Run-up games to first Test will decide the future

 By T.M.K. Samath

JAYASURIYA and Whatmore have been at pains to make out that Sri Lanka isn't a one-man team. Only time will tell whether the captain and coach have spoken out of conviction. But, coming as it does in the wake of that inglorious defeat in the Sharjah final, their claim, discernibly, is an exercise in mending fractured egos for the long summer battles ahead in England. So should it be.

But the hangover from the pummeling inflicted by the Pakistanis two Wednesdays ago can't be wished away as quickly as the leadership would wish to. To pick up the pieces from the devastation of only a few days ago and fly out for a far more serious campaign isn't a comfortable undertaking. The exhortations of Jayasuriya and his coach may seem like a desperate clutching of straws, but, in the circumstances, there's no other recourse. Add to that the thought that Muttiah Muralitheran will be languishing in a hospital half a world away from England, and the situation is... well, not quite the right one to be talking the language of Muhammad Ali.

For long the prospect of life without Muralitheran was too frightful to even give a thought to _ but with brutal suddenness that nightmare is upon us. The wheels just came off the team the moment Muralitheran departed that afternoon in Sharjah two Wednesdays ago. A severe haemorrhaging of confidence was palpable. The subsequent disintegration has been well documented and commented upon. No surprise that Jayasuriya's men were castigated. Some consolation can be squeezed out from the fact that one-day cricket is something of a roulette. Most times, it just happens that things go the way of one team. Pakistan and Sri Lanka met three times in Sharjah _ two belonged to Sri Lanka but in the crucial winner-takes-all the dice turned Pakistan's way. But two out of three isn't bad at all.

So, it will be to shrug off the defeat in the final by blaming it on luck's desertion. But the truth runs deeper here: defeat, nay annihilation, came in the absence of Muralitheran. The question follows: what chances have we against England without Muralitheran? History says, very little. That he is 200-plus Test-wickets clear of his closest rival is proof of the profound influence he has on the destiny of Sri Lanka cricket. After all, he has been involved in 26 of Sri Lanka's 28 triumphs in Tests. It can be argued that no one player can single-handedly win a Test match. But equally, there's no denying that Muralitheran has been the decisive factor in a majority of the successes, no better example being his 16-wicket harvest in the triumphant one-off Test over England at the Surrey Oval four years ago. If anything he's grown to be even craftier since.

Let there be no delusions _ Muralitheran will be missed. But then the world won't stop revolving because of it. No doubt, the despondency born of the Sharjah surrender is going to hover over the team like monsoon clouds. Motivation will help move the clouds of doubt, but the sun can reappear only through reassuring performances on the field. The four run-up matches to the May16-20 First Test will test the character of the team. Jayasuriya's men will have to show they can cope without Muralitheran to call on. Failure would mean the team is still in the fog of the Sharjah hangover. But success will help forget the desert calamity. 

With no disrespect intended to Vaas, Zoysa and co., the more dependable way of surviving the Muralitheran-less period would be through the batsmen. In some ways it will be throwback to our early days as a Test nation. The likes of Duleep Mendis, Roy Dias, Sidath Wettimuny, Ranjan Madugalle and Arjuna Ranatunga battled valiantly to compensate for a barely adequate bowling attack. Whether the present attack, minus Muralitheran, is better than that from the era of Ashantha de Mel, Rumesh Ratnayake, Ravi Ratneyeke and Vinodhan John is debatable. But Vaas, Zoysa and co., are a more seasoned lot and better trained _ and those qualities do count. The question is, without Muralitheran's unceasing torments to soften up opponents, will Vaas, Zoysa and co., be as telling as they are with the ace in support. One hopes the adversity will inspire, than discourage, the battery of medium pacemen into discovering new limits to their capabilities. Clearly, a new and challenging task lie ahead of our bowlers _ and should they succeed, can provide fresh and exciting bowling combinations to enlarge on the strategies for the 2003 World Cup.

The batting, however, offers realistic hope. Of course, the early spring conditions in England are never easy for batsmen accustomed to playing with the sun on their backs. A combination of rain, dampness, the cold and green seaming pitches makes life difficult for batsmen. But three weeks of acclimatization before the First Test is adequate, especially with one-time great Barry Richards to help out. As well, the reading of the county scores early this week provides comfort: the only two First division matches concluded last Sunday provided two totals in excess of 500 and five over 300s; six centuries, including a double-hundred and 17 half-centuries. This is no guarantee that the Sri Lankan batsmen too will make a fist of things, but it is justifiable to deduce that the batting conditions won't be as hellish as imagined.

There won't be a shortage of reasons why the batsmen will want to succeed. For one thing, they all know scoring a century in England is far more special than doing the same in any other place. But there are other reasons closer home. Bar Sangakkara and Attapattu, albeit in Sharjah, consistency of form has of late not been the virtue of the other established batsmen. With the experienced Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillekeratne as well as the consistent Thilan Samaraweera in the squad, the established batsmen will be under considerable pressure to re-authenticate their permanent status. The run-up games will decide the choices, but should the tour selectors opt for the traditional six-batsman lineup from the list of eight specialists (Jayasuriya, Atapattu, Sangakkara, Jayewardene, Arnold, de Silva, Tillekeratne and Samaraweera), one or two permanents may well face the risk of disappointment. The batsmen are going to find the preparatory games only slightly less important than the opening Test.

Clearly, it's going to be tightrope walk for the batsmen, knowing a failure or two could cost them a Test place. If there's one batsman whose desperation to succeed is more than the others', it is Aravinda de Silva, the most experienced of the lot. Ignored by the selectors for a whole year, vengeance is his companion. Since winning a recall to the squad by the new selectors some three months ago, the once portly figure has been chiselled down to almost the de Silva of 1996. In beating off 11 kilos from his body, the layers of girth that stifled the old fluency have been removed. As well, no one feels more at home in England as de Silva, an affinity developed as much by his season with Kent as his two memorably made centuries. His 112 in the Benson and Hedges knockout final of '95 is part of Kent folklore, while his 152 in the triumphant Test of 1998, though less than Jayasuriya's thunderous double hundred, was a model of impeccability.

Residing on the far side of time, de Silva can't be unmindful of the two tantalizing prospects that await him in this final passage of his wonderful career. Success in England will help him to choose to opt for one or the other prospect: 1/ Providence gives him a chance to bid a proper farewell, something that seemed lost until his recall. There's no better place to hear out your last hurrahs than in England _ any retiring batsman's dream.  Or 2/ Pursue a path to the 2003 World Cup _ something the selectors cannot ignore should the maestro conjure up his old magic.

These are reasons why the batsman, widely acclaimed the best Sri Lanka has known, will want to succeed. There's too much riding on this tour for de Silva, and you can bet he'll be working the spurs of determination to bluntness so that he winds up his playing days unforgettably.

De Silva could be the silver lining in the dark clouds brought on by Muralitheran's absence.

Murali rates Warne as the best spinner

Reuters - Sri Lanka's leading bowler Muttiah Muralitharan has his sights set on claiming 600 Test wickets, but still believes Australian Shane Warne is the world's best spinner.

The 30-year-old off-spinner is currently in Melbourne receiving treatment from leading Australian surgeon David Young on a shoulder injury he sustained while fielding in the Sharjah Cup earlier this month.

"I would like 600 wickets, that's about another 180," Muralitharan told reporters.

"It's hard to take wickets. It depends on how good you play because sometimes you can drop down, or you can do well. It depends on how you do."

Muralitharan recently became the youngest player to take 400 Test wickets but said the difficulty associated with bowling leg-spin meant that Warne was still the best.

"I think he is the greatest spinner because wrist spin is very hard to bowl. It's difficult to control the ball," he said.

Both Muralitharan (412) and Warne (450) are closing in on West Indian Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test wickets.

Muralitharan's shoulder injury means he is likely to miss much of Sri Lanka's forthcoming tour of England.

A new Lankan skipper?

 By Ranil Prematilake

The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union coming back into Shape in the backdrop of the nations humiliation at the hands of Kazaksthan last Sunday have unanimously approved that International matches would be given priority, in the coming season.

Focusing attention on the Rugby Asiad to be held in November in Bangkok, the union officials have finally woken up to the reality of the need of a foreign coach geared with the latest trends of the game. This fact was exposed by the print media over and over again during the last few years but fell into deaf ears.

Even some top men involved in the administration of the game acknowledged and stressed the need to pursue such objectives in the best interests of the game.

President Harsha Mayadunne speaking to The Sunday leader sports desk also mentioned the unions position on foreign players featuring in the domestic tournaments. "A club will be allowed to field two (2) foreign players. However, such players would have to be before hand registered with the union in addition to suffering the requirement of being resident in the island for a period of two months."

This would in all probability mean that the possibility of seeing any foreigners in action in the first round fixtures of the league tournament would be ruled out. As a consequence it is still not known with certainty whether any of the clubs will work on this aspect which undoubtedly is an expensive exercise.

Commenting on the defeat last Sunday, Mayadunne side that we could have won the match, had we not missed some crucial penalties and that it was the first half hour that cost us the game, which saw the host country piling up all their 20 points and that the Kazaksthan forwards, heavier than the Lankans. Whatever the explanation may be, it is up to the knowledgable rugby followers of this country to make their views known on this debacle, which loomed large during the preceeding couple of seasons.

It is also reliably learnt that the captaincy of the Sri Lankan side for the Asiad would see a new face in the form of a dynamic third row forward regarded as one of the best produced by Sri Lanka taking charge of the team now in the doldrums and such a move looks inevitable if fortunes and moreover the prestige of Lankan rugby is to be restored at least to a certain extent, at the Asiad.

Lanka tennis gets a historic seeding

SRI LANKA tennis has earned a historic seeding in the 15-nation Under 14 World Junior Championships (Asia and Oceania), to be held in Colombo, Tuesday through to next Sunday.

''Never in our history have we been seeded in a World Championship at any level. This is a tremendous encouragement to us. We like to think that the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has recognized the success of a development campaign we began about three years ago," said SLTA president Suresh Subramaniam. ''We will be striving to finish at a position that's even higher than the seeding ITF has accorded us."

Despite ending 10th in last year's championship, the ITF has seeded Sri Lanka sixth. Korea is the top seed and China, the bottom. Seedings 3 to 5 have gone to Australia, Japan and India respectively. The SLTA are delighted that the ITF thinks Sri Lanka junior tennis is superior to Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Syria and Uzbekistan.

 ''A majority of countries will not have their players of last year, remembering this is an under 14 tournament. But Sri Lanka's two leading players (Franklin Emmanuel and N S Nishendran) of last year are available again, and that I think influenced the ITF seeding committee to make us the sixth seed," said Boshan Dayaratne, the tournament director.

Head coach Arul Amalnathan also pointed out that a string of outstanding performances by Royalist Emmanuel and Thomian Nishendran in the South/Central Asian championships in New Delhi and the East Asian tournament in Djakarta played a significant part in our seeding. ''Obviously consideration has been given to international performances after the last world championships. It hasn't been a case of doing the seedings on the basis of how the teams finished at the last worlds," said Amalnathan, an Indian coach contracted for a year.

Chosen to represent the ITF team at the recent 15-country E. Asian tournament, Emmanuel finished joint first with Indian Sumith Gupte while Nishendran took third place. In the 20-nation South/Central Asian event held earlier, Emmanuel finished fourth and Nishendran, no. 5.

The World Championship is to be conducted on a round-robin format followed by a knockout final round. The 15 teams will be drawn into two groups.  The round-robin competition within the group will be worked off and the top two of each group play-off in a knockout round to decide the winner. Each tie will comprise two singles and one doubles and the winner decided on the best of three.

 ''A round robin league followed by knockout round is what the tournament rules prescribe. But if rain intervenes, then ITF officials could decide to play the whole tournament on a straight knockout basis, which is what they did last year," said Subramaniam.

The April 29-May 5 event at the SLTA courts will set back the local association by over Rs.2m. But Trans Asia has come up with a deal that won it official hotel nomination and Mirinda clinched the franchise for the official drink of the tournament. Tennis equipment maker's Wilson will provide the balls. As well, organizers secured sponsorship from Idac Ltd and Bernard Philknit.

That Big Match temperament

When England's team manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, picked two young strikers for the squad to face Holland in a friendly match in Amsterdam, there was some surprise. One was big Michael Rickets of Bolton Wanderers, a revelation this season, scorer of a profusion of goals on coming into the premiership, putting far being him his difficult early days, his struggle to affirm himself at modest little Walsall, where he blossomed into an effective striker. He had shown power, pace, initiative and no small skill. But it did seem just a little early to call him up for England especially when the likes of Teddy Sheringham and Robbie Fowler had been omitted.

The other young blood was Aston Villa's 21-year-old Darius Vassell, something of a contrast with the big, muscular Rickets, a smaller man but very quick and on his day a lively opportunist. Again, it was quite a surprise to see him picked. I myself had see him at Villa Park making a vigorous and incisive start, but fighting away as the game went on. How would he too, fare in this game even if it were a friendly?

The answer was that Rickets failed, Vassell flourished. He even scored England's very spectacular goal. Was he offside? He might well have been, but the referee didn't think so, and his superlatively acrobatic bicycle kick was gloriously worth a goal. Playing largely wide on the right, not to be fair his ideal position, he was centrally placed when he got that goal. But Rickets had looked sadly nervous and uncomfortable, his first touch alarmingly crude; a sure sign of uncertainty.

So, were we to assume that he lacked what is known as the Big Match Temperament, while Vassell quite emphatically has it? And is it something innate or something which in time can be acquired? Which lad on the next question; how much time can an international team give in these days of such high pressure and intense competition?

One thinks especially of Stanley Matthews, one of the greatest of all footballers, a phenomenon whose career lasted till he was over 50 at his initial club Stoke City, and who at the ripe "old" age of 41, at Wembley, ran rings round Nilton Santos of Brazil, supposedly the finest left-back in the world.

Stan was 19 years old when he played for England against Italy in what came to be called The Battle of Highbury in November 1934. After only 90 seconds, in a clash with England centre forward Ted Drake, the notoriously violent Italo Argentina center-half, Luisito Monti, broke a bone in his foot and limped off in intense pain. The Italians "retaliated" furiously. England squeezed through 3-2 against the ten men.

Writing in the Daily Mail, its then sports columnist, Geoffrey Simpson, wrote scathingly that Matthews had "displaced the same faults of slowness and hesitation" he had allegedly displayed in a recent Inter League match. Perhaps, speculated the hapless Simpson, "he does not possess the Big Match Temperament." Matthews! Who would be an England star fully 20 years later in the Swiss World Cup against Belgium?

Since Italian boots and elbows were swinging lethally that day at Highbury, it was hardly a day to judge any England player, not least a slight winger such as Stanley who relied on his wonderful skills, his magical swerve, his sudden accleration up the touch line. Over the many ensuing years, Matthews did indeed have a variegated time of it with England, clearly mistrusted as a brilliant maverick by the unimaginative selection committee. But, often they discarded him at least they tended to bring him back. Even in 1950 when, at first absurdly excluded from the Word Cup squad for Brazil, he was eventually recalled at the 11th hour. We can still wonder whether, had he been included in England's fatal second game at Belo Horizontal against a scratch United team, would they have been spared that sensational 1-0 defeat?

Gordon Smith, another outside right of talent, was a contemporary of Matthews. During the Second World War, he excelled with his Edinburgh club, Hibernian. He was the great new hope for Scotland's international team which had been having a disastrous run against England. Yet, every time he was picked, he failed. Chance after chance was he given. Time after time he seemed traumatised, failing to do the things he did so excitingly in club football. Indeed, not till, as a veteran, he was deployed against Hungary in Budapest in the summer of 1956 did he belatedly come to life and show for Scotland the skills he'd so often and so excitingly displayed in club matches.

Age, or youth if you prefer it, doesn't seem to have all that much to do with the Big Match temperament. Pele, at 17, was explosively effective for Brazil in the 1958 Swedish World Cup, scoring with cool command no fewer than five goals in the semi-final and final. Years later, in the 1998 World Cup in France, teenaged Michael Owen's ebullient performances ridiculed the doubt expressed about him by  his grudging manager, Glenn Hoddle. And Diego Maradona at 17 would surely have flourished in the 1978 tournament in his native Buenos Aires, had his supposed mentor, "El Flaco" Menotti, only been bold enough to give him his chance.

But as Stanley Matthews' career shows, the so called Big Match temperament is something which can, it certain cases, be acquired in time. Recently, watching a disappointing performance by one of Argentina's supposedly brightest young talent in attack, Juan Riquelme, against Wales at Cardiff, you wondered, has he the temperament? Will he get time?

Mahen takes 'KIA' to victory at N'Eliya

The Nuwara Eliya Circuit is perhaps the most treacherous, demanding and dangerous in Sri Lanka. It certainly is not for the faint hearted. It needs not just skill and experience but absolute guts and courage to race on this street circuit.

The stand car event saw domination by the Kia's. Keeping the holiday crowds holding their breath with some awesome handling Mahen Thambiah pushed the little Kia Pride to its limit taking the chequered flag ahead of Bri Ponnambalam in a Kia Sephia who had to fight his way from fifth at the start staving off an early challenge from the Caltex Mazda,'s of Yoga Perera and Dhammika Peiris.

Dilantha Malagamuwa won two racing motor cycle events with Damien Goonatilake, the other event for motor cycles upto 125cc.

Controversy arose with protest being made in the modified car and open event which results are yet to be officially confirmed.

S.A. Duminda in a "Mobil Special B210" beat the experienced Caltex Mini of Yoga Perera in the modified car event, but went off the track in the open event. The sand bags and tyre wall did a good protective job of the driver and spectators which was the only incident at the Nuwara Eliya road race conducted jointly by the SLMCC and Nuwara Eliya MSC.

Earlier in the week The Kia "Mobil Autocolour" team swept the board in its class at all events over the April season. Starting with Mahagastotoa, Bri Ponnambalam driving the Kia Shuma returned the fastest time in his class for standard cars 12 - 14 kg/hp. He repeated this at the Radella Speed Hill Climb with a convincing win leaving the opposition teams pondering their fate which was further aggravated the next day when Rohan de Silva the "Mobil" chief leading by example, driving a Kia Shuma tore part the opposition of the Caltex team Fords and Mazdas finishing almost half a lap ahead sending them back to the drawing boards.

An elated "Mobil Autocolour" team spokesman said the Kia's have proved their performance and they will have more running at future events.

National squash team off to Malaysia

The Sri Lanka National Squash team will take off for the upcoming Asian Senior Championships to be played in Malaysia from May 1-8.

Flt. Lt. Deegayu Abayanayake has been appointed as Sri Lanka national squash team manager for this tour. He is an ex-airforce officer with an impressive track record in sports activities.

He is at present the security and sports centre manager of Taj samudra hotel. He has been the asst. treasurer of the Sri Lanka Squash Federation for the last five years.

He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, and holds colours for cadeting.

The national squash team comprises the following officials:- Major Gen. A.K. Sooriyabandara, President, Sri Lanka Squash Federation, Flt. Lt. Deegaya Abayanayake, Team manager, Yashim Zarook, Coach and R.S. Deen, Asst. Coach.

Players representing Sri Lanka are:- Navin Samarasinghe, Janaka Sewaris, N.S. Jayashantha, L.K. Manjula, Kushani Daluwatte, Tehani Guruge, Disna Ranjani and Sulakshna Dias Abeygunawardene.

UAL sponsors MCA six-a-side

Union Assurance Ltd. (UAL) will, once again, sponsor the eagerly awaited Mercantile Cricket Association six-a-side tournament, which is being held this weekend (April 27 and 28) at the MCA, Wesley and D.S. Senanayake grounds form 8.30 a.m. This is the eighth consecutive year of UAL's sponsorship for the tournament.

"These events help in raising the standards of the competitors, which is important to the country as a while. it would be impossible to conduct a successful tournament in Sri Lanka without the sponsorship of companies like Union Assurance," declared Chris Obeyesekara, President, MCA during the handing over of the sponsorship cheque by UAL General Manager - marketing, Ramal Jasinghe.

Thirty-five teams enter the fray this year. New teams this year are Sri Lankan Catering Service, Bartleet Group, Rogers Group, Swarnakelum Group, Data Entry International and Slimline SC. The winning team and runner-up will be presented with the Union Assurance Challenge Trophy plus cash awards which have been increased since last year. Trophies and cash awards will also be presented to the Best Batsman, Best Bowler, the man getting the most number of sixes and to the man of the final. To make the tournament more viable, the tournament committee this year, has introduced a "Plate" for third place, which will be played between the losing semi-finalists.

Hatton National Bank regained the title last year, beating the John Keells Group in the finals.