a confident player with excellent technique and sound temperament.

The men's singles final between Thilina Piyadasa and Indika Prasad was not a match that will go down in memory. Thilina, who won easily in straight sets was not bothered by any sort of pressures. He was in total command.

The women's singles final between Deepika Rodrigo and Dilmini Direckaz was not that interesting. Deepika, who had things going her way emerged champion in four sets.

Dietmar Doering, Chairman of Asian German Sports Exchange Programme handing over to Tourist Board Chairman, H. M. S. Samaranayake a book containing 51 German Press clippings on the recently concluded tour of Germany by the Sri Lankan table tennis team. The presentation was made at a ceremony held at the Tourist Board in Colombo last Wednesday. Write-ups on the visiting Sri Lankan sportsmen were published in 51 newspapers including the prestigious 'Frankfurter', across Germany with a potential readership of 10 million people in 30 cities. Also in the picture are J. F. R. Perera, Director-General of Tourist Board, Angel Gurovski, General Manager, Sri Lanka and Indian Balkan Bulgarian Airlines and Chandana Perera, former President, TTASL. Doering is a key investor and tourism and sports promoter in Sri Lanka. (Pix. by Nimal Dayaratne)