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Vaas fit for Bngladesh, Zoysa also fit The Mini World Cup will go ahead despite recent floods in Bangladesh, according to Cricket Board President, Thilanga Sumathipala who said that the venue would not be affected. "The championship will go-ahead as scheduled. The ICC has organised it and they have decided to go ahead with it since the floods will not affect that part of Bangladesh where the Mini World Cup would be staged at a single venue", said Sumathipala. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan camp has got the good news that key fast bowler Chaminda Vaas has been declared fully fit and would join the squad to Bangladesh according to a Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) source who said that Vaas had fully recovered from his back injury. Vaas has been sidelined for over two months by a recurring back injury and missed out on the Nidahas Trophy Championship and the tour of England. As to the fitness of Nuwan Zoysa, this BCCSL source said that the left arm pacie too had recovered from an ankle injury that affected him during the tour of South Africa early this year while fielding. Accordingly, Zoysa too would be considered for selection. However, the team management, it is understood, does not won't to rush Zoysa. This is because they wan't to have Zoysa fully fit for the Australian tour in early January next year. "The Australian tour is all important and we look to having Nuwan Zoysa fully fit for that tour", a BCCSL source said. He said that already Zoysa was turning out for his club, SSC in the under-23 inter-club tournament. Asked as to why left arm leg spinner Niroshan Bandaratilleke had not been considered for the Commonwealth Games, this BCCSL source said that it was not due to disciplinary reasons. "The standard of competition is so high", this BCCSL source added concerning the left arm leg spinner's omission. ---- ---- National Schools Athletic Championships Ananda College Colombo and Musaeus College Colombo occupied the top slots at the National School Games overall Boys and Girls Championships on the penultimate day at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Ananda had scored 51 points while closely followed by Maris Stella, Negombo and Wallallawita (A. Ratnayake MV with 47 and 45 respectively). In quest for the Womens' Championships Musaeus had a clear lead with 66 points while Sujatha BMV Matara (45) and A. Ratnayake MV (44) was second and third. Sprinter Ranga Wimalawansa created a major sensation yesterday when he ran the under 19, 400 metre event in 47.8 seconds to establish a new meet record. He thus erased Duminda Ariyaratne's mark of 49.3 seconds set in 1994. Ranga coached by Sunil Gunawardane also represented Sri Lanka at the Youth Games in Moscow and showed that he is a up and coming athlete. Eighteen year old Garwin Vansanden too came up with an impressive mark in Under 19 Putt Shot event when he threw 15.04 metres to set up a new mark. The four day festival will conclude today. New meet records. 400 m (Under 19 Girls) Ranga Wimalawansa (St. Peter's) 47.8 sec. High Jump (Under 15 Girls) D. R. Settinayake (Bandaranayake MV Ampara) - 1.51 m. 400 m (U-21 Boys) A. K. G. N. S. B. Aludeniya (Nugewela Central). 48.1 sec. 1500 m (U-17 Girls) K. A. C. Ganaga Kumari (Asoka MV, Rambukkana) 4.53.0 sec. 1500 m (U-21 Boys) Prasanna K. Basnayake, (Vangiyakumbyura MV) 3.59.2 sec. 100 m Hurdles (U-17 Girls) Krishanthi Jayatillike (Vishaka Colombo) 16.8 sec 100 m Hurdles (U-21 Girls) U. G. Premila Sanjeevani (Keerthi Abeywicrama MV) 5.9 sec 110 m Hurdles (U-17Boys) L. Anupama de Silva (Nalanda Colombo) 14.9 sec. Putt Shot (U-19 Boys) Gavin Vansenden (St. Joseph's Colombo) 15.04 sec. High Jump (U-17 Girls) Chamila J. P. Pulle (Ave Maria, Negombo) 1.57 m 400x4 Relay (U-19 Boys) Rahula Matara (Heats) Seevali MMV wins Stubbs Shield Seevali Madya Maha Vidyalaya annexed the Stubbs Shield in the National School Games Boxing Meet which concluded at the Sugathadasa Stadium gymnasium yesterday. Seevali M.M.V which commenced the evening on a winning note when K.A.R.S.Koddithuwakku knocked out M.G.Munasinghe(Veyangoda), continued to dominate the meet with five of their boxers recording wins in the twelve finals which were worked off. Koddithuwakku (Light Fly), K.A.C.N. Alexander (Welter), A.G.S.N.Jayaratne (Bantam) ,H.P.K.M. Sugathadasa (Light ) and E.M.Kotalawela (Light Welter) brought honour to their school by winning their respective weight classes .Seevali M.M.V took top spot with 34 points while Vidyartha (24) settled for second place followed by St.John's Nugegoda which secured third place. M.D.K.Wanniarachchi of Vidyartha College Kandy who registerded an easy first round victory over his adversery in the finals was declared Best Boxer .Wanniarachchi ,who entered the final round following a smashing win over N.N.Kulathunga in the semis,had little to do in the dicider when his opponent retired early in the first round after a hand injury.The Best Losers award in the senior catigory went to M.R.Wekadapola of St.Sylvester's who lost to national champion and favourite ,R.M.U.Bandara in a well contested bout which went the full distance. U.G.Eranga (St.John's ) was adjudged Best Boxer among the juniors while Royalist R.Mallikarachchi took home the Best Losers trophy. The results as follows- Light Fly Weight -K.A.R.S.Koddithuwakku (Seevali) beat M.G.Munasinghe (Veyangoada) ,Fly Weight -M.P.S.Karunaratne (Veyangoda ) beat R. Mallikarachchi (Royal) ,Welter Weight -K.A.C.N.Alexander (Seevali M.M.V ) beat M.P.P.Jayakody (Veyangoda ),Light Welter Weight -Bandula Kumara (Dharmaraja ) beat U.S.Pulleperuma (Medhankara ), Middle Weight -R.M.U.B.Ratnayake (Pilimatalawa Central ) beat M.A.N Bandara (Peradeniya M.M.V) ,Heavy Weight - R.M.U.Bandara (Vidyartha ) beat W.M.R.Wekadapola (St.Sylvester's) ,Pin Weight -U.G.Eranga (St.John's ) beat Kelum Kumara (Seevali M.M.V ) Bantam Weight -A.G.S.N.Jayaratne (Seevali M.M.V) beat R.P. Bandara (Vidyartha ), Feather Weight -A.P.A.N Ambagala (Vidyartha ) beat Himansu Kumara (Seevali M.M.V ) Light Weight - H.P.K.M.Suagathadasa ( Seevali M.M.V ) beat K.G.C.B. Abeysena (Peradeniya M.M.V ) , Light Welter Weight -E.M.Kotalawela (Seevali M.M.V ) beat K.S.deSilva (St.John's Nugegoda ) Light Heavy Weight - M.D.K.Wanniarchchi (Vidyartha ) beat W.M.P.Ratnayake (Pilimatalawa Central ). England
- Sri Lanka tests Cornhill Test at Lord’s 1988 England gained her second Test victory over Sri Lanka and her first in England by seven wickets. On His Test Debut Athula Samarasekera shone as an all rounder on his Test debut, scoring 57 in the second innings and taking 1 for 66 and 2 for 38. He hit a six and 7 fours and faced 110 balls. Man of the Match J. R. Ratnayake (Ravi) was chosen Man of the Match (Sri Lanka) for his all round performance of 59 not out, the highest score in the first innings, and 32 and 2 for 107. In 86 minutes, Ravi with Graham Labrooy added 64 for the last wicket, a record which still stands. Graham Labrooy straight drove D. V. Lawrence, the fast bowler for one of his six fours. Graham Gooch, the England captain, made five bowling changes in 21 overs to break this partnership. Ravi’s second bowling analysis read-7-1-16-0; the best economy rate in the Test. Arjuna Ranatunga’s Splendid Batting Arjuna Ranatunga batted well as three straight drives, two off the front foot and one off the back, struck the stumps, at the far end, depriving him of twelve runs. He hit 10 fours in his 78 from 181 balls. This was his third fifty in successive Tests against England. Duleep Mendis scored 56 off 98 balls with 8 fours. Eight batsmen in Sri Lanka’s second innings entered double figures. Fielding record The two Silvas held three catches each in this Test — Amal Silva behind the stumps and Aravinda de Silva. First Test Player from Wayamba Ranjit Madurusinghe, who bowled in this Test, is the first from Wayamba, North Western Province, to gain Test Honours. Graham Labrooy on his first appearance against England scored 42, going No. 11, and took 4 for 119 off 40 overs, 7 maidens. Cornhill Test at Lord’s, 1991 England won by 137 runs, her third victory over Sri Lanka and her second successive victory over us at Lord’s. On First Appearance at Lord’s and Against England R. J. Ratnayake (Romesh) scored 52 and his bowling figures read 27-4-69-5; both in the first innings. This is the first time that a Lankan performed this unique feat in a Test and that on first appearance at Lord’s the Mecca of Cricket. He scored 52 in only 51 balls with 7 fours. He was chosen Man of the Match (Sri Lanka). Aravinda de Silva, the captain, batted superbly in the last half hour of the second day, striking 7 fours in 42 from only 30 balls. Hashan Tillekeratne kept wickets on his first appearance and batted for an hour and a quarter to score 30 in the first innings and 16 in the second essay, adding 53 runs for the sixth wicket with Sanath Jayasuriya. Sanath Jayasuriya before lunch, hit 30 from only 28 balls with 6 fours. He was out scoring 66 runs off 70 balls. Asanka Gurusinha (34) and Aravinda de Silva (18) added 61 runs for the third wicket in the second innings. The entire Sri Lanka side barring one, entered double igures in the second innings. M. R. Ramprakash faced only 5 balls for his first Test duck, caught Mahanama off Hathurusinghe. Both pacees, Romesh and Ramanayaka held catches off their own bowling. Ramanayaka captured the first wicket in the Test, catching Graham Gooch, England’s captain, off his own bowling for 38. Graham Gooch scored 174 in the second innings, the highest for England against Sri Lanka in a Test. There were three wicket-keepers in the side, Brendon Kuruppu, Asanka Gurushinha and Hashan Tillekeratne. Roshan Mahanama held 3 catches in the Test. On a personal note, K. J. W. Wijegunawardene is credited with the longest name of any Test cricketer. The other long names were Tillekeratne, U. C. Hathurusinghe and C. P. H. Ramanayaka. Test Match at Sinhalese Sports Club Grounds, 1992-93 The Fifth Test in the England—Sri Lanka Test series ended with Sri Lanka winning for the first time by 5 wickets. In this Test, 1219 runs were scored for the loss of 35 wickts. By now Sri Lanka have beaten India, Pakistan, New Zealand and England in Tests. Sri Lanka’s total of 469 is their highest against England in Tests. There were five fifties in this innings—Hashan Tillekeratne 93 not out; Aravinda de Silva 80, Roshan Mahanama 64, Arjuna Ranatunga 64 and U.C. Hathurusinghe 59. With Asanka Gurusinghe scoring 43, all six first batsmen in the batting order scored over 40. First four partnerships in Sri Lanka’s first innings exceeded over 50 runs each— 99 for first wicket Roshan Mahanama (64) and U. C. Hathurusinghe (59) 54 for second wicket Roshan Mahanama and Asanka Gurusinghe (43) 50 third wicket Roshan Mahanama and Aravinda de Silva (80) 127—fourth wicket—Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga (64) 83 — ninth wicket—Hashan Tillekeratne (93 not out) and M. Muralitharan (19) (2nd inns.) Hashan Tillekeratne played two not out innings—93 not out and 36 not out—winning the Man of the Match Award. England bowlers found Tillekeratne impossible to get out in both innings. Tufnel and Emburey bowled well in tandem, but Hashan had their measure, cutting hard at anything fractionally short, and dancing down the wicket if the opportunity to drive presented itself. At the other end, in the second innings, Ranatunga batted as though his life depended on it. For him, victory meant too much to be allowed to slip through his grasp. He was bitterly disappointed when he was caught out with only four runs needed for victory. Sanath Jayasuriya pulled Tufnell’s next ball for a mighty six, bringing in victory. Hashan held four catches Tufnell’s next ball for a mighty six, bringing in victory. Rather stranger that Sanath Jayasuriya, ‘Master Blaster’ batted No. 7 and scored only 4 and 6 not out. In the second innings, Hashan (36 not out) and Arjuna (35) added 75 runs for the fifth wicket. England needed almost two hours to take the wickets of tail enders, M. Muralitheran (19) and A. P. J. Warnaweera (1). Arjuna registered four fifties against England, one in each Test. Hashan held four catches, two in each innings. Jayantha Warnaweera, with his off spins, took 4 for 90 and 4 for 98, sending down 65.1 overs, 15 maidens. He dismissed Alec Stewart in both innings. Asanka Gurusinha opening the bowling in the second innings, had the remarkable analaysis 6-3-7-2. His victims were M. A. Atherton and J. E. Emburey who was bowled by him after scoring 59, the highest for his side in the second innings. Muralitharan toiled hard to read 45-12-118-4 and 16-3-55-1. He bowled Robin Smith after scoring 128. The shirts of the England players were soaked in perspiration throughout the match, as temperature soared into the high 90’s, and the humidity became quite exhausting. Tamil Union accords Murali a heroic welcome Garlands cascading with Jasmins, musical fanfare, flashing lights and TV cameras greeted the Tamil Union heroes led by their club captain Muralitharan, as they arrived at the Sara Stadium for the felicitation dinner on Friday evening. The President, S. Skandakumar, in his welcome address recalled Muralitharan’s entry to the club as a ‘shy young schoolboy’ who made his initial impression againsAt Hugh Morris’ England ‘A’ team in 1991, wheeling down 50 overs for as many runs and taking 6 wickets. "Bruce Yardley who was here at that time to coach our spinners said to me, this guy is going to rock world batting before long". The President added, "looking back on history, not only has Murali rocked world batting but last month he even sent England on a downward roll". "His career however has had its challenges and distractions, but thankfully Murali, now a toughened professional, has met all of these with competence". Continuing, the President said, it was only the other day that I congratulated him on reaching the 150 wicket landmark in test match wickets. The warmth of our handshake had hardly receded, when I realized that he had achieved yet another milestone, this time 200 test wickets. With that he eclipsed Shane Warne to secure the No. 1 position for wickets/ test match. I wonder how many of us realize the relevance of that. It simply means that we have in our presence today the world’s No. 1 spinner! Murali has added considerable variation to his bowling in the last couple of years that has made him the world class bowler he is today. Two dismissals in the Oval Test will bear ample testimony to that. The first was that of John Crawley on the stroke of lunch on the final day and the other, the bowling round the legs of Darren Gough to finish off the test! I am sure all of you will join me in wishing him continuing success as he sets out to narrow the gap between himself and Kapil Dev’s world record, one which, we know he is more than capable of surpassing some day. Upul Chandana is Asia’s answer to Jonty Rhodes. Blessed with safe hands and a clean pair of heels, he caught the selectors eye two years ago and has remained in the national one day squad since. His lethal arm has changed dramatically the course of many a match, the most recent of which was the running out of Alec Stewart on the final day of the Oval Test, a wicket that had a significant bearing on the eventual outcome of that match. Niroshan made a dream debut in Test Cricket and I understand that Stephen Fleming’s men still have nightmares wherever his name is mentioned! Niroshan however knows that the kind of pitches he bowled on will be hard to come by in international circuits and is working hard on variation. Mario still very young, demonstrated in a county game vs Middlesex at Lords, his potential, given the right conditions. Indika I say is the clubs most generous cricketer. Blessed with an abundance of talent, he has the uncanny knack of gifting his wicket just when he has the bowling at his mercy. Thankfully there are signs that his temperament is maturing and we will certainly hear more of him in the future. Murali, Upul, Niroshan, Mario and Indika, we are proud of your achievements as we are of our association. I thank you for your loyalty. We wish you continued success. The many young faces around me today tells me that I must reflect briefly on our past. This club has a unique history as it was built on a selfless vision. In 1940, when the late P. Saravanamuttu, and his team of enthusiastic members set out to construct this pavilion and ground they were spurred by a vision to provide the country with a suitable venue to stage international games, and not because they thought that such a stadium and ground were necessary for the activities of the Club. This blessed ground became the only international venue for cricket in particular and athletics and hockey in general. The Cricket Board’s relationship with the institution for many decades was therefore one of total dependance. Who can forget Ivers Gunasekera’s destruction of Lindsay Kline or Michael Tissera’s consecutive hook shots of Wesley Hall to register a fabulous hundred? Hall was no slower than Alan Donald, and in those days the only protection batsman had was the traditional one below the naval! The first ever test was played here and appropriately enough the first ever test win was also registered here. The events of ‘83, which I know we all want to put behind us forever, unfortunately had a devastating impact on this club and an inevitable decline set is thereafter. It is a matter for great regret that a venue that provided so much for cricket infrastructure, in the country for so long, should record that it has had no international match played on it since 1993. The club’s vision was not confined to this aspect only. Even before the Cricket Board itself reached out to the outstation, we decided that there was talent that required assistance. In 1978 we brought to Colombo, the outstation schoolboy cricketer of that year, Upul Sumathipala, Captain of Mahinda found him a job and helped him with his cricket. If Sumathi did not play for Sri Lanka, it was simply because the opportunities for international cricket, then, were few and far between. In 1981, it was the best outstation schoolboy batsman, Athula Samarasekera also of Mahinda, who then made 1000 runs in his first season in Division I cricket, a unique achievement for an oustation boy. He was picked for the World Cup in England in 1983 and for some inexplicable reason, left us threafter and, sadly lost his way. In 1984 it was a dark husky Galle boy, this time from Richmond, Champaka Ramanayake. My good friend Daham Wimalasena a Vice President of the Board then, gave him a job and we set him up. Soon he was picked for Sri Lanka and held his place until 1993. He thereafter coached the national team of Dubai, and has in the past two years been playing professional league cricket in England. We then went beyond Galle to Matara, when a lad named Pramodya Wickramasinghe was referred to us in view of our interest to help talented cricketers from the South. We found him a job and before long he was picked to tour England. Upon his return, he said to me that he had been invited to play for the SSC. As I was then the Hony Secretary of the Cricket Board, I said to him that it was not for me to dictate the Club for whom he should turn out but that he should play when he could further develop his talents, and so he moved on with our blessings. Upul Chandana, and Indika de Saram are two other cricketers who have amongst the many players from the South that joined us, and made good and we are proud both of their achievements and our contribution. It will no doubt be apparent to everyone that here is a Club that has not only history, but also culture, traditions and values and has over many decades, selflessly helped cricket infrastructure and cricketers. It is for this reason that my committee and I have set our sights on restoring this dignified institution to its past glory, and I have been greatly encouraged by the warmth of the response we have received to our efforts. Thank you for your presence here today. I know I can count on your support. I will end on this happy reflection, that this Club, in the late M. Sathasivam, produced a genius with the bat. Today we felicitate our own Murali, a genius with the ball. Murali’s response On behalf of Upul, Niroshan, Mario and Indika, I wish to thank Mr. Skandakumar and members of the Club’s committee most sincerely for having arranged this function for us. I also wish to thank Arjuna, Aravinda, the coaches, managers and other national players for the support and encouragement they have given me throughout my career. I am extremely happy to be appointed Captain of Tamil Union. We have all enjoyed our cricket at the Club mainly because of the interest taken by the officials. I am only sorry that a club that has contributed so much to Sri Lanka has been allowed to be neglected. We must give Mr. Skandakumar and the committee all the support we can to help him rebuild this club to its past glory. I appeal to all club members and well wishers to please support the President wholeheartedly in his efforts. Thank you once again. All of us will continue to serve the club and our country to the best of our ability. I would now like to make a personal contribution to the development fund to the President. Athletic Nationals on October 31 The National Athletic Championships will be held on 31 October and November 1 at the Sugathadasa Stadium with the cream of Sri Lankan athletes in the fray. The CEAT Organization will be comprehensively sponsoring the nationals with a package of Rs. 250,000. Meanwhile Asian Games 20 km race walk selection trials will be held on 4 October 6.30 a.m. from Torrington Place, Sports Ministry grounds, Coombo 7. The standard for selection will be 1 hour 33.58 seconds. All race walkers who wish to participate at the trials should forward their names and addresses to the Secretary Amateur Athletic Association, No. 7, Lower Grand Stand, Reid Avenue, Colombo 7, on or before 2 October. (S.O.S.) |
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