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Cricket Board impasse : Sports Ministry to intervene

By Shirajiv Sirimane
With Sri Lankan club cricket at a standstill since last Friday following a legal wrangle at administrative level, the Sports Ministry, it is reliably learnt, will intervene.This is to enable domestic club cricket matches to be worked out.

Many have predicted that if not, it will have a direct impact on the forthcoming World Cup which is less than one month away. All Division-I Premier League cricket matches were not played last week as the tournament was not worked out with the Tournament Committee of the previous Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) taking up the position that it was not empowered to run the tournament following the court order.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Sports Dr. R. M. Ratnayake said yesterday that though the matter is between two parties the Sports Ministry had no alternative but to intervene in the interest of Sri Lankan cricket particularly with Sri Lanka set to defend its title at the forthcoming World Cup. We will first request for the injunction to be removed. The case against the Cricket Board can continue," he said.

"If we fail to convince the party concerned to withdraw the injunction, we will request court to grant the Sports Ministry permission to appoint a Board for the cricket administration," he added.

"The problem we have at the moment is the fact that the ICC does not recognize any other body other than the Cricket Board," he said.

The newly elected Cricket Board has been restrained from carrying out its functions until April 19 following a court order last week which issued an interim order following a petition filed by Clifford Ratwatte.

"Since the court has temporarily frozenprevented the Cricket Board from functioning, I do not think that we have the authority to function." A tournament committee member said.

There are some 16 clubs affected with the domestic tournament matches grounded with the final round of the tournament in progress.

C O M M E N T
Sanath Jayasuriya and the rising delivery

by Srian Obeyesekere
With less than a month away when the world one-day champions defend their title in the curtain raiser against South Africa, Sri Lanka is making every effort to get their one-day act together at a time an ongoing crisis at administrative level which has not helped the cricketers cause. Foreign know-how has been got down in this eleventh hour flurry.

However, the biggest constraint to Sri Lanka's bid to retain the World Cup for a second successive time will largely depend on whether our batsmen have learnt to counter the rising delivery at face level from a good length. This is the ball other teams have evolved at dismissing the frontline Sri Lankan batsmen by studying their weaknesses on video. This was the type of ball that put Sri Lanka's one-day run machine, Sanath Jayasuriya out of action for over a month when he was struck on his forearm by a sharply rising delivery by Australian paceman Brendon Julian during Sri Lanka's recent tour of Australia.

As it is, opposing bowlers have worked on this delivery to especially get rid of Jayasuriya to counter Sri Lanka's successful one-day dimension in scoring freely in the first 15 overs. Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Brendon Julian are some of the pace bowlers who have used this delivery to good effect. And although Jayasuriya did not come up against Pakistan's new find, Shoaib Akhthar, the tearaway speed merchant seems to bowl this delivery from just a few paces away from the batsman better than any other bowler.

At the 1999 World Cup fast bowlers are certainly going to use this rising delivery to check Jayasuriya and the other Lankan frontline batsmen. India's Ajit Agarkar used the delivery to good effect against Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu in the Asian one-day championship when the Lankan opener was struck on his finger and was put out of action in the match. He went on to miss the next match as well. These pacies look to get batsmen out by fending at the rising delivery or put them out of action by felling them.

What the Sri Lankan frontline batsmen will have to work on is a counter to this delivery which travels at over hundred miles per hour. A delivery which gives a batsman very little time to decide on deciding what shot to play. Avishka Gunawardena, another hard hitting batsman who filled in the void of Jayasuriya in the Asian one-day championship was as well at sea against this delivery bowled by Akhthar.

While batsmen of medium height like Aravinda de Silva are not much troubled by this ball, slightly taller batsmen like Jayasuriya evidently are at difficulty in offering a stroke. Especially against the new ball.

Interestingly, Jayasuriya on Friday had reportedly stated that he had worked a strategy to counter bowlers. What would be needed of the Lankan batsmen would be to go for their shots against such a rising delivery instead of suddenly checking the stroke or to duck. To suddenly check the shot would mean to certainly lose his wicket or be injured.

Still interestingly, the seaming English wickets will not offer that much of bounce and it is left to be seen to what extent pacemen would bounce the ball on English wickets. Sri Lanka could of course take heart from the fact that Sanath Jayasuriya seems to have the full measure of English wickets. His whirlwind match winning double century against England at the Oval should give Sri Lanka the hope the team needs at the world Cup which they will endeavour to win again.

Will the rising snorter be Sri Lanka's nemesis?

Or will Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana counter it?

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Shouldn't there be transparency in SL cricket ?

by Mahinda Wijesinghe
Writing in a recent issue of the SPORTSTAR monthly magazine, Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian skipper, was very critical about the Indian Cricket Board, in not keeping the public informed about Sachin Tendulkar's back injury. Wrote Gavaskar:

Sachin is reported to have gone to England for an examination of the back and treatment by a specialist and the Cricket Control Board has picked up the tab for it. That is right, for if the Board is not going to look after its cricketers, then who will? Having said that, the Board being a public body which gets revenue from the public is duty bound to inform the people at large as to exactly what is wrong with Sachin's back... the Board must also let the public know that if the injury was sustained in the Chennai Test then why was Tendulkar allowed to play in the remaining matches? Who declared him fit for those, and did not those who declared him fit realise the long-term implications of making him play just a couple of days after he injured his back?... we are not being told the whole truth and considering that the little champion is a national treasure it is only fair that the public is told the whole story. Very true.

WHAT ABOUT A MEDICAL BULLETIN?

Now, Aravinda de Silva too is our national treasure. He has been treated or operated? as rumour has it, in Australia and here, on his leg/groin on various occasions. But, the public is not too wise about the exact situation. Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan are two others who have undergone their share of major injury, but the cricket-crazy public of Sri Lanka is not too wise of the real nature of their injuries. Not that their respective medical histories be made public, but some sort of bulletin should have been the order of the day. That is the responsibility of the Cricket Board.

HARDLY A MURMUR ABOUT NUWAN ZOYSA

The case of young Nuwan Zoysa is another tragedy in Sri Lanka cricket. Obviously, a very talented player but it is patently clear except to those who are in charge of the fitness of players that he is not physically fit for the demands of pace bowling in international cricket. Yet, for instance, he was flown directly into a Test match in South Africa, not having played even domestic competitive cricket for many months, and, as expected those with common cricketing sense knew that Zoysa would not perform, those with proper medical knowledge should have known that he would break down limped off the field after bowling just a handful of overs. And, that was not the only occasion he was found unfit whilst on tour. Remember, Australia and Sharjah? Having thus played him in fits and starts, what is his future? Now, the question asked now, and many times before is, where does responsibility lie for such fiascoes? Isn't there any accountability, a prime ingredient of proper management? In India, Gavaskar is asking searching questions for far lesser offences. Yet, hardly a murmur in Sri Lanka.

Unlike in earlier times, when the Cricket Board only had a Honorary Secretary, now there is a Chief Executive Officer as well. Surely, can't the Board now keep the public officially informed on important issues? Or, is it that they prefer to keep it that way.

CASES OF NIROSHAN, SURESH & KUMARA

Left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratilleke who had a very promising beginning to his career was suddenly found 'missing' after the England tour. Various rumours were in the air. Oblique references to his alleged conduct whilst on tour by an official, in fact, was made but nothing definite to clear the air. Paceman Suresh Perera impressed all as a promising bowler, especially during our triumphant England tour, and one who can bat quite competently as well. Suddenly, he disappeared from the picture. Perera practically had a paid holiday in Australia not playing a single game in the Carlton & United series. Now a local umpire has no-balled him for 'chucking' during the domestic tournament. Was he kept out originally for the same reason? Kumara Dharmasena, a news report stated, had been sent to England along with D. S. de Silva to meet former England of-spinner Fred Titmus regarding his bowling action. Shouldn't the general public have been informed by the Cricket Board - about such a trip, and what is the official result of this trip, which obviously cost a lot of money?

PLAYERS NOT INFORMED OF POSTPONEMENT?

One Sunday newspaper last week had as its lead story in the front page that the Court order bowls out all division one cricket matches. It added that the teams that came to various grounds for scheduled matches yesterday were shocked when the officiating umpires told them that all matches had been postponed by the tournament committee due to the enjoining order which effectively suspended all activity of the Board till the case is taken up. The report went on to say that the officiating umpires had been informed of the postponement on an instruction given by the tournament committee. Well and good that the umpires had been informed. What about the players and the public? Don't they also have a right to know rather than find out after having come to the grounds? Probably clubs may have been informed by telephone, and as subsequent events have proved according to the news report players have gone to the grounds ready to play, that was a failure. So, why not an official announcement in the Press? Recently, even the detailed results of the infamous and disgraceful election of the Cricket Board was released in a newspaper. But then, who is worried about the suspension of the first-class domestic tournament?

17th March 1996 was a crimson-letter day in the history of Sri Lanka cricket when we became the holders of the World Cup. 28th March 1999 was the blackest day in our history when the disgraceful annual general meeting of the Cricket Board took place. Caesar was told to 'beware the Ides of March'. Perhaps, after we won the World Cup, it applies to Sri Lanka cricket as well.

The Fall from the top

India stands to gain from group rival Sri Lanka's dismal form, says Indian Coach Anshuman Gaekwad.

In 1996 they were marvellous to watch. But let's face it, these days the world champions are at sea. The kind of injuries the Sri Lankans have gone through has depleted their side and affected their combination. The team just doesn't look well-knit. And the youngsters, though clearly gifted, don't look ready for international cricket.

You can see their distress on the field. This team, who used to thrive on their fielding-brilliant stops, amazing catches-and then let their batting do the rest, are struggling. Against India in Nagpur they couldn't catch anything. The problem is that senior players like Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga can hardly set an example as far as fielding is concerned. As Arjuna mentioned to me the other day, "I'm getting older." Yes, but he's wise too. He must know that when a senior player wants a younger player to chase a ball closer to him, that's not helping. It's clear that once the combination of the team is broken the understanding among the players goes haywire.

These changes may well be the reason that Arjuna has been unable to get his side going. You can see the frustration on his face. It has come to the point that our batsmen can pinpoint the Sri Lankan players from whom they can take easy singles. I can't remember when I last saw the Sri Lankans picking up the ball so regularly on the wrong foot and throwing off balance. (Of course, I'm not implying that my boys are perfect.) Ironically, the Sri Lankans recently dedicated a new, full-fledged gymnasium to their physiotherapist Alex Konturi in appreciation of his services to Sri Lankan cricket. Konturi did play an enormous role in getting the Lankans fit. As the World Cup approaches he has much work to do.

The Sri Lankan batting approach is also very theoretical. Only Arjuna and Aravinda seem able to change their game as per the situation and carry their team. The bowling too lacks penetration and Chaminda Vaas and Muthiah Muraitharan (who's not here) have to carry too heavy a pad. They had a decent bowler in Pushpakumara but hampered by injury and without someone to push him he put on weight and lost interest.

Their junior-level cricket is very organised and they play a lot of matches and invite coaches from outside. Yet there don't seem to be enough players waiting in the wings. Hemantha Boteju who made his debut against us in Nagpur was tipped to play for Sri Lanka when I toured there with the under-19 team 1997. Both he and Ajit Agarkar performed exceptionally well on that tour except while Agarkar was playing for India a year later, it has taken Boteju about two years to get in. Maybe Sri Lanka have taken too long to replace their old players with new ones. And though I may sound cruel it's a blessing the Sri Lankans are struggling since they are in our group at the World Cup. But I'm not getting carried away These guys weren't world champions for nothing.

What's good news too is that Agarkar, at least in the first match in Nagpur is back with a bang. I was worried initially but his performance against Sri Lanka was a great relief. He had his rhythm back and generated reasonable pace off a flat wicket, picking up wickets easily. Indeed as a breaker of partnerships he is invaluable to this team. How good could this boy become? I think he has realised only 50 per cent of his potential. The more he plays the more he'll develop variety and accuracy. He is also a sweet (and hard) striker of the ball and can play shots around the wicket. I don't like to exaggerate a player's qualities but I think, given the conditions and his talent, this boy could be a sensation at the World Cup.

His only weakness, as he demonstrated against Pakistan in Jaipur, is a tendency to give away too many runs. I look at him as one of our main strike bowlers. But unfortunately he couldn't seem to find his rhythm or the right length and line, and instead of bowling slower went on bowling at his regular pace. The earlier he learns the better for India at the World Cup.

'India Today'.

Trinity will seek to atone for last year

by Hafiz Marikar
Trinity College which started playing rugby in 1906 was known as the cradle of rugby in Sri Lanka. It was said that Trinitians take to rugby like ducks taking to water. It has produced the most number of ruggerites who have donned the Sri Lanka jersey.

However last year the Trinitians had a very poor season in which they lost most of the matches, and won only few.

This year the Trinitians have twelve senior players in their ranks including four coloursmen - Ravi Wickremasiri, Shanaka Kumara, Rajiv Ganapathy, and David Luchow and are determined to regain their lost glory in rugby. Their main aim is to win back the prestigious Bradby Shield.

This year the Trinitians will be led by coloursman Ravi Wickramasiri, a fine third row forward, he can fit in as the No. 8 forward of the side, and this year with twelve last year players, he should lead the side to do well. His deputy will be Shanaka Kumara the fly half, who is a good knowledgeable player, should do his best from the vital position of fly half. The other two coloursmen are Rajiv Ganapathy who can play in the third row and in the second row too. Then there is David Luchow a fine third row player, this time the Trinitians possess a strong third row.

Other senior players are Zameel Mohamed who is wellknown for his rib-bruising tackling will occupy one centre berth. He is a utility player who can either play as winger or full back, his other partner will be Kalum Silva another crack center. If these two pairs off well, then the Trinitians are sure to do well.

Ruwan Rajapakse a good third row forward, Kusal Halpe will be the hooker, Kavinda Jayasena lock forward, Dinesh Selvakumar will be the link man, much will be expected from him. Arif Iqbal a player with a good set of spikes should deliver the goods. So, with all this experience, they are sure to give off their best.

Trinitians are once again coached, for the 5th consecutive year by former Trinity and Havelocks SC center Quintin Israel who is determined to mould them into a major force in schools rugby once again. They play their first game against Vidyartha College on the 24th.

At present the Trinitians are at a coaching camp at Darrawala, which is organised by the Old Trinitians of the Nuwara Eliya Branch. Which will come to end on the 19th, today they will be playing a match against the past Trinitians. The coaching camp is handled by their coach Israel and he is assisted by two former top class ruggerites Ken De Joodt one of the finest fullbacks of Trinity, and Ajith Abeyrathne one time national coach, both have played for the country. Once again Singer Sri Lanka sponsors Trinity Rugby.

Appreciation
M. T. Thambapillai - a rare human being

There's nothing left for me,
Of all that's used to be,
I live in memory.
Among my souvenirs!

So the good old song goes: a song made all the more relevant and memorable by our late rugby Guru, M. T. Thambapillai, affectionately 'Thamba' to all of us, who simply revelled rendering it,in his own steady voice, even in his late eighties, whenever his proteges fore-gathered for a jolly old 'come-together'. It is an year since he tragically passed away on the 19th April 1998, leaving us to continue to live in memory among the many wonderful 'souvenirs' this rare personality had left behind for us.

'Thamba' ,indeed, was a rare human being, kind to the core, strong-willed, nonetheless, and so utterly committed to whatever cause he chose to espouse, the cause of Royal and her rugby always taking pride of place over everything else. His erstwhile pupils will fondly remember the many welcome detours in his physics class at the mere mention of anything rugby. Invariably, there was some 'son of a sea-cook', who was at the receiving end,by proxy or otherwise, of unmitigated invective for an unpardonable rugby misdemeanour as correctly perceived by him: a missed tackle, an unforgivable knock-on, a dropped pass,a coir-roped boot coming off the seams at a crucial stage, a referee's irreparable faux pas, but for which the course of a particular game could very well have been different! All this and more in the cause of Royal rugby, not forgetting the many umbrellas sacrificed in the process.

For twenty-three well-spent years, commencing from 1947, he carried the banner of Royal rugby, as the master in charge, in a manner most acceptable, honourable and effective. During his stewardship he was able to develop the game at Royal and bequeath a worthy legacy to his successors. In this effort, he was able to muster the willing co-operation of such great names in the country's rugby firmament as Sydney de Zoysa, N. W. Weerasinghe, Summa Navaratnam, Mahesa Rodrigo, Geoff Weinmann, Larry Foenander and Stanley Unamboowe. But his interest never waned even after his retirement in 1970. Rather, he continued with the same zeal to assist in whatever way he can. As has been mentioned elsewhere (vide, Beyond The Sunset, in the 98 Bradby souvenir) if Thamba had "promises to keep: and miles to go before he sleep", then he trod a million missionary miles to keep his promises in the cause of Royal rugby, before he finally slept.

His interest was never confined to the field alone: it went well beyond the touch-line right into the many lives of his proteges, whom he considered as his own sons. There is no gainsaying the fact that Thamba affected positively the lives of everyone of his proteges. He was able to build and sustain a fantastic rapport with everyone of them right upto his last moments. His proteges are too numerous to mention here, wide and varied as they are, in numerously diverse professions, from doctors, lawyers, engineers, business leaders, to leaders in the services, all of them having the common bond of Royal rugby, cutting their early teeth, as it were, on those placid playing fields, under the magnificent influence of this man. He was concerned about everyone of them, a concern that was so readily reciprocated over the years.

Yet, it would be wrong to say that he was concerned only with Royal rugby. His mind was also set on the organisation and improvement of school rugby in general. Way back in the mid-1950s, he contributed his share in reviving rugby at St. Thomas', although his first attempt in the early forties to introduce the game there, where he was a teacher then, failed: the denizens of that school not being quite ready at that time for the rough and tumble of Rugby Football. For his untiring efforts he was most deservingly honoured with the award of a trophy in his name for the under XVII Royal-Thomian game.

He was also the founder secretary of the schools' section of the SLRFU (then the CRFU), the fore-runner of the current Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association. He carried this mantle, with the missionary zeal only he was capable of, for a long time and along with his personal friends in rugby, Eustace Maththysz and Dr. Larry Foenander spared no pains in preparing a solid platform for the game to burgeon among the schools. In this he was able to readily gather assistance from the Union officials, some of whom were personal friends of his from his University days. There was no one at the time in the rugby echelons, who didn't know him and the zeal with which he worked to get the schools rugby going.

And all this, while heading a humble home, with his dear lifetime's companion, Lolita by his side, and to-gether providing society with four useful and dutiful sons, Bertram, Deutrom, Elmo and Nirmo, each excelling in the respective accountancy, medical and hospitality professions. Indeed, with all the connections at his command, he continued to hold humility as his badge, which he carried proudly to the end, never wavering from the straight and narrow path, never compromising principle for cheap gain, lessons he tried to inculcate in all his proteges. In the words of Dr. Nihal Karunaratne, Royal rugby captain of 1947, the year Thamba took over as rugby master, in a letter to the Thambapillai family on the occasion of his death, he was "a soft-spoken, reserved, loyal, dedicated teacher who taught all his students without an iota of discrimination; a person who inspired his students to follow the spirit of Royal and its highest traditions."

While I would like to remember him for all he had done for the Game, for Royal, her rugby and for his proteges, some of whom are at the pinnacle of their respective careers or are on the verge of reaching the top, I would also like to cherish the last moments I was privileged to spend with him by his bed-side for the last time, seemingly recovering from the blow that finally felled him. There were contusions on his face. He was in pain, yet able to regale, through those contusions, on Royal and her rugby at the very mention of the Bradby and the upcoming season of 98,in an unqualified re-affirmation and re-assertion of his loyalty and dedication. He made a promise that he would be there. But that was not to be. Yet, it would have moved him no end to learn of that marvellous Royal rugby season, culminating in that memorable 'massacre'. If he was able to see from his vantage point, he would surely have said, as he had said of yore, "Well done, my sons. You have done your school proud. You have shown that the Game is bigger than the individuals that compose it. " That indeed is the best souvenir he would have loved to possess.

His infectious and vibrant personality, his cherubic smile, his puckish humour will be sadly missed by all those who loved him and they are many spanning the world over: no less by that effervescent, Regal Bridge Brigade at Nawala, which faithfully meets every week to parry their intellectual skills, and of which he was very much an integral part.

- ULK

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