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puts Nassar Hussain out of Test Sri Lanka and England are faced with many problems in naming their teams for the one off Test which commences tomorrow at the London Oval. Muralitharan has been able to cause many problems to England batsmen. He was effective on any kind of pitch in England. Cricket authorities who were planning to have a grassy wicket for this Test to gain extra bounce for their four pronged pace attack are still undecided. In the meantime according to newspapers reports here Vaas could be included in the Lankan team. This too has worried the ground authorities. England team is likely to name four pacemen consisting Darren Gough, Angus Fraser, Dominic Cork and Allan Mullally to apply breaks on the run hungry Lankan batting. There is also the possibility of bringing in Ben Hollioake to strengthen the English batting depth. If Hollioake makes it to the final eleven left-handed pacie Allan Mullally has to be left out. Hollioake’s inclusion, for this Test could be his second appearance for England. Both teams made a thorough inspection of the grounds last evening during their practice sessions. It is also understood that England may add another spinner to support Ian Salisbury the left arm spinner. Few weeks back Pakistani Saqlain Mustaq captured seventeen wickets in a county game in this oval pitch. Muralitharan turns the ball better than Saqlain. This has puzzled the Englishmen on many occasions. So the ground authorities hope to keep away from the pitch where Mushtaq turned the ball in a mesmerising manner. Nassar Hussain who has sustained a groin injury may pull out from the Test making way for John Crawley. Crawley is positioned to bat at No. 6 slot while Graeme Hick takes the No. 3 berth. The only change in the England side that beat South Africa at Headingley is Ben Hollioake. Hollioake replaced Andrew Flintoff. Media reports say England who were far behind on Test arena gained their lost prestige after beating South Africa in the recently concluded Test Series. It also states with England in front again could pose a threat to Australia in the Ashes series scheduled for December 98 and January 99 in Australia. The media here failed give wide publicity for the Emirates Triangular Tournament final which Sri Lanka won, but the England victory over South Africa received its maximum media coverage. A. J. Stewart (Capt.) (Surrey) (35) Tests 80, M. A. Atherton (Lancashire) (30) Tests 84, M. A. Butcher (Surrey) (26) Tests 13, N. Hussain (Essex) (30) Tests 34, J. P. Crawley (Lancashire) (26) Tests 25, M. R. Ramprakash (Middlesex) (28) Tests 28, G. A. Hick (Worcestershire) (32) Tests 48, B. C. Hollioake (Surrey) (20) Tests 1, D. G. Cork (Derbyshire) (27) Tests 24, I. D. K. Salisbury (Surrey) (28) Tests 11, D. Gough (Yorkshire) (27) Tests 25, A. R. C. Fraser (Middlesex) (33) Tests 43, A. D. Mullally (Leicestershire) (29) Tests 9. Sri Lanka a comfortable win over Hampshire Hampshire v Sri Lanka scoreboard SOUTHAMPTON, England, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Scoreboard on the final day of a three-day match between Hampshire and Sri Lanka on Monday: Hampshire first innings 347-8 declared (G.White 156, W.Kendall 59) Sri Lanka first innings S.Jayasuriya c James b
Francis 11 Extras (lb-3)
3 Fall of wickets: 1-1 2-6
3-21 4-21 Bowling: Morris 6-1-15-2, Francis 6-2-21-2 Hampshire forfeited second innings Sri Lanka second innings S.Jayasuriya c Keech b
James 40 Extras (nb-8 lb-2 b-4)
14 Fall of wickets: 1-9 2-70 3-178 4-246 5-304 Bowling: Morris
12-2-53-1, Francis 15-1-47-2, Result: Sri Lanka won by five wickets Rs. one million needed to reconstruct pitch The turf pitches at the Galle International Cricket stadium was damaged and sprayed with engine oil last Friday morning said Jayananda Warnaweera Secretary Southern Regional Cricket Association. According to Warnaweera all ten pitches have to be reconstructed. This act of vandalism is a great blow to Southern Province cricketers and to its cricket loving public of Galle. The 79th International Cricket Stadium was made reality by the hard work of Southern Regional Cricket Association. The Secretary believes this is an act of an organised gang from the Galle area. The Galle Police had arrested a suspect in this connection while another surrendered to the Police. SRCA hopes to seek assistance from Ruhunu University (Botany Section) and Cricket Board pitches to reconstruct the damaged. He further stated at least one million is needed for this purpose. Meanwhile the Galle Police produced the suspect before Galle Chief Magistrate who remanded him till Sept. 3. Warnaweera finally with a heavy heart said their plans to promote the game here has come to a standstill due to this act of vandalism. Earlier it was planned to have all Galle CC and Singhe SC matches to be played in this stadium in addition to Senior and Junior level Regional games. The reconstruction work may take at least one and half monthe said Warnaweera. The Galle Public is not happy with the decision to play only cricket at the Stadium. Earlier the stadium was used for many sports. (Athletics Football, Hockey, Rugger, and Baseball). Participants of the above mentioned games are highly disappointed as no alternate grounds have been found for their activities. The act done by these vandals is a severe blow to the game of cricket and specially to cricketers from the Southern Province says Warnaweera. SB
accuses AAA official Gihan Fernando who was axed from the originals squad by the Sports Ministry is expected to be brought back to the Sri Lankan squash team for the Commonwealth Games next September in Malaysia. On a directive by the Sports Minister the Squash Federation conducted a special trial and Gihan was beaten by the 17 year old Hirantha Gunasena. But on the second day Gihan bounced back to win all his matches. At the time of going to press Hirantha had completed four matches winning three while Gihan too had lost the same number of wins. "Hirantha Goonasena and Gihan Fernando have lost one match each to-date with one match to go and according to the selection criteria the points scoring system will decide who is on top. At the same time National Olympic criteria of 2 years performance would prevail, as the more consistent and more experienced player would have to be selected explained the Secretary of the Squash Federation Padmini Samarasinghe. Asked why this special selection trial was held she said it was due to some misunderstanding they were compelled to do so. ''The Minister was not briefed properly'' she further said. She also explained that the Commonwealth Games teams was selected on earlier performance. The 17 years old Hirantha Goonasena who struggled to beat Gihan Fernando in a tough 5 setter lost in straight sets to Duminda Wijedasa 9/4, 9/4, 9/6 in a straight sets victory for Duminda in the special selection trials being played at the moment, whilst 16 year old Navin Samarasinghe beat Duminda Wijedasa in a battle Royal of 5 sets 3/9, 6/9, 9/5, 9/7, 9/4 to be in the reckoning for selection. Gihan has so far beaten Duminda Wijedasa 3 games to 1, Ravichandran 3 games to 0, Kavinda Cooray 3 games to 0 and lost to Hirantha 3 games to 2, while as Hirantha Goonasena has won against Kavinda Cooray 3 games too, won against Gihan Fernando 3 games to 2, won against Navin Samarasinghe 3 games to 2 and lost Duminda Wijedasa 3 games too. Gihan recalled to tour Malaysia The Sports Minister in an unprecedented move summoned the Amateur Athletic Association officials last Monday night and requested, them to co-operate with the President AAA Ariya Kannangara. The Minister was not pleased with a particular vice president's conduct and accused him of leaking out information to the print media. The vice president totally denied this allegation which led to a heated argument among them. AAA officials also read out the press release on Susanthika Jayasinghe which was released to a section of the media last Monday. Many are questioning as to why the minister called AAA officials and advised them to unite when there is no division seen in AAA. The Mercantile Open Individual Badminton Championships due to commence on Aug. 27 has been postponed. The Championships will now be held from Sept. 24-27 said Gamini Jayasuriya the President Mercantile Badminton Association. The matches on Sept. 24, 25 and 26 will be played at S. Thomas' College Gymnasium while the finals are scheduled to be conducted at SLBA Courts Maitland Place. (DR) Kandy
lost, but with pride! As the President’s Trophy final between Kandy and CR & FC was about to commence at Longden Place in ideal rugby conditions, a carnival spirit prevailed with hyped music, baloon streamers and the supportive hand of Carlsberg with slogans such as UP Country FIRE POWER which had us thirsting for ‘probably the best beer’. The carnival pretensions quickly changed into an electrifying and tense situation within minutes of the game. The hands of the clock hadn't completed two full circles after the Kandy kick-off when a scrum was ordered in the RC territory in which Weerasekera heeled clean for Nalin Dissanayake to touch down for a glorious try. Five minutes later Nalin Wijegunawardena and Nalaka Weerakkody combined to up-stage Kandy 7-5. CR pressed the dominance again through the magic boot of Old Kingswoodian Weerakkody. From then on the game’s fortunes swung like the rhythm of the pendulam, but ding, dong. Sports scribes have already given the score count by count and in this reflective piece I have no urge to go over the details but to say that fire crackers erupted with the boom of the cannon every time a score was registered and that Kandy had the territorial imperative in much of the game. Keeping law and order on the field were the three supremos of the rugby referees — Roshan Deen with the whistle and S. W. Chang and Dilroy Fernando as the touch judges. Weerakkody’s booming touch finding kicks were illustrious and evoked memories of Lionel Almedia who played gloriously in every conceivable position in the line, having started his college career as a scrum-half. Weerakkody’s contribution, score-wise, was 50% of his side’s total and made the difference between the two teams. Else, the number of tries and penalties were identical for both teams. As gallantly as Pradeep Basnayake, Suranga Amarasinghe, Priyantha Ekanayake, Asoka Jayasena, Indrajith Bandaranayake, Savantha de Saram, Duminda de Silva rose to Herculean measure it was young Harris Omar who was the perfect performer in attack and defence and he even fitted in as an inner for a thirty meter dash in his inimitable style of the jutted left elbow his weapon against marauding tacklers. He was the man of the moment and richly deserved the laurel wreath over all others. Duminda de Silva performed the deeds of a colossus against mighty jumpers Pradeep Basnayake, Suranga Amerasinghe, Priyantha Ekanayake, Asoka Jayasena and Malith de Silva to win good ball on a measurable number of occasions. Indrajith Bandaranayake, who scored a sizzling try would have been the toast of Kandy had the ball not slipped out of his hand as he touched down. The gods had indulged in a miscarriage of justice on his second attempt. Imthie Marrikar on the other wing did not get ball at all and would have been the most frustrated player as he had several opportunities to score. When Roshan Deen blew on the long blast the dirge for fallen heroes CR had pipped Kandy by a mere four points. It was a rousing match and stressed the rugby eminence the country has reached and in its wake was the appalling incident which I witnessed. As the Kandy players trooped into the pavilion, one lone ranger in a misplaced and pouerile display of loyalty blew in the Kandy ears "Come on CR". It is such stuff and nonsense that brings disrepute to the Club he perforce belongs to. As he has been an acquittance of mine over the years I had to tell him that his shame would rub on the club. You want to know his name? Walter Fernando. Of no importance in commerce or life. ‘A game par-excellence and yet deep in my heart I was distressed that Kandy couldn’t get the 31st point to win in a whisker. I was wending my way home with a head buzzing like a bee-hive when I was taken into custody by Shennal Angunawela. In the pleasant company were Kishani, Jeevana, Romesh and Jeevana’s son of eight years, Nilan, who said, "Kandy lost, but with pride." Oh! to be in England, Now that Arjuna is there! If anyone has to be proud of cricket in Sri Lanka it must be Arjuna Ranatunge himself. Sri Lanka’s clipping of English cricket wings was mainly due to this remarkable captain Arjuna’s game plan and intelligence. Winning the Emirates Cup was a unique distinction for our cricket, but how we won the final on Thursday at Lord’s was something the English will cherish for a long time. If the great Don Bradman was there at the St. John’s Wood pavilion it would have been an ideal birthday gift for him to see how this experienced cricketer, Arjuna Rantunge carried the game until England completed their innings at 256 for 8 in 50 overs. His tactic was to see England go for the singles even with the openers Mike Atherton and Nick Knight putting up a huge total. Any other skipper would have panicked in this situation. To show the English how to play competitive limited over cricket reflected in Arjuna’s mind where the conditions most suited the England players. Even against all odds where everyone thought the team batting second would suffer the most (did you notice the English commentators had no comment on Arjuna’s setting of the field and it would have been interesting if the late John Arlott was in the commentary box) our cool headed leader took full control until the last ball was bowled. Arjuna was well aware that experienced cricketers could well drub any world side. The inclusion of Hashan Tillekeratne and Upul Chandana, although the latter’s contribution with the bat was mediocre, paid highest dividends. He was an accomplished captain at that moment to judge the inclusion of Atherton and England retaining Peter Martin, Ian Austin, Darren Gough and Mullally to spearhead the pace attack. Mullally, although at times showered some clever deliveries, our batsmen, notably Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva, filtered them in style. Here, the English learnt the art of combat, a repeat of the 1996 World Cup final in Lahore. Sri Lanka are undoubtedly the undisputed World Cricket Champions. The British media has overwhelmingly recognised Sri Lanka as a teat nation where a series should be played everytime they are in England. 99.9% of the credit should go to Ranatunge, whose presence in all the games Sri Lanka had played virtually produced something of high standard even in defeat. Although the English cricket commentators could not acknowledge the fact that Sri Lanka did not have the slightest doubt of losing, the game always kept them under pressure. Bob Willis, Mark Nicholas and Angus Fraser completely misread the game. There was a huge difference between them and Tony Greig, Ian Chappel and Co. The English commentators let their emotions rule and not the situations. Maybe, in Sri Lanka it happens on certain occasions but not very distinct. Yet English cricket understood that cavalier type of cricket cannot win matchs anymore. Muttiah Muralidharan displayed his class of spin bowling to the English with his 10-0-34-5 analysis. Any viewer gladly appreciated how Arjuna used Murali in those 10 overs even at times placing a close in field. Test and Country Cricket Board will no doubt give Sri Lanka a test series next time round. Arjuna has given us the greatest gift of leadership for us to achieve it when Sri Lanka tours England again. Roshan Mahanama showed brilliance as a
12-year old Rather short and simple in manners, Roshan Mahanama, helped Nalanda to win the Under-12 Cricket Tournament of 1976; with his brilliant batting and excellent fielding, that many an old cricketer applauded. From an early age, he was encouraged in this game of the willow, by his three uncles, Medha, Nihal and Chandana Abeygunawardena, all prominent cricketers and two of them were outstanding ruggerites. Roshan was the babe of that Nalanda Championship Team and the shortest. He was coached by Nelson Mendis, who I am proud to state, has produced several Test players, and Abdul Lafir, a cricketer of fame. He was a warm admirer of the tall former England Captain, Tony Greig, a popular friend of Lankan fans and a connoisseur of our tempting pineapples. I vividly remember when Tony Greig, captaining England in Sri Lanka, on his way to the pavilion, after a breezy short innings, was greeted by a school boy, barely in his teens. Excited by seeing his idol, Tony Greig, walking past him, the lad jumped up, as Tony is very tall, and planted a kiss on his cheek. A nearby policeman on duty, grabbed the boy; but the smiling Tony requested the policeman to release the boy immediately. This kind gesture won the hearts of the large crowd. Roshan Mahanama, that season totalled 539 runs with 103 not out against Dharmaraja as his highest. He also scored 85 v St. Anthony's, Wattala, 68 not out v Ananda, his rival school and 43 v St. Peter’s. He also held nineteen catches that season. He won both the ‘Best Batsman’ and ‘Best Fielder’ Awards. His elder brother, Devaka, captained Nalanda Under-14 team that season. His father, Upali Mahanama, needs no introduction to sports and cricket fans. Many a cricket critic prophesied a very bright future for this promising lad. |
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