Pakistan - a determined fight back By Ranil Prematilake  Faisal Iqbal and Younis khan struck half centuries in contrasting fashion to inspire a Pakistani fight back in the first Pepsi Test match now being played at the neutral venue P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The world champion Australians dealt a double blow for the Pakistanis at the commencement of the innings removing Imran Nazir and Taufeeq Umar. The dangerous Nazir was trapped plumb in front

by a Glenn McGrath delivery while Umar exposed his bat to an outswinger of Gillespie which took the edge and flew to the safe hands of Ricky Ponting at slips.

The P. Saravanamuttu wicket remained lively for a second day in running extracting decent pace and bounce.

However, the game came to an premature halt once again when the Pakistani pair at the crease accepted the light when offered by the umpires with a good 15 overs remaining. The restructured venue, once the premier cricketing destination for the islanders had come for praise from a cross section of the cricketing fraternity especially on the lush greens and excellent condition prevailing in the outfield.

The hero of the day for Pakistan was their young middle order batsman Faisal Iqbal, playing in his ninth Test. The right hander had no mercy for Shane Warne as he scored runs at will all round the ground. The nephew of legendary Javed Mianded was unbeaten on 78 runs at stumps in his 80 ball stay so for plundering 15 hits to the ropes. He was ably partnered by wicket-keeper Rashid Latif who was at the crease on 30 runs. The Sixth wicket pair had put on 94 runs on Friday to set the rescue path of after the top five wickets were scrapped for a mediocre 116 runs.

Earlier in the day Pakistani bowlers did well to restrict the Aussies from reaching a formidable score, especially with the overnight pair of Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist going great guns. The pair put on 128 runs before being separated. Martyn made a well composed 67 runs which included nine boundaries. Then came the blistering pace of Shoaib Akthar which left the Australian lower order in tatter. The last four wickets fell with the addition of only 10 runs. Prolific Gilchrist was left stranded on 66 runs as the tail was wrapped up in no time.

Off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq returned the most impressive figures capturing four scalps followed by Akthar and skipper Waqar Younis. The highlight of the Australian stay at the crease was the flamboyant knock of Ricky Ponting, whose 11th Test century paved the way for a challenging total.

Faisal Iqbal considered fortunate to have won a place in this test ahead of Hasan Raza who has been in tremendous form, finally justified the faith the national selectors had placed on him. His aggressive inning saw a Shane Warne over go for 18 runs, with four of the shots going past the ropes. However the first thing in mind for the Pakistanis would be to avoid the follow on to which they still need 57 more runs.

There was a personal milestone for Mark Waugh who went past the 8000 run mark in Test cricket, Mark is playing his 126th Test.

•  But for the rain, which way would the final have gone?

Not an ideal ending, but justice is done

By T.M.K. Samat

WHETHER the totals Sri Lanka mustered in the original and re-played finals would've earned victory will remain beyond knowing. But this much is certain: arguments over whether the rain denied India or Sri Lanka of triumph is not going to end in a hurry. It began right there at the awards ceremony. Ganguly thought the shared honours decreed by nature wasn't a fair ending, meaning, of course, that India would've eventually triumphed. Jayasuriya begged to differ, arguing that defending his team's 223 on Monday was ''manageable'' on a pitch becoming increasingly slower.

All, however, are agreed that a highly successful tournament was cruelly robbed of a deserving climax. As well, no one can grudge the two sub-continental teams their places in the final. They were by far the most accomplished teams, albeit in homely conditions, which, some will surely claim were far too weighted in favour of the host and its neighbour. But as an argument that is old hat; no country will condition pitches for the sake of receiving a thank you from the visitors.  But that's another story, and shouldn't cloud the admirable achievements of Sri Lanka and India.

Any pre-tournament predictions of the two making it to the final would've been inspired by 1/ emotions of loyalty and 2/ familiar pitch conditions, though this would largely be based to support reason no.1. The pre-tournament prospects of the sub-continent neighbours defeating the likes of Australia, South Africa, Pakistan or probably even England were never thought of as near certainty. In any condition, the four named, with perhaps the exception of England, were going to be tough nuts to crack. But then, the men of Jayasuriya and Ganguly littered their paths to the final with the corpses of the giants. With such remarkable conquests, it wouldn't have been something of a miscarriage of justice had the final dissolved in tears for Sri Lanka or India. So, it seemed, the gods from above thundered: no team shalt go home weeping. And the heavens wept instead.

There will no doubt be times that Ganguly and Jayasuriya would wish if their team had won outright and so go down in history as the first to win the World Cup and the ICC trophy. There will be other times they wouldn't regret things ended the way it did_ shared first place is, after all, better than second best. Each team though, is justified in thinking that, but for the intervention by rain they would've won. Each has supporting evidence to back their claims.

The main thrust of India's argument will be that they were never restricted to a sub-250 total in their run-up matches to the final, against Zimbabwe, England and South Africa. They were asked to score 270 against England, never easy in any condition, more so on the sleepy-slow surface of the Premadasa stadium. Yet, India contemptuously hit off the runs, rendering redundant the final ten overs. So, the Sunday target of 245 was never going to be too big a job and Monday's 223, only small beer, logic would say.

India's batting had established itself as the best of the lot, battling out of critical situations against Zimbabwe and South Africa through a middle order as talented and enterprising as the top. In the Monday final Mongia went early, and had Tendulkar been ruled out lbw, first ball, which he should have, the proposition would've been different for the Indians. Assuming Tendulkar had gone first ball, it would've provided the Sri Lankans a huge stimulus, but the job of finishing off the Indians would yet be far from over. And the remaning job wasn't going to be easy against a lineup that had Yuvraj and Kaif at number 6 and 7 respectively, both match-winners for India more than once.

But before the Sri Lankans could've got to the point of dealing with the two Indian youngsters, there was the considerable job of removing Shewag, Ganguly and Dravid. All this is what-might-have-been, but few will deny that the prospect of restricting the Indians to under 245 or 223 was going to be difficult. Just ask Zimbabwe, who had reduced India to 87 for 5, but then helplessly watched Kaif and Dravid rush their team to 288/6.

Different songs

The Sri Lankans, however, would sing a different song. They will argue that none of the Indian's opponents had the range of spinners Sri Lanka possess. And on a pitch that spun like a top, Muralitheran, Dharmasena and Chandana, all specialists, and part-timers, Aravinda de Silva and Jayasuriya, would've made a meal of the India's batting. And will point to the routing of powerful Australia by Muralitheran and co. Of course, the Aussies aren't quite the masters of spin as the Indians are, but when the world champions are demolished for 161, then the spin attack that did the demolition must be rated one of the world's best. On Sunday and Monday, the rain broke over the stadium even before that world class spin attack was asked to turn an arm.

Clearly, the wear and tear on the Premadasa stadium pitch was beginning to tell by the time final came round, after six group matches and the two semifinals. With the Sunday final aborted, it meant that nine matches in eighteen days had been played before the Monday showdown, three of them in the five days before the replay. Acceleration of an innings in the closing stages wasn't the easiest, as graphically illustrated by the South Africans in their semifinal against India. On 190/1 in the 37th over, chasing 269, South Africa from that point on walked the swampland  -_ and to defeat.

In the swamps

Sri Lanka too, on Sunday, found themselves in the swamps, unable to exploit on a breezy start.  Anything in excess of 80 in the first 15 overs normally leads to a total of beyond 250.  They were into 80s by the 15th over and with only Atapattu gone, the calculations were for a total around 280. But they could struggle to only 244 for 5 as a softening ball and a slowing pitch put braces of steel on batsmen's wrists. So the prospects before the Indian batsmen, had it not poured, would've been to bat through the tournament's most difficult period _ against the most potent cocktail of spinners.

That dizzying climax was not to be and Sri Lanka and India came away with their confidence unimpaired. Their achievements will be significant approaching the World Cup, barely six months away. Ahead of the Sri Lankans are two-Test and five one-day series against South Africa later this month and a triangular series, with Australia and England in December-January in Australia before returning to South Africa for the Feb-March, 2003 World Cup.

Previous experiences in South Africa and Australia have not been exactly pleasant for the Sri Lankans, but then the World Cup was won in 1996 after the tough lessons learnt on the 95-96 tour of Australia. Playing in the World Cup host's backyards just three months before the event is a huge advantage and should provide useful preparation for the succeeding series in Australia. And if the Sri Lankans cope with what surely will be a pace war waged by the South Afrcians and Australians, then, they would've won half the battle for the World Cup.

Eloquent tribute

Back to the ICC Champions trophy for the off-field aspects. ICC Chairman Malcolm Gray paid eloquent tribute to the contributions of the host board to making it a ''marvellous event''. Adding anything to Gray's sentiments would be superfluous. But it has to be asked whether the event is deviating from its original aim: fostering cricket in associate member countries by staging the tournament in the lesser known cricketing countries. Bangladesh and Kenya staged the first two biennial championships. The next event in September 2004 is to be hosted by England. Clearly, the ICC has converted the event into a cash cow.  Through more lucrative sponsorship there a lot more cash for distribution to the competing countries, and in an obvious move to woo sponsors, the ICC decided to dispense the straight knockout format of old and introduce a short league to decide the semifinalists.

As well, staging the event in countries where the game is established, there's better mileage to be had for sponsors. The ICC has no doubt done their sums and concluded that monies available for the development of associate members would be more by staging the event in Test countries than non-Test nations. But money, though important, is no substitute for the benefits that accrue from showcasing the world's best in the playing fields of developing countries. Admittedly, there aren't many associate members with the sort of infrastructure required to stage a tournament of this magnitude. Therein lies the problem of choosing a suitable venue outside the Test ranks. But keeping the event exclusively in the confines of Test countries won't do the cause of promotion much good. As well, it will put the ICC Championship in competition with the World Cup _ probably endangering the appeal and glamour of the latter some time in the future.

It would be feasible to award the hosting of the event to an associate member at reasonable intervals, say once every three tournaments. And give the chosen associate country the finances to develop their infrastructure for the championship, as the ICC did when it chose Kenya two years ago.

•  Asian Games 2002

Internal strife again

By Hishan Welmilla

It is so unfortunate to hear that the usual strife had resumed in the Sri Lankan camp especially in the women's 4x100 metres relay team. Although it was reported early that the members of the relay team training together leaving the bitter experience among them behind, sources indicated that the cordiality among them was short-lived. This had occurred when sprinter Sriyani Kulawansa had been dropped from the relay team and leaving the way to Anoma Suriarachchi and Jani Chathuragi.

Kulawansa had complained to the officials and according to Sriyani, she had been picked into the team and given a promise by the officials to include her in the running quarter. But officials stuck to their policy and axed Kulawansa from the relay and she will now compete only in the women's 100m hurdles.

Sri Lanka had mixed fortunes in the seven-a-side rugby, which  started on 30 September. Having lost their first two games to South Korea (49-7) and Thailand (26-7), Sri Lanka had a close game against Malaysians where they managed to register a victory by 19 points to 14. Lankans only managed to finish in sixth position after China (24-14) beat them in the fifth position play-off. Koreans clinched the gold while Taiwan grabbed the silver. The bronze went to Thailand.

In the men's and women's rowing, tennis and gymnastics, Sri Lanka could not live up to the expectations so far.

As expected many game records have been established. Interestingly 26 new games records were broken during the first day itself including a world record in the women's 53 kg weightlifting category.

Predictions already hinted that China would again scoop up most of the honours at this year's Asian Games. The Chinese who have dominated the Asian Games for the past 20 years have a better chance of winning 150 gold medals or more this year as well. They have sent 689 athletes to compete in every sport except karate and khabaddi. China bagged 129 of the 378 gold medals on offer at the last Asian Games in Bangkok.

There will be a good battle between the other two giants in the region. Japan and South Korea for the second place in the overall medals tally. The host nation, South Korea is fielding 770 athletes and they are sure of winning more than 80 gold medals.

Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe, who is tipped to win the sprint double (100 and 200 meters) will  run in the 100 meters heat tomorrow (Monday) at 7.20 am Sri Lanka time.

Disabled tennis stars bring four medals

THE SLTA's investment in Wheelchair Tennis brought early dividends when a four-member team won a gold, two silver and bronze medals at the International Thai Open Wheelchair Tennis held in Pattaya recently.

Competing in the D division, a category for those competing in international competitions for the first time, the Sri Lankans did exceptionally to figure in the medals table as the field had more than 40 competitors from three countries, including Thailand and Cambodia. The gold medal was won in the doubles, which was an all-Sri Lanka final. R M V V Rajakaruna and H D Balasooriya defeated J B Silva and T P S D Jayatissa.

In the Singles, Rajakaruna put up a game performance in the final against a Thai opponent, using a modern and sophisticated wheelchair, while Jayatissa, a semifinalist, won a bronze. All four Sri Lanka representatives are war-disabled soldiers.

''What our team achieved was way beyond expectations. This was their first international exposure, but that was least of the problems they faced on arrival in Thailand. The sight of their opponents' modern Japanese-made wheelchair and racquets had a demoralizing effect on our team. But then they accepted facts and resolved to make the most of what they had,'' said Col. Chrys de Silva, the manager of the team. '' They showed tremendous courage to battle the odds stacked against them. They've given wheelchair tennis a major boost.''

The wheelchairs used by the Sri Lankans were locally turned out and were nothing like the ones used by others in the Pattaya event. ''The other competitors had wheelchairs specially crafted for tennis by specialist makers in Japan. Ours looked crude and cumbersome, and frankly were an embarrassment. In fact, they drew quite some laughs in Thailand,'' said Col. De Silva.

But laughter turned to admiration and their success promptly brought positive response. The Sri Lanka Association of Thailand has pledged a donation of modern tennis wheelchairs and has also agreed to arrange for the National Wheelchair Tennis coach to undertake a program in Sri Lanka. It also is willing to have a team of disabled tennis players undergo a training in Thailand, where facilities for disabled sport are held up as a model in Asia. ''Anywhere you go you see the facilities laid out for the disabled_ in buildings, on the roads, in buses and cars. There's royal patronage for the disabled in Thailand, which is  why wheelchair tennis gets all the assistance it wants,'' said Col. de Silva.

Wheelchair tennis was begun only two years ago when the Army adopted the sport as a form of rehabilitation for its disabled soldiers. The SLTA made available its hard courts, but the playing was infrequent and recreational. SLTA president Suresh Subramaniam, however, had other ambitions for the disabled tennis players. ''Suresh wanted the SLTA to get involved in some sort of community project in a positive way and tapped the ITF for assistance,'' said Boshan Dayaratne, CEO, SLTA.  The upshot: visit here of Mark Bullock, ITF's solitary development officer for wheelchair tennis, last January.

''Bullock instructed over 100 wheelchair tennis players, all soldiers. The huge numbers that came confirmed that there was a future for the sport. Bullock also coached coaches. After Bullock's visit we decided to offer the coaching of 25 selected players five days a week, morning and evening, on our hard courts and under one of our professional coaches,'' said Dayaratne.

The SLTA then incorporated a special wheelchair committee into its main body last March and appointed Maj. Gen. C J Ranaweera as its chairman and Col. Chrys de Silva as secretary.  What this means is that wheelchair tennis is now the SLTA fold, which means the sport here can expect ITF support.

The trip to Thailand was fully sponsored by the SLTA, albeit through the generosity of president Subramaniam, who made the donation in memory of his father-in-law, Brigadier Thambirajah.

TMKS

Gray's recipe for boxing revival

WHEN Sri Lanka's one-time Mr. Boxing, Edward Gray, met up with members of ABA's executive committee last week, his brain, inevitably, was going to be picked on to find ways to restore the attraction the sport once enjoyed in public minds. It is popularly acknowledged that boxing was at its peak when Gray administered the ABA, as secretary and then president, from the late 1950s through to the early 70s _ prosperous times in comparison to the present poverty.

''Nowadays the only ones in the audience are the boxers themselves, a few from their families and a few friends. Boxing has little or no support from the genuine public,'' said senior official Donald Munasinghe, whose involvement with boxing dates back to Gray's presidency in the 60s. Present president, Jayakumar Thangavelu, spoke of the indifference show by past administrations to the boxers' cause as reason for the decline. ''We had officials interested only in making trips abroad and the boxers were the vehicles for these joy rides. This self-interest bred politics and naturally standards fell. We now insist that accompanying officials have to pay their own costs, and that the ABA will fund only boxers and coaches for overseas competitions.''

Foregone conclusion

It wasn't quite what Gray, who migrated to Australia in the mid-70s, would've liked to hear of Sri Lanka boxing. But he didn't despair. ''I think the problems here lie in Sri Lanka boxing not having international success. There's nothing like winning to get the public behind the sport, all you have to do is look at what Susanthika Jayasinghe and the cricketers have done to their sports. I don't believe our boxers are incapable of winning medals -_ we have frequently done so in the past, which is why the selection of  boxing teams to the Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games were a foregone conclusion, '' said Gray. ''One of your boxers, I am told, barely missed a bronze at the last Commonwealth Games and the other four didn't do too badly either.  The potential without doubt is there _ it's a matter of building on them. With the new attitudes (president) Thanga spoke about, I am sure, the ABA is on the right course.''

He commended the ABA's decision to obtain the services of a Cuban coach, but thought the specialized training ought to be complemented with more international competitions. ''The Cuban coach no doubt will be beneficial, but, I hope, his job is not to train boxers for only the major Games. The Olympics, Commonwealth or Asian Games should be the ultimate goal, but it's only fair that boxers be given as much international exposure as possible while preparing for the major competitions,'' said Gray.

He turned the clock back to the times when Sri Lanka won medals at the Empire Games, now Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Asian Championships. In the late 30s through to the early 50s, Sri Lanka won a gold (by Barney Henricus in 1938) two silvers (Albert Perera and K Edwin in 1950) and bronze (Alex Obeysekera in 1950) at the Empire Games. H P. Jayasuriya won a silver medal in the 1954 Asian Games in Manila. ''These medals were founded on the experience gained from fighting foreign boxers from the British Forces stationed in the East during the Second World War years. These foreign boxers competed in all the local meets and we gained valuable experience fighting against them,'' said Gray.

Foreign competition

In 1967 H K Karunaratne won Sri Lanka's only goal medal in the Asian Championships and H M Marzook, a bronze. Gray attributed these successes to the foreign competition offered through annual dual internationals against India and Pakistan as well as sending boxers for National Championships of Asian countries, notably Singapore. ''It would be worthwhile to revive these dual contests. What is happening now is that our boxers are getting their international experience straight from the major Games, where they are taking on the best from world or Asia __ not the best way to win medals. There should be bridge-meets to the big competitions,'' said Gray.

Dian Gomes, vice president, ABA, spoke of the difficulties in obtaining corporate sponsorship. ''There are inherent disadvantages, mainly companies not wanting to identify their products with a blood sport. But with the many safety rules introduced of late we're trying to remove boxing's old reputation and have gained some success,'' said Gomes, who, however, agreed with Gray that there's no surer way to revival than international success. ''The ABA ought to quickly re-start the dual meets with India and Pakistan on an annual basis,'' said Gomes.

TMKS