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Bristol Freedom Cup Soccer C'ships tomorrow
by Shirajiv Sirimane
The eagerly awaited Bristol Freedom Cup Soccer Championships sponsored by Ceylon Tobacco Company Ltd., and conducted by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka kicks off tomorrow.The foreign participants India, Malaysia and Maldives have arrived and gearing for the grand finale.
The opening ceremony and the first match will be held from 3.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Malaysia confront India at 4 p.m. while the hosts encounter Maldives at 6.30 p.m.
The winners of the championships will receive US D10,000 while the runner-up purse will be US D7500.
Following are the fixtures:
15 -India vs Malaysia 4 p.m. and Sri Lanka vs Maldives at 6.30 p.m., 17 -India vs Maldives 4 p.m. and Sri Lanka vs Malaysia 6.30 p.m., 19 -Maldives vs Malaysia 4 p.m. and Sri Lanka vs. India 6.30 p.m., 21 -Finals at 6 p.m. (All matches at the stadium).
Warnapura pays highest tribute as Anura Ranasinghe makes last journey
by Dhammika Ratnaweera
It was a sad day for the local cricketing fraternity which mourned the untimely death of former Sri Lanka star, Anura Ranasinghe who made his last journey on Thursday.Anura Ranasinghe, who died last Monday, was cremated at the Kirillapone General Cemetery with his former colleagues among the large gathering which paid their last respects to the former Lankan cricketer.
Fittingly, his former Nalanda Colleague and Sri Lanka Cricket Captain, Bandula Warnapura paid Ranasinghe a great tribute when he said, 'He had an inborn talent.
Anura Ranasinghe had the gift of playing the game without practices. Such were his inborn skills' Warnapura dipped into the past to their Nalanda College days where so many top cricketers cut their teeth when he said,' Nalanda College produced two cricketers with inborn talent. Both were Anuras. One was Anura de Silva from Ambalangoda and the other was the talented all-rounder, Anura Ranasinghe. Anura Ranasinghe, the 42 year old cricketer passed away at such an early age.
He could have done a lot for cricket, but was lost to it until he was called up only recently. Anyway in that little period he served the cause of Bloomfield cricket as an under-23 coach.' The misty eyed first Sri Lankan Test captain summed up Ranasinghe's services to his country in these words,
'Ranasinghe could field any where. If he bowled, he did a good job as a bowler. He was also an aggressive batsman. However, after the South African rebel tour, he lost interest and never practised hard by which he lost his inborn skills.
He was very humble. He would listen to others, but he played how he felt fit on the field. It is thus, sad for Sri Lanka cricket which lost four stars in Ranasinghe, D. L. S. de Silva, Sritharan Jeganathan and Sunil Jayasinghe'Delivering a funeral oration on behalf of the Board of Control for Cricket, its President, Thilanga Sumathipala paid tribute to the services of the late Ranasinghe saying he conveyed his deepest sympathies to his family members.
Also paying there last respects were Nalanda old boys, the Deputy Minister for Media, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, the Bloomfield Club president, Shelly Wickramasingh and other officials.
Darrell Hair out to get Murali again
H. L. D. Mahindapala reporting from Melbourne
- November 13, 1998
Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire who has an unbeaten record of stalking Sri Lankan cricketers, reveals in his forthcoming book, The Decision-Maker, that he will no-ball Muttiah Muralidharan again when he plays in Australia this summer if he doesn't 'drastically change his actions'Australian media highlighted Darrell Hair's 'explosive allegations' against the Sri Lankan team. He is reported to have said that he should have also called Kumara Dharmasena and Ruwan Kalpage too. Australian critics have reacted sharply to Darrell Hair's predictable outburst against the Sri Lankan team.
Besides, cricketing circles are most concerned that his book is a pointer to his future action when he collides with Muralildharan this summer. It is most likely that Darrell Hair will face legal challenges if he decides to arbitrarily call Muralidharan again. The Victorian Cricket Foundation headed by Dr. Quintus de Zylwa, is consulting legal experts in sports to consider the possible intentions and consequences of his adverse remarks against Muralidharan when the two collide at the pitch. Darrell Hair is reported as saying that Muralidharan's physical defect is 'laughable' and that he must 'drastically change his actions' This indicates that he has already prejudged Muralidharan's bowling action and this attitude will determine his decisions.
Going by newspaper extracts and comments by critics it seems that Hair has prepared his ground to pursue his duel with Muralidharan to a bitter end. In his book he harks back to the controversial summer of 1995 when he outraged the cricketing world with his solo decision to call Muralidharan a 'chucker' not once or twice but seven times. He says that he should have done it more - 27 times more!
Sports writer Greg Baum revealing some aspects of Hair's book due to be published next week says : 'Hair has left among his associates the impression that unless Muralidharan has changed his actions drastically he will be obliged to call him again this summer. Hair, who called Muralidharan seven times that Boxing Day, will say that he ought to have called him sooner and more often.'
Baum adds that Hair 'will make explosive allegations about Sri Lanka's conduct that summer' (of 1995). In it Hair will allege that Sri Lanka tried to intimidate him and pushed propaganda against him, that he received death threats, and the vacillating officials of both the ACB and the ICB fell down on their jobs by not supporting him'
Meanwhile, Mr. Patrick Keane, the Public Relations Manager of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), denied the BBC story broadcast this morning which said : 'ACB tells Murali: We are watching you...and you are under scrutiny.' However, in a telephone interview with me Mr. Keane said that (1) six other umpires have reported the actions of Muralidharan (2) bowlers against whom there have been adverse reports were withdrawn by other countries except Sri Lanka (3) ICB has not given any clearance to any bowler and that he is not aware that Muralidharan has been summoned to give evidence (4) dismissed the medical evidence as not being relevant and (5) dismissed the critic in The Australian, the only national daily owned by Rupert Murdoch, as the opinion of only one man. When asked about Ross Emerson's decision to no-ball a leg-spin of Muralidharan as chucking, he replied: 'That is your opinion' Asked what he thought about the book he said that the timing of its release was not the best.
In a 25-minute interview he told me that the ACB does not tell its umpires what to do in the field.
I pointed out that Darrell Hair in his book says that he and Steve Randell were summoned from their breakfast table by the ACB and told not to go hard on Murali. 'Will the ACB take a similar line now?' I asked. He said that there is a different CEO running the ACB now and Darrell Hair will decide on each ball as it comes off the hand of Muralidharan.
Though Mr. Keane denied the BBC story that Muralidaharan is under scrutiny by the ACB cricketing circles suspect that the ACB, unlike on the previous occasion, will go along with Darrell Hair.
But the critics are already on the back of Darrell Hair tearing him to shreds. Adrian McGregor, a senior writer in The Australian, portrays Darrell Hair in his column today as a 'little man who is endowed with too large powers.' He adds: ''Now Hair, in his autobiography, seeks to justify his no-ball call despite Muralitharan not having been called outside Australia and having taken more than 200 Test wickets without incident. Further, Hair reveals he suspected the action of two othoer Sri Lankan bowlers on that tout. Here we have the natural corollary of the little man who is endowed with too large powers....Darrell Hair may be empowered by the antediluvian umpiring laws of cricket to no-ball Muralitharana, but his position morally is less convincing,'
McGregor adds, in his article titled, 'Wearing a white hat doesn't mean you are always right.' (The Australian - November 13,1998).: 'That Muralithran was not drummed, or shamed, out of Test cricket brings credit to every other umpire who has cast a sensible eye upon him. Hair's authority to no-ball Murallitharan has to be set beside the reality of the day. Even if he was demonstrably right, was the throwing law intended to outlaw slow off-spinners? No, it was mean to stop fast bowlers unplayably skimming the ball off the pitch.
'Hair says Muralitharan gained an advantage through extra turn and bounce. But did he scythe implacably through the Australian batting line line-up? No. He was simply one of the few Sri Lankan bowlers able to make a contest of it with Australia that tour.'
Apart from his critics, the timing of his book is also critical. Hair is preparing his pitch well in advance for him to bat without giving a 'fair go' (as they say in Australia) to the Sri Lankans. Faced with the rest of the cricketing world refusing to follow his view of bowling he has resorted to justify his lone decision by hitting right round the wicket. In his book he has targeted the ICB and the ACB too for not backing him up.
Hair's call for Muralidharan to change his 'actions drastically' is seen as a direct threat to the off-spinner's future. Some also see it as a part of the psychological warfare which was waged against the Sri Lankan team in 1995. Muralidharan can oblige Hair only if the ACB can fix him with a new bionic arm. It is as simple as that because all medical evidence point to the fact that he cannot change his 'actions drastically' as he was born with that bent arm which is a physical defect common to members of his family. As an alternative, the ACB could finance him to buy a new pair of spectacles designed specifically to make the clear distinction between a genetic defect and deliberate chucking. But neither of these actions will help Hair because the defect is not in his eyes but in his prejudiced mind.
In the meantime, the ACB seems to have made a tactical move to invite Sri Lanka's K.T.Francis to umpire in the first test between Australia and England along with Hair. This is seen as a public relations act to soften any adverse impact on Hair. Francis's presence is not going to have any influence on Hair. But cricketing circles fear that any wrong decisions made by him will counteract the hair-raising decisions Francis's counterpart.
Hair, however, is relying on the open ruling that gives a discretionary power to the umpire to decide on each ball. This provision overrides the general clearance given by the ICB. If Hair uses that discretionary power he will be the only umpire to do so. McGregor argues against such arbitrary acts, saying that such 'decisions (are) based upon rules and conventions which were, and are, vague and open to interpretations.' If Hair goes down the track he has signposted in his book, it is most likely that the cricket-crazy fans at the Southern Stand of the MCG in Melbourne would be outraged and incensed. That is the stand from which mountainous waves of Sri Lankan flags sweep the TV screen. It is the familiar territory occupied by the Sri Lankans.
Cricketing circles in Melbourne believe that Hair will do what Hair has already decided to. In 1995 he was booed even by some of those respectable spectators in the members stand which he had pass on his way to the umpire's room. It was also the year when MCG was plastered with anti-Hair slogans. One said : 'Hair or no hair / Murali's balls are fair'
Amidst all this, the only certainty is that the temperature of this summer depends on the rise and fall of Hair's finger.
by Sharm de Alwis
Robert Sourjah's name will be in perpetuity because the Bradby series will be for ever. And, so too, that of his rival captain of the historic first Bradby game, C. D. L. Fernando.Coincidentally, both chose the then noble profession of Medicine. Today, it is 'physician, heal thyself'. And, how can they, with one doctor for every 8,000 of the population vis a vis 1 to 380 in New Zealand! Those oath of hypocrisy.
But to come back to Robert Sourjah after that brick-bat, he began his rugby career at Trinity in '43 in Willie Jenkins' second year of captaincy. He was promptly awarded colours alongside H. L. Armstrong, E. R. L. Ferdinands, M. Naganathan, E. Senanayake, T. B. Werapitiya and Malcolm Wright. A flush in the face and ego for a young buck of seventeen years of age.
In '44 Robert played under the Rock of Gibraltar, Malcolm Wright who later went on to captain the country.
In an era when the criterion for the award of the Lion was that a boy had to be on part at National Level, Robert Sourjah won his Lion alongside his captain. Malcolm Wright, S. B. Pilapitiya, M. Nagananthan, A. P. Fernando and Michael Kagwa, a chieftain of Uganda who was brutally murdered by Idi Amin.
Then in 1945 dawned the hour of glory. The two match series between Trinity and Royal that had begun in '43 was to be the Bradby series, courtesy, E. L. Bradby, the departing Principal of Royal.
In the early days the Brabdy matches were just two other games with no gate fees charged and we who were not even into our teens would romp on the touch line, apace with the ball and, more importantly, behind the legendary Hilary Abeyratne who would stride, exhorting the boys in his stentorian voice, but dressed in sartorial elegance.
Trinity lost the first Leg 0-3 but came hard on home territory at Bogmabara with S. B. Pilapitiya deputising for an injured Sourjah to win 6-0 and capture the Prize. The Kandyan kingdom was not for the taking at rugger.
Having left Trinity, he joined Havelocks. In '50 the bubble burst in ten ecstatic psychedelic spectrum when Havelocks won the Clifford Cup under Ian Labrooy. Although in '49 Havelocks had beaten CR & FC to win the Inter-District Championship under the same captain, this was the very first in which the Rugby Union had opened the Competition to all constituent Clubs.
The victorious team of '50 comprised Ian Labrooy, R. H. Aldons, H. C. A. Aldons, E. M. Aldons, F. Aldons, Allan Drieberg, Basil Henricus, H. E. Metzeling, S. B. Pilapitiya, Vernon Kelly, Robert Sourjah, Eustace Matthysz, Ivor Barthlomeusz, Letcho Ephraums, Kenneth Gunawardena.
That they repeated the success in '51 was no great wonder because the club had in its ranks the nucleus of the '49 and '50 teams.
The Havelocks who alongside CR&FC fielded only locals fought the might of hefty International players. The boys had learned early that the bigger they come, the harder they fall.
Robert's Medical studies prevented him from active participation at National level although he was in the Pool.
'Memories and gratitude'? I asked.
'Yes, Kenneth Gunawardena as a flanker, nailing the fleet-footed Michael Kagwa when he had crossed the touch line for the ball to pop off his hands.''The coach we had was the great Philip Buultjens. He would study opposing sides and devise strategies accordingly.'
For his Principal, C. E. Simithraaratchy he has exalted words. 'He must have studied me like he did all other boys. When I wanted to leave college after the SSC because I was interested in aeronautical engineering, the Principal sent for my mother. 'The outcome was that he had to stay on at Trinity to study Botony and Zoology, two subjects he had never done before. But thanks to Miss Wells he came top in class in both subjects in the very first term test.
That's how the budding aeronautical engineer became a doctor of medicine, Robert was the president of the Trinity College OBA from '78 to '80 and was the Bishop's nominee on the Board of Governors of Trinity.
Robert Sourjah's two sons, Rohan and Lanil took after the father in rugger. Both played for Trinity on the wing but changed in due course to be first inner. Rohan, like the father, captained Trinity at rugger ('75) to win the Lion. Lanil was deprived of the honour even though he was in the SL Schools pool and had to be satisfied with the Athletics Lion.
Robert Left for Australia with his wife, Inez, whose father John Jackson-Smale had played as scrum-half for Kandy Rovers. May all good wishes be with them.
