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ICC Annual Meeting
Lankans asked to keep away

By Shirajiv Sirimane
The International Cricket Conference (ICC ) has decided to ban the Sri Lankan representative S. Skanda Kumara, a Vice President of the Cricket Interim Board from attending the ICC annual General conference on Wednesday in England.

This decision was taken after a special meeting convened by the Legal officer of the ICC, Roger Hill. He had invited the Chief Executive of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board (BCCSL) Dhammika Ranatunge, Interim Board Vice President S. Skanda Kumar and ICC Secretary, David Richard to attend this meeting.

It was pointed out that since the legality of both the BCCSL and Interim Board is being challenged in Courts the ICC was reluctant to entertain any representative from Sri Lanka until the matter was settled in Courts.

The President of the BCCSL Tilanga Sumathipala, a Director of the ICC was to attend this meeting. How ever the Interim Injunction from the Colombo High Courts saw an Interim Board being appointed by the Sports Minister. Subsequently skanda Kumar’s name was forwarded by the Interim Board to attend this meeting.

The ICC formal dinner was held last night and Skanda Kumar refrained from attending it.

Last Friday the 7 members who were not penalised by the High Court challenged the legality of the Interim Board in Courts. They pointed out that the Sports Minister has no authority according to the Sports Law to appoint an interim Board, when a Sports Governing body not dissolved.

When contacted Tilanga Sumathipala said that he never forced his way to attend this meeting. "I am tied up with work at this end and I was to suggest that the CEO, of the BCCSL, Dhammika Ranatunge, should attend this meeting." He said. "Since this matter is now in Courts I do not want to comment further." He added

"The present dilemma where the former World Champions Sri Lanka will have to miss this all important Conference is now in the hands of the Sports Minister. Now he has to once again gain a legal clearance as to who should attend this meeting." Said a Cricket observer

Following is the full text of the letter sent by the ICC Chief Executive to the BCCSL.

Dear Dammika,

I refer to the various correspondence in relation to the management of Sri Lankan cricket at the present time, and to the meeting between Skanda and yourself with the President Roger Hill and myself this afternoon.

We note from the correspondence that there are contradictory views being expressed as to the legality of the Interim Management Committee. Further the matter of who should administer the affairs of BCCSL is in the court and is being contested by two or more parties.

Since the matter is sub-judice, ICC must refrain from commenting on the merits of the correspondence.

The Annual Conference takes place next week and there is also a meeting of our Executive Board.

It is therefore necessary to ascertain who is able to properly represent BCCSL at these meetings.

Since ICC is not in a position to judge the merits of the claims which are before the court, we request you to obtain clarification from the court as regards:

— who will be authorised to represent BCCSL at next week’s meetings, and
— With whom should ICC deal until this matter is finally determined by the court?

Signed

D. L. Richards
Chief Executive ICC

Bradby Shield Rugby
Trinity outsmart Royal win first leg 19-0

By Hafiz Marikar our Kandy Sports Corr.
Trinitians led by Ravindra Wickramasiri who was trailing 0-10 at the breather came up with a superb performance to beat Royal College 19 points (2 goals 1 try) to 10 (2 tries) in the 1st leg of Bradby Shield game in front of a massive crowd at the Bogambara Stadium. It was Trinity’s sheer courage and determination which put Royal in to stupor, both sides were equally balanced. Trinitians really played well in the second half. Though dwarfed by the hulky Royal forwards, Trinity pack was spearheaded by skipper Ravindra Wickramasiri from the No. 8 berth. They had more possession in the line outs through Kavinda Jayasena. In the first half Royalist who controlled the game, all what they did came good for them, their back division dominated the game, and whenever the ball was flicked to the back line by scrum half Chamith Perera, they looked very dangerous with their three-quaters running the ball in a splendid manner. Thanks to some good thinking by the Royal fly half R. Fernando, led his line well, with good balls. In the first half the Royal back division had a great game, with the play just five minutes old the Royalist scored through Samith Pilapitiya, which went unconverted.

Royalist outplayed Trinitians in this half and once again scored through Pavithra Fernando this try too went unconverted. Royal led 10-0 and were sitting pretty. Royal forwards were also doing their best to beat their opponents to the ball, but Trinity third row comprising of skipper Ravindra Wickramasiri, David Luchow, and Ruwan Rajapakse did a good job to stop several good moves. Royalist took lemons with a 10-0 lead. During the second half, Trinitians played to a plan. They rucked drove and powered there way to score 19 points. Ravindra Wickramasiri’s boys tore into Royal XV with gusto. Scrum half D. Selvam was involved in everything Trinity threw forward. The platform of Trinity’s win was laid by a ferocious display of running and cover by a spirited back row, in which flankers Rajapakse, Luchow and skipper Wickramasiri was outstanding. Trinity’s back division also impressed with their straight, aggressive running which punched holes in the Royal defence in the second half, a big hand should go to deputy skipper Shanaka Kumar and Zameel Mohamed, Kaushaliya Weerathne and fullback Tisal Jayawardena.

In the second half Trinitys pack, gave a superb display with Kavinda Jayasinghe, Rajivee Ganapathy, C. K. Amarasinghe and the third row excelling.

The first try for the Trinity was from their skipper Ravindra Wickramasiri, in characteristic fashion, dove ahead over the Royal line off a loose scrum which changed the game and Shanaka Kumara failed with the kick, Royal 10 — Trinity 5. Royals skipper Dinesh Rahim, got his boys together and was seen doing his best to stop the rampaging Trinitians. Trinity two centers Zameel and Kelum made a superb crunching move, on their own half and gave the ball to winger Kaushalya Weerarathne, who ran nearly forty meters, with about five opponents, and sliped the ball to flanker Ruwan Rajapakse who did the final touches. Shanaka Kumara made no mistake with the angular kick to give them 12 points.

Once again Royal came into the game, with some good work from Pandula Jayasundara, Dinesh Rahim, Pavithra Fernando, Viraj de Silva, but the gutty Trinitians halted all their good work. Trinity who converted defence into an attack in the second half once again scored through flanker David Luchow, which was brilliantly goaled by Shanaka Kumara to give them 19 points to Royals 10.

The Chief guest on the occasion was Ken De Joodt.

CH gain an unimpressive win

CH & FC began the second round of the on-going SLRFU ‘A’ Division Rugby league when they registered an unimpressive 27 points (3 goals, 2 penalties) to 9 (3 penalties) win over Havelocks SC at Maitland Crescent yesterday. At lemons CH led by 10-3.

Though the CH ran down three tries to nothing by their rivals they were mostly involved in churning out an error prone game.

The Havies themselves added to the lacklustre display by deciding to indulge in going for penalty goals rather than convert the highly advantages positions they were in for tries. Overall the game hardly reached expected levels of play and though there were flashes of brilliance with the likes of Nuwan Kumara, Bimal Perera and place-kicker Shehan Wickramasinghe coupled with the kicking of Nalin Dissanayake for the Park Club it turned out to be nothing but a huge farce for the sparse crowd present to witness this clash at CH grounds.

For the winners Silva the left winger, right wing, Nuwan Kumara and veteran flanker Bimal Perera touched down respectively with full back Shehan Wickramasinghe converting all three tries apart from putting across two penalty goals as well. For Havies full back Nalin Dissanayake converting the three penalties as CH somewhat redeemed their lost pride having ended on the losing side badly against Army SC barely a fortnight ago. (JK)

Royal win junior game

By Hafiz Marikar, Our Kandy Sports Corr.
Royal under 17 side led by M. Ismail beat their rivals Trinity by 11 points (one try and two penalties) to 10 (one goal and a penalty) to win C. E. Simithrarachchi Cup in their rugby encounter played before the senior game.

The Royal backs were outstanding in their play and helped their side to win this game while Trinity forwards played a superb game. At the breather scores were level at 3-all and soon after the turn over Royal increased their lead by three points through a penalty.

Both teams played quality rugby.

Trinity’s winger Prasanna Silva sprinted nearly 50 meters to score a superb try, which was goaled by Mark Wijesinghe earlier he put over two penalty for Trinity to lead 10-6.

Royalist never gave up, and took the game back to the opponents territory and scored a try through Shamil Mohamed, Ishan Perera put over the two penalty.

B. Nimal Refereed.

Interim board must establish standards worthy of emulation

BY MAHINDA WIJESINGHE
The members of the Interim Board have a gigantic job in front of them. The most important of which would be to establish the credibility of the Cricket Board by setting standards. They must establish standards of administration whereby, accountability, transparency- a much-maligned word in our society today - and astute management skills would have to be combined to pull the situation around. There is no doubt that the personnel given the responsibility are of high integrity and capable of delivering, but, they too have to work within the existing framework.

EXTRAVAGANT SPENDING?

Obviously, when taking over a situation such as this, an audit of what has gone on up to the time of the Interim Board taking over, is a condition sine qua non. The audit should not only be confined to the central Cricket Board but also should extend those of the Regional Boards. This is not for the purpose of witch-hunting or mud slinging but simply to clear the decks and put a stop to all the rumors of the alleged extravagant spending by the Cricket Board.

SCOTCH RUMOURS AND CLEAR NAMES

Various rumors, such as, of fabulous fees being paid to foreign (and local?) lawyers during the Muralitharan affair in Australia, allegations of many members of the Ex-Co having gone to watch the World Cup, extravagant spending on office redecoration’s, allegations of senior officials drawing per diem allowances and not accounting in a proper manner, and so on. Such rumors and scores more, too numerous to enumerate, could be scotched if an interim audit is conducted and the findings made public. The incumbent officials too have a right to have their names cleared. After all, cricket is of national importance and the public has a right to know whether funds are being utilised in a proper manner or whether the Cricket Board has become a playground for bounty hunters. I believe this is the first task of the Interim Board and most likely the incumbent officials too will welcome this move since this would give an opportunity to clear their names.

LOOK BEYOND THE VEIL OF INCORPORATION

Secondly, the Interim Board must look at, what accountants/auditors term as ‘looking beyond the veil of incorporation’ of the Cricket Board. In other words, look closely at what are the clauses, if any; of the constitution of the Cricket Board, which hampers its smooth functioning. Then, they must make recommendations for its improvement, preferably, to H.E. the President. I wonder whether there is provision for this since the Minister of Sports has appointed them.............

THE IGNORANCE OF OFFICIALS

Generally, there is consensus amongst most observers that the Ministry of Sports has not been of much assistance to cricket, and that the Ministry must wash its hands off. After all, cricket is the only sport Sri Lanka made a worthy international mark and also has been given official recognition internationally as a team sport. The image of the country is at stake. So, are their personnel in the Ministry of Sports who are sufficiently conversant with the international norms of the sport to administer it effectively? For instance, the lack of knowledge of what ‘first-class’ cricket stood for both in the minds of the then Board officials and the Ministry of Sports did untold harm not only to the cricket records of our players but also to the cricketing image of Sri Lanka. Even the then President of the Cricket Board, the Hon: Gamini Dissanayake, in his annual report, written possibly by the Hony. Secretary, revealed the ignorance of the true situation. Despite several personal attempts to rectify the situation, I failed. Who would listen to the scribbling of an insignificant writer on the game?

"THE CONFUSED STATE OF OUR CRICKET"

Let me quote the Wisden Almanack (1990) to prove this point. Referring to the general unstable condition of the country due to the existing civil unrest, and with special reference to the question of ‘first-class’ cricket, the Wisden stated: ".............and to the outside observer it sometimes seemed that the country’s cricket occupied the same confused state as other aspects of life there." 7 long years passed before the situation was rectified. Can there be worse indictment on our officialdom both at Cricket Board and Sports Ministry levels? And, sadly no one was found fault with. Talk of accountability.........

THE APPOINTMENT OF SELECTORS

Then comes a most comical situation. The responsibility for the appointment of our national selectors lies with the Ministry of Sports. Does the Ministry have officials who are capable of assessing the candidates? Then, once the selectors have picked the team, the Ministry of Sports has to ratify the work done by the selectors. What a comedy. A situation where bureaucrats appoint experts and finally pass judgement on their work as well! It is also not too good a reflection on the experts who accept a chore which has to have the final sanction of the bureaucrat. Of course, this is the existing law. Cricket and politics should be kept strictly apart.

SEELECTORS PICK ‘NET’ BOWLERS!

Talking of selectors, one of the recently appointed gentleman by the Ministry of Sports is the coach of a leading club. That there is obviously going to be a clash of interests has not struck the bureaucrats of the Ministry. Proves yet again the unsuitability of the Ministry. Also, it is no secret that the best cricket names are appointed for the job of selectors. But, do they perform their jobs effectively? To begin with the mere ability of hitting bat with ball does not make one an astute selector - as recent events have proved! Most of these gentlemen are high-powered businessmen or senior executives who just cannot afford much time even for their families. Of course, they come in all their splendor when the squad is at practice. How much, if any, do they watch of the players in action? Do they visit the outstations to pick rural talent? In fact, one selector mentioned to me, when I asked on what basis a certain bowler continued to be picked, his reply stunned me. "He is bowling superbly at the nets!" was the answer. No wonder, the selectors arrange the stupid ‘trial games’ to cover up their sins.

APPOINT RETIRED CRICKETERS AS SELECTORS

What is the remedy? There was a scheme where former national Cricketers were given a ‘santhosam’ based on some formula for their past services. More, in the nature of a handout. In fact, I am aware of one of them who did not accept it, on a matter of principle. Rather than give them something like dole, why not engage (on some sort of salary) them as selectors? They have the time, and also would feel useful rather than receive handouts. More importantly, I feel, they would be able to perform the job better.

SEND FAST BOWLERS TO PAKISTAN

Finally, having watched a lot of World Cup cricket and seeing so many fast bowlers from other teams and watching our lack of them, it struck me that sending our pace bowlers to the MRF in India has not borne much fruit. At the same time, Pakistan are oozing with them, so much so, that Waqar Younis is carrying the towel. It is also common knowledge that they know most of the secrets of swing bowling. People may have forgotten that it was the former Pakistani cricket chief (who also played Test cricket for India, before the partition), Abdul Hafeez Cader, who first mooted the idea of Sri Lanka as a Test-playing nation. It was also Pakistan who officially proposed our name to the ICC for Full Member status, so shouldn’t we request Pakistan to help our pace bowlers?

Readers can also browse Mahinda Wijesinghe’s web-site in the Internet on http://www.lanka.com/cricket E-mail: mahindaw@sri.lanka.net

Inter-Club Premier League Championship
Bloomfield set for an early win

By Althaf Nawaz
Bloomfield C & AC is set for an innings victory over Police SC in their inter-club Premier League cricket encounter at Police Park.

After posting a formidable first innings total of 277, Bloomfield bowlers put the skids on the hosts.

Police resuming from the overnight score of nought for none, were skittled out for just 105 runs. Seamers Pulasthi Gunaratne (3/24) and Hemantha Allas (2/17) bowled a devastating spell to run through the opponents innings.

Police, forced to follow on were 65 for four wickets, still needing 107 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

BRC sixth wicket pair Deepal Madurapperuma (111 n.o.) and Indunil Hethettiya (83) put on a match winning 152-run alliance against Galle CC at Havelock Park yesterday.

Resuming from the overnight score of 43 for 3 wickets, BRC batsmen went on a run spree. Skipper Madurapperuma and Hithettiya tore the Galle CC bowling attack comfortably to collect runs at ease. Madurapperuma’s unfinished innings consisted a huge six and 12 power-packed boundaries while Hithettiya had one six and eleven hits to the ropes.

Amal Wanigasekera was unbeaten of 67 with his skipper at close on day two. Wanigasekara had one six and 12 fours in his innings.

Colts CC gained first innings points over Matara SC at Colts grounds yesterday.

After posting a mammoth first innings total of 406 for one wicket, they were bowled out Matara SC for 148 runs. Dinuk Hettiarachchi claimed eight wickets for 30 runs.

Colts in their second essay, were 231 for nine wickets at close with Indika de Saram top scoring with 94.

• Chief scores:

• At Colts ground
Matara SC 20 for one wkt. (overnight), 148 all out (D. Chintaka 38, S. W. Nadiranga 28, I. Priyantha 21 n.o., D. Hettiarachchi 8/30).

Colts 406 for one and 231 for 9 wkt at close (S. Fernando 42, I. de Saram 94, S. Janaka 45, A. F. Farook 4/29).

• At Havelock Park
Galle CC 209. BRC 43 for 3 wkts. (overnight). 365 for 6 wkts. at close (N. Cooray 21, I. Batuvitarachchi 25, D. Madurapperuma 111 n.o., I. Hittatiya 83, A. Wanigasekera 67 n.o., G. Perara 4/84).

• At Police Park
Bloomfield 277, Police 105 (R. Wimalasiri 24, N. Soysa 12, P. Gunaratne 3/24, H. Allas 2/17, K. Dharmasena 2/21) and 65 for 4 at close (R. Wimalasiri 41 n.o., H. Allas 2/19, K. Dharmasena 2/7).

SLAMS to seek legal action against Sports Minister

By Shirajiv Sirimane
Motor Sports Administration in Sri Lanka is now at cross roads with the Governing Body of the Sport SLAMS (Sri Lanka Association of Motor Sports) being dissolved by the Minister of Sports and an Interim body appointed. The former SLAMS Committee has sought legal redress in a bid to resolve the crisis.

This has resulted in the formation of two factions and a group of clubs suspending scheduled events until the court ruling.

Meanwhile, Ace Rally driver Richard de Zoysa with the blessings of most of the Racing fraternity is all geared to found a new motor sports club.

De Zoysa is of the opinion that politics cripples the progress and development in sport and is determined, with the help of genuine motor sports enthusiasts and sponsors and a lot of hard work, to realise the dream of Sri Lanka being a racing destination in Asia.

He emphasises that there is an abundance of top rung racing talent in Sri Lanka that can match the best in the sport as he realised in his Rallying experience in Kenya.

He has persistently tried to conduct rallies according to FIA Regulations but faced a lack of dynamism and drive amongst the clubs.

The creme of racing drivers and enthusiasts, realising the need to infuse fresh thinking and direction to the sport is convening at the Sports Ministry Auditorium on 24th June, Thursday at 0600 p.m. to launch a new chapter in Motor Sports.

Netball nationals on low key

By Shirajiv Sirimane
The 1999 Netball National Championships conducted by the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka and sponsored by Hatton National Bank , the principal sponsors of the , will conclude today at Matale on a very low ebb.

The number of terms that are likely to participate are every low and no Media publicity was given for the event which is the blue ribbon event of the sport. Though the NFSL is in the habit of calling for Press conference for inter Club events they have gone in to hiding foe this premier event.

‘The Island’ also understands that only a selected and hand picked umpires have been called for the event. Many are asking as to what has happened to the NSFL which was one of the most organised sports bodies two years ago.

Snooker nationals
Susantha-Rukmal clash for title

By Bernard Perera
Rukmal Yatigammana (BRC) and Susantha Boteju (OAC) after defeating M. J. Mansoor (MSC) and Abdul Sattar (OAC) in the semis qualified for the final of the National Snooker Championships yesterday at Billiards Headquarters tables. The final is scheduled for today at the same venue commencing 11.00 a.m.

Yatigammana overcame his opponent Mansoor six frames to four while Boteju had a easy passage beating his clubmate in straight sets 6-0.

Winner and runner-up in the final will be ranked as number one and two. They are expected to be nominated to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Snooker Championships which is scheduled to be held in Bangkok next month.

The semi-finals were refereed by Ameen Mukhtar and A. E. Sheikeel Jiffrey.

Union Assurance regatta on Sunday

Union Assurance regatta will be held on June 20 Sunday at Ceylon Motor Sports Club at Moratuwa.

A good number of 20 to 25 Boats will take part in this event and compete for the Union Assurance Trophy and the Union Assurance Plate.

One fleet race will be sailed in the morning at 11.00 a.m. for Gps. Enterprises and lasers.

The UAL Trophy will be sailed with a boat handicap only and results for the UAL Plate will be calculated after boat handicap and personal handicap have taken into consideration.

Most of the top ranking sailors in Sri Lanka will participate in the UAL Regatta and Lalin Jirasinghe will sail together with Reshan and Janaka will sail with his Navy crew. These two winners from the Asian Games are the favourites.

An optimist race too will be organized for children in the age group between 6 and 12.

Meanwhile in the Junior National Sailing Championships conducted by the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka was held last Sunday. C.M.Y.C. Bolgoda, Devaka Balasuriya, a former Thomian schoolboy piped Rehan Dias on the handicap system by just 10 seconds.

The junior sailors sailing in strong wind conditions with experienced crews. Rehan Dias crewed by W. Janaka sailing an Enterprise won the race with Devaka Balasuriya crewed by P. Goonatilake in a GP coming second. The positions changed many a time.

Reshan Muthukrishna who was tipped to win the race did not get a good start and with the strong wind he fell back and was placed 4th.

In the optimist national Championship sailed in the afternoon. Royal Schoolboy Rehan Dias won the race. Although Rehan led at the start, he fell back on the reach leg and Andrew Sagar took the lead. However, with lot of determination Rehan fought back going to the last windward mark and sailed an easy winner.

Results

Junior Championship

1. Devaka Balasuriya crewed by P. Goonatilake 2. Rehan Dias crewed by W. Janaja 3. Chris Sagar crewed by John 4. Reshan Muthukrishna crewed by Chandima Gunewardena.

Optimist 1. Rehan Dias 2. Andrew Sagar 3. Guus Thie 4. Victor 5. Derek 6. Graham

Success inspires the wise but seduces the foolish

by Mahinda Wijesinghe
Despite all the excuses that are being mouthed on the TV about the reasons for our World Cup disaster, it is patently clear that our administrators and, unfortunately, our players as well were totally unaware of what laid ahead in England. Just before leaving, realisation set in that fielding had nose-dived. What was the remedy? We have the money, so get Trevor Chappell. That was like cutting your tonsils off when the appendix was infected. This is not being wise after the event. Even when Barry Richards, the former South African Test batsman was contracted to help our batsmen on the eve of the South African tour, I was wary of such a move, and wrote so. The results on that tour proved it. Regarding Chappell’s recruitment, this is what I wrote in these columns on the 25th of April:

"Have our fieIding standards dropped because our players have aged? Even a superb fielding side, as Sri Lanka was, does age with time". It is more likely a question of fitness of the players who have aged three years since. What Chappell can teach in a few days to seasoned campaigners remains to be seen, but, it may be a good idea if he can help our second stringers over a reasonable period of time. At the time of writing, there is a rumour (in the absence of official news this is next best!) afloat that that Chappell may accompany the team to England! If so, it will be the first occasion when a fielding expert has accompanied a national team."

The results on this tour was such that towards the end of it all, even established fielders like Muralitharan were not performing as they normally do.

Well, Chappell did accompany the team, and he has now been contracted on a long-term basis to help our fielding over a reasonable period of time. That is not a bad thing. Hopefully, our local coaches can take it up from here.

From the results of the Richards and Chappell episodes, maybe our cricket administrators will now learn that short-term projects are a waste of money. It is a reflection of poor forward planning, if not anything else.

Let us now look how our neighbours, India and Pakistan, who were also World Cup champions, fared as defending champions.

Remember, India won in 1983 and Pakistan in 1992. When India won in 1983, it is interesting to note that India lost 2 games in the preliminary round and was the second of the two teams to qualify for the semi-finals in their group. West Indies had 2O points while India collected 16 points. In 1992, the situation was even worse for Pakistan. Having lost 3 games in the preliminary round, Pakistan managed by the skin of their backs to qualify for the semi-finals. Having garnered 9 points (Australia and West Indies had 8 points each) they were the fourth and the last side to qualify! In short, both India and Pakistan barely made it into the final round when they won the title.

Yet, our neighbours, inspired by two charismatic skippers in Kapil Dev (in 1983) and Imran Khan (in 1992), went on to win the title. It was not the case with Sri Lanka in 1996. We simply blasted all opposition to wrest the title in a manner no previous World Cup winner had done. The statistics will prove that. Of course, one must also remember that Sri Lanka got a bonus when Australia and the West Indies forfeited their points. Also, that Brian Lara blasted a century against the South Africans and knocked the Proteas out that helped as well. But, it was plain sailing after that. Sanath Jayasuriya was selected as the Most Valuable Player and Aravinda de Silva won not less than 4 Man of the Match awards.

Now comes the crunch. What happened in 1999? Except for a solitary win worth talking about, against Zimbabwe (who did not qualify for the semi-finals; beating Kenya by 45 runs is it worth talking about? Last time we beat them by 144 runs), what was our record? Lost to England by 8 wickets, lost to South Africa by 89 runs and lost to India by 157 runs. By one-day games standards these are humiliating defeats. What did Jayasuriya and Aravinda achieve? That is best left unanswered.

Now let us look at what our neighbours, India and Pakistan, achieved when they defended their respective titles. In 1987, India lost their first game, against Australia the eventual winners, by a solitary run. After that, India won the balance 5 games to end up on top of the table and qualified for the semi-finals. They lost to England in the semi-finals. It was after all, not too bad a defence of the title they won in 1983.

In 1996, when the holders Pakistan defended their title, they won 4 of the 5 games in the preliminary round and ended behind South Africa who topped the table. Having entered the next stage of the tournament, Pakistan lost a high-scoring game against their arch-rivals India by 39 runs and were eliminated. In effect, both India and Pakistan made a spirited defence of their hard-earned title.

Sri Lanka, unlike India and Pakistan, won the title with consummate ease. In fact, without even losing a single game, something our neighbours could not achieve. But, whereas India and Pakistan proved worthy of their title next time round, Sri Lanka gave a pathetic display, a performance totally unworthy of defending champions. They could not even enter the next stage of the tournament, finishing one but the last (to Kenya at that) in the preliminary round.

Maybe, as suggested, the players had had too much of the good things. Somehow, I believe, the root cause appears that the Sri Lankans could not cope with the success they achieved, rather surprisingly, in 1996, proving the adage that the foolish get seduced by success, whereas the wise are inspired.

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