SPORTS

Sri Lanka who has 7.5 points to their credit, now has the opportunity of beating Zimbabwe on Saturday (15 March) and enter the semi finals with 11.5 points in their kitty. But if they lose to Zimbabwe, New Zealand will have the fortune of a berth in the semi finals and it will be Green, Green Grass of Home for the Lankans.

India humbled New Zealand when they dismissed them for a pathetic score of 146 runs in 46 overs at the Centurion, in their Super Six match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003.

The Indian medium paceman, Zaheer Khan put his nation on top when he captured two wickets in the first over, off successive balls. The venomous spell by Zaheer earned him four wickets for 42 runs. But he could not bowl his full quota of overs. If he did, he most probably would have bagged five wickets.

Javagal Srinath again bowled with tight control though capturing a solitary wicket for 20 runs in eight overs. If one had thought that India might not be too concerned about Friday's Super Six match with the Kiwis as they were through to the semi-finals even if they lose this game, he would have buried it, when he saw the Indians' dream-like start, capturing two wickets without a run on the board in the very first over of the game.

India's medium-pace trio, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra maintained their magnificent bowling deeds, pushing their side closer to the World Cup final which will make their dream a reality.

New Zealand at the half way mark (25 overs) were struggling in quick sand with six wickets down for a mere 88 runs.

With their consistent skipper, Stephen Fleming back in the dressing room with 30 runs to his credit, much hope rested on Chris Cairns and Chris Harris to guide them to a defendable total.

But with their departure, the Kiwis crumbled like cookies for a poor total of 146 runs.

The Indians too were given the shock treatment at their turn at the wicket by Shane Bond, the New Zealand speedster, when he despatched, Shewag, Tendulkar and Ganguly to the pavilion with the Indian scoreboard reading 21 for 3 wickets in 9 overs. A simple chance dropped by the stumper Brendon McCullum in Bond's next over, which would have seen the exit of Rahul Dravid, gave the opportunity for the Indians to rebuild their shattered innings. Dravid and Mohammed Kaif, slowly but steadily pushed their side towards the victory post. They reached their target for the loss of three wickets in 40.4 overs with Rahul Dravid and Mohammed Kaif unbeaten on 53 and 68 respectively. Their fourth wicket unbroken stand, realised 129 runs.

Scores: New Zealand 146 all out in 45.1 overs (S. Fleming 30, J. Oram 23, C. Cairns 20, C. Harris 17, Z. Khan 4 for 22, H. Singh 2 for 28)

India 150 for 3 in 40.4 overs (S. Tendulkar 15, M. Kaif 68 n.o., R. Dravid 53 n.o, S. Bond 2 for 23)

Seven-a-side soft ball tournament

The inaugural annual 7-a-side soft ball cricket tournament organised by the Colombo Chetty Association of Sri Lanka for its members will be held on 18 March (Poya day) at the P. Sara Stadium (Colombo Oval) from 8.30 a.m. onwards. Several teams from the Colombo, Gampaha and Puttalam districts are scheduled to take part. Each team will include a lady member six-a-side cricket, matches for children under 14 years of age and interesting sports events for ladies are on the day's program.

It is going to be a day of fun for the entire family with games, competitions, dancing etc., and attractive prizes on offer.

Any member who has not registered and wishes to participate, please contact Dr. Collin Fernandopulle 071-742755 or Mr. Selva Perumal 072-763313 on or before 17 March.

'Bad Boy' Nalaka comes good

NALAKA Weerakkody, long considered the naughty boy of Sri Lanka rugby, has been handed the captain's job. Not many seasons ago this appointment would've been unthinkable _ because he ''dissipates", is a ''coward", ''doesn't wear a tie", ''hangs his shirt out", ''doesn't respect authority" and whatever. Positively, not leadership material, and also a likely bad influence on the rest. So it was said. And they struck him off enlistment for national duty more than a few times. But there was brilliance in the bad boy that compelled his recall - only as a player.

Last Friday, however, there was a change of heart. The selectors asked the controversial Kandy SC fullback to lead Sri Lanka's campaign in the 2003 Credit Suisse/First Boston International HongKong Sevens, the 28th annual edition to be held March 29-30. So, has the bad boy mended his ways to fit the role of captain? ''He was never a bad boy in the first place" snapped Asanga Seneviratne, the coach. ''It's just that we had officials who judged him by some irrelevant things and ignored the obvious fact that he is capable of making a huge contribution to the team.''

But he dissipates? ''As I've heard it, the talk is that he drinks. But then a rugby player is entitled to enjoy a few beers and Nalaka probably does. But to give that as a reason for keeping him out wrongly suggests he is a walking tavern. Stupid. He can't be playing rugby the way he does if he loves his booze so much. It's this sort of stupid claim by officials that destroys player-official relationship."

He is a coward? '' If cowards are those who fail to tackle bigger foreign players, then there are dozens of Nalakas around.And cowards won't dare to score tries against Wales, Scotland, France, and Taiwan - Nalaka did and succeeded." He doesn't wear a tie and his shirt is out at functions? ''Next question".

He doesn't respect authority? "He is an exceptionally talented player, like what Michael Jayasekera and Hisham Abdeen were during the peak of their careers. How do you discipline their brilliance? They are no stereotypes; they react instinctively to different situations and not always will it turn out to be right - it's the ways of brilliance.Why Nalaka is accused of not respecting authority, as I understand it, is because he took a short tap when officials from the touchline were screaming for a penalty kick. The attempted try through the short tap was frustrated, the Asiad match was lost - and the blame for it was lumped entirely at Nalaka's door.

"I can add a dozen other reasons to the short tap why we lost - for instance, we had no fitness trainer, a residential training camp of meaningful duration - things all other rival countries had. It is unfair to point the finger at an individual player when the fundamentals are not put in place. ''

The 27-year-old fullback, perhaps, has been a victim of his own exceptional talents. Expectations of him are enormous - pretty much the Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka rugby, if you like.Officials regard him as the man who can influence decisively how the team performs because no one is quite so talented as he is, especially in the art of scoring and creating tries. "In defeat, he's made the guinea pig - in victory, well, it's the coach, manager and other sundry officials that made it possible," said Seneviratne.

 His appointment Friday as national captain marks the highpoint of an international career that began as a schoolboy at Kingswood College in 1995 when he was named to play against Malaysia in Colombo. Unfortunately, a bomb blast on the eve of the match forced its cancellation.His international debut came next year in the 1996 HongKong Sevens. He makes his fifth appearance in HongKong as captain. His talents were recognized internationally in 1998 when a French club contracted him to play in that country's professional league in the 1998 season. Locally, he has played in the colours of the CR and FC (in 1996 and '98) and champion side Kandy SC (in 97 and since 1999).

It's the sort of curriculum vitae that should have brought him the national captaincy sooner than the eight years it took. Not to be, however, with wise men that look for candidates wearing ties with shirttails tucked firmly behind the seats of their pants.

The 12-member squad: Nalaka Werakoddy (Capt.). Sajith Mallikartchchy, (vice-capt), Indrajit Bandaranaike, Radhika Hettiaratchchi, Danushka Pushpakumara and Chamara Vithanage (Kandy SC), Lakala Perera and Lalendra Rodrigo (Havelocks), Sumedha Fernando and Asanga Rodrigo (CR), Sithara Fernando (Army) and Mahesh Liyanage (St. Anthony's, Katugastota).

Coach: Asanga Seneviratne.
Manager: Chaminda Rupasinghe.

Should't accountability be extended
to administrators?

Mahinda Wijesinghe

Guest column

Cricket's Hitler, Dr.W.G.Grace of England, who strode Colossus-like around the turn of the 20th century, once declared: "If I win the toss, I'll be damned if I do not bat. If the pitch seems a little doubtful, I think a little.. and then I bat. If the pitch seems a lot doubtful, I think a lot... and then I bat!"  Food for thought for the Lankans?

At the time of writing, Sri Lanka still has an outside chance of sneaking into the semi-finals, if India beats New Zealand on Friday and Sri Lanka triumphs over Zimbabwe on Saturday. If only, Sri Lanka - having won the toss - batted first and gave themselves the best chance of beating Kenya.

Compounding that blunder, from experts on the game to the ordinary housewife, the common view is that having won the all-important toss, Sri Lanka, signed their death warrant yet again, by asking the Indians to bat.  When invited, the smile on the face of Ganguly told it all. Granted, Jayasuriya as a captain, is no Worrell, Brearley, or a Waugh but this would not have been his unilateral decision. Deciding on what course of action to follow after a toss is generally discussed by the respective sides before the coin is spun. The current Sri Lankan contingent, in addition to the coach, Chairman of selectors, and the senior players, possess an advisor to arrive at a decision. That Jayasuriya does not have an Akram/Akhtar and/or a Brett Lee to open the attack, and would have to contend with a rampant Tendulkar, currently breathing fire and brimstone, first up, and a strong Indian batting line-up on a plumb track, must have escaped our brains trust.

Coach Whatmore admitted: "...we all take responsibility, including the manager, advisor, physio, myself and even the computer analyst....but at the end of the day the one's that get the pats on the back or kicks up the bum basically are the ones in the middle." A very clever statement indeed. This is akin to the puppets themselves accepting the blame in order to avoid the wrath of the puppeteers who pull the strings from above.

Yet, didn't Sri Lanka enter the Super Sixes? Then in the same breath didn't non-Test playing Kenya - having beaten Sri Lanka - enter the semi-finals as the third entrant? Despite the slip of 'poor management' and thanks to a few individual performances, the team went past Round 1.

Here are some of the instances when the 'slip' showed. Why is Muralitharan permitted to bat in Barnum & Bailey tradition? Naturally, taking a leaf from his book, Dilhara Fernando, facing defeat against Kenya, attempts a reverse sweep as his first stroke! Sacrificing Mubarak at No.3 against India! Partially fit players taking the field, and on a previous occasion, one player did not even bat! Sometimes one observes more than one captain on the field. But the daddy of all faux pas was committed by the administrators when for the first time in the history of the World Cup, a team  - Sri Lanka - played  "under protest" alleging that the ICC had "altered the playing conditions of the tournament in relation to separating teams level on points". ICC boss, Malcolm Speed, did not spare the rod after the 'protest' was investigated: "The claims made in a letter from the BCCSL are without foundation and entirely rejected. The BCCSL has sought a ruling on the playing conditions from the events technical committee and also appealed in respect of this ruling to an independent appeals commissioner, and was unable to find any support for its view in either forum...."  The result of such poor judgement is surely egg on the face of the nation as well.

Currently, legal proceedings are on in Singapore where a battle royal is on to settle a claim by a TV moghul against the Cricket Board. The figure at stake, a little bird whispered, is Rs.500M. Recently, a few millions were spent merely to compose a song for the World Cup though none of our players appeared to singalong even when the national anthem was struck before the Super Six games.

Isn't anybody accountable? Others have paid for less.

IAAF president hails Birmingham

By Hishan Welmille

14 March, Birmingham, On the eve of the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships  in Athletics, Lamine Diack, President of the IAAF, said that the UK is a  country with a strong athletics tradition that fully deserves to host the  sport's biggest events.

Diack also paid tribute to the local organising committee, who have worked  tirelessly to stage the most significant athletics event in the UK since the  1948 Olympic Games.

"As I have said on many previous occasions, I think Great Britain deserves  to host the top international athletics events," explained Diack at a press  conference in Birmingham on Thursday (13).

"The traditions and history of athletics in this country are second to none  and the country has also given the world many great champions.

"I saw with my own eyes in Manchester last year at the Commonwealth Games  just how the public here loves our sport. They are connoisseurs who  understand and appreciate the sport, and do not only support the British  team. Indoor athletics - which is held in such a confined space - can really  benefit from the atmosphere of the crowd so I urge the spectators to make as  much noise as possible during the next few days. With their support, the  athletes will be encouraged to even greater performances," the IAAF president  added.

The 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics got underway here in  Birmingham with the grand official opening concert held on 13 March in  Symphony Hall, the country's most prestigious concert venue. The concert was  a spectacular 90 minutes of dazzling stage entertainment featured  world-class performers and supported by stunning lighting and visual  effects.

Birmingham was lucky to host the most prestigious athletics event to take  place in the UK since the 1948 Olympic Games: the 9th IAAF World Indoor  Championships in Athletics. The official ceremony took place on Friday and  there was no official participation by the teams. The IAAF flag and national  flags were raised in the competition arena.

To say goodbye to Birmingham, a free concert has been organised on  Centenary Square on Sunday (16 March) The celebrations will feature top  British and Irish performers and culminate a spectacular fireworks finale. A  capacity crowd of 20000 people is expected to fill the square.

A mouth-watering collection of some of the finest athletes( 618 athletes) in  the world  from over 145 countries  were on show in what promises to be the  quality World Indoor Championships in history.

Two disability events have been added to the timetable for the 9th IAAF  World Indoor Championships in Athletics, which was staged at Birmingham's  National Indoor Arena (NIA). This was the first time in the championship's 16  year history that events for disabled athletes have been included.

60m for the women's event took place on Friday and today the men's  800m for arm amputees will be carried out.

The international athletes who have been invited to compete in the two  events were selected on the basis of their performances at last year's IPC World  Athletics Championships.

Manilal, boom to soccer

Football needs Manilal Fernando for the good of the game. When it comes to football, none can ever forget the services rendered to the sport by Kalutara's Manilal Fernando.

The Chairman of Holcim Lanka, Manilal as he is popularly known, was the man who initiated football sponsorship for clubs, old boy of Tissa MV Kalutara and Ananda College, he took a keen intrest in a variety of sports during his school days.

He represented Tissa MV at football, and later played rugger for Ananda College and Law College, where he played football too. He was a top class cricketer for the Kalutara club.

Manilal is one who made the game of football colourful and today there is no club or league which will continue the game without Manilal.

Many may have forgotten those past glorious moments of Sri Lanka football, but there are still a few who still remember the part played by a few officials for the upliftment of the came. One man who can be never forgotten is Manilal Fernando.

Manilal today is the vice president of the Asian Football Confederation and also the Finance Committee chairman. He is also a committee member of the FIFA. A man can achieve many things they say, and what Manilal has achieved for the game, no one can do it though they talk big.

Today, this sport has all the necessary facilities. He would have made the race course ground a football stadium if not for the undercutting of the former mayor. It would have been an ideal venue for football.

Come on allow the man who is doing a good job, give him the necessary backing to continue the good work, don't pull the leg and destroy a man's good work.

Let's all give a hand to the king maker of the sport. Manilal, continue your good work, forget the few who attack you, that is their way of life.

By All Rounder