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The big bang ends in a whimper
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Marvan
Atapattu |
IN the end it was no more than bluster.
Marvan Atapattu last week declared he had no faith in
Ashantha de Mel, was averse to meeting him and wished to
be no part of any team selected under the stewardship of
de Mel, the incumbent chairman of selectors. All of that
was only hot air: He joined the tour party to Australia
anyway, with de Mel yet chief selector.
The intensity of de Mel's defiance last
week was no less. He made no bones about what he thought
of the Sport Minister's bid to work out a compromise
solution that would pave the way for Atapattu's
inclusion to Australia. De Mel wouldn't hear of it. He
as good as said: No way is Atapattu going to Australia;
if the minister insists otherwise, he can go as a choice
of the minister, not the selectors - end of story.
Not by a long shot. Atapattu was included
anyway, and de Mel, reportedly, approved the selection
of the man who he said he would not touch as long as he
was selector. His melting is quite out of de Mel's
character, always a bluntly frank man even if it meant
losing friends.
No question, it was Minister Lokuge who
had the final say. And strictly in the interest of the
upcoming tour, it is a good thing too that both Atapattu
and de Mel agreed to abide by the minister's formula and
give the tour party an uncontroversial farewell,
Tuesday. A week ago an agreement of this kind was never
in prospect. So widely apart were the two antagonists
that any ministry-induced attempts to compel one party
to climb down might have brought on repercussions of
damaging dimensions - like the selectors' resignation or
Atapattu's quitting from international cricket.
Happily, those sorts of problems have not
been piled on skipper Mahela Jayewardene's plate,
already full with matters concerning the battle with the
world champions. His job has not been made any easier by
a succession of disappointments that betrayed hopes held
out by their wonderful feats in the World Cup of last
March/April. The Abu Dhabi series was conceded to
Pakistan, inability to qualify for the semifinals of
Twenty20 though billed a favourite for the title and
then the recent loss to
England
in the five-match ODI series on home turf. In between,
the Test and ODI series against Bangladesh was won - but
all too easily to have any meaningful impact on their
confidence.
Jayewardene and his team, no doubt, would
have flown out in a better frame of mind if the
post-World Cup losses had not been half as bad. It has
to be noted though; those reversals were in limited-over
internationals, quite another game to five-day Test.
Sri Lanka's performances in Tests in the 2006/07 season,
though, have been commendable, drawing the series in
England and New Zealand and whitewashing South Africa
and Bangladesh at home.
The team will draw from those successes
in the 2006/07 Tests to fortify confidence for what is
international cricket's ultimate challenge: battling the
World Champions in their den. It is the sort of task you
would like to approach with the knowledge that there are
no chinks in your armour. However, by any measure Sri
Lanka can hardly claim to be a chink-less outfit. Sure,
limited over is not Test cricket, but form is common to
both forms of the game. And the form of our frontline
batsmen in the recent ODI series against
England
has been worrying to say the least - and visibly their
confidence has been frayed.
In fact, there were times a longing was
felt for the presence of Atapattu in the recent series
as the top order grappled with, admittedly, a sharp
English attack. His technique, one presumed, would have
coped better and given the batting the stability it
lacked.
But that is assumption based on the
Atapattu we knew. Whether he is yet the perfectionist he
was is left to be seen. His absence from the national
side has been too long to even make a guess what his
present form is like. Of course, he spent the last
English summer playing some sort of club cricket. How
much of that experience will be useful at the
international level is left to be seen. But if
Sangakkara's summer-long experience at the county level
had little influence on his batting in the recent
series, then it is reasonable to presume that the
measure of benefit accruing from Atapattu's stint at a
much lower level cannot be much.
It presents skipper Jayewardene with
problems in respect of checking out Atapattu's
suitability for the two-Test series. With just one
three-day warm up match before the two back-to-back
Tests, he will have to choose whether to deploy the
ex-captain in order to check-out his form or deny two of
the other three candidates (Jayasuriya/ Tharanga /
Vandort) match practice before the Tests.
The selection of the openers would have
been less nettlesome had minister Lokuge not made a case
for Atapattu's inclusion. But he was added, enlarging
the tour party to 17 - and an extravagant choice of
four openers to choose for just three matches. You don't
have to have exceptional powers of perception to deduce
that more than one opener in the end is going to be
excess baggage -like Atapattu was in the World Cup,
which is the root and body of the spat between de Mel
and the former captain.
How Jayewardene reacts to this past will
be interesting to observe. Will he feel compelled to
include Atapattu in the eleven, mindful he is after all
the choice of the minister. Or will he exercise his
powers as captain and bench his former leader, given
that the opportunities to check his form is limited to
just one three-day match? There is also the question of
how the other openers might react to their exclusions.
Lots of question marks hang before
Atapattu's inclusion - all of which will be answered by
the tour's end. The de Mel v. Atapattu battle might yet
not have played out to its end.
Mini tennis hits the high road
The SLTA's mini tennis programme headed
to the mountains with a Teachers Training Camp and
Workshop held at the Old Duthians SC in Badulla,
yesterday. The SLTA, in keeping with its outstation
development policy, will also distribute tennis
equipments to eleven chosen schools in the Badulla and
Bandarawela.
The teacher training camp and workshop is
a follow-up to the introduction of mini tennis programme
in the
Uva
Province last month at the Vihara Maha
Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Badulla. Principals and teachers
from several schools participated in this event,
organised by the President of the Sri Lanka Tennis
Association, Janaka Bogollagama along with the General
Secretary, Major Shiran Abeysekera and the National
Coordinator, Barathi Pillai.
The Mayor of Badulla, Upali Gunasekera
and the former MP of Badulla, Vincent Dias also graced
this occasion. SLTA also plans to take its development
programme to other schools in
Uva
Province as well as clubs, especially in
the plantation sector.
McGrath, McMillan bolster all-stars for
Hong
Kong
cricket sixes 2007
By Hishan Waelmilla
The sold-out Cathay Pacific/Standard
Chartered Hong Kong Cricket Sixes will welcome two more
of cricket's biggest names with Glenn McGrath and Craig
McMillan added to the All-Star Team for this year's
event.
Hong Kong's annual carnival of elite
cricket, first played in 1992 and famed for its frenetic
pace and high-scoring action, returns to Kowloon Cricket
Club from October 27-28. The event is sold out, with
tickets lasting less than a week after going on public
sale.
The news of the addition of McGrath and
McMillan comes as Virender Sehwag who was not part of
India's one-day team, forced to withdraw after being
chosen by national selectors to captain 'India Blue' at
the Challenger Trophy in Ahmedabad.
McGrath, who has taken more Test wickets
than any other fast bowler, and New Zealander McMillan,
who hit the most sixes at the recent ICC World Twenty20,
join a team that will be led by McGrath's long-time
partner in success, Shane Warne.
Also on the All-Star squad are players
such as Test cricket's leading run-scorer Brian Lara and
Heath Streak of Zimbabwe. However, it is the two
Australians that are naturally remembered
together.Jointly honoured last week with 'The Don,' an
award named for Donald Bradman that acknowledges
Australia 's most inspirational sporting achievement of
the past year, the pair dominated their country's recent
cricketing success as its most lethal bowling
combination.
Never was that more evident than in
Australia 's reclaiming of the Ashes earlier in the
year, the effort for which they won The Don. While Warne
took his world record tally to 708 scalps against
England , McGrath boosted his Test fast bowling record
to 563 Test wickets. The paceman then went on to play a
key role in Australia 's ICC World Cup victory in the
West Indies. McMillan, meanwhile, who also played at the
1995 Sixes, should be a handful for opposing bowlers.
His power hitting is ideally suited to the Kowloon
Cricket Club, having belted a tournament-best 13 sixes
in the first Twenty20 world championship.
This year's event will feature eight
leading cricketing nations, including defending
champions South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and England, plus
hosts Hong Kong and, for the first time, an All-Star
Team of the game's brightest stars.
Last year, an unfancied South Africa
defeated four-time champions Pakistan in a thrilling
final, while the hosts Hong Kong finished fifth.
The Hong Kong Cricket Association has
confirmed that one of cricket's rising nations,
Bangladesh will join this tournament. Bangladesh that
qualified for the Super Eights at this year's ICC World
Cup comes after the West Indies' withdrawal. Their
regional one-day tournament concludes on October 28, the
second day of the Sixes, meaning they were unable to
select their final squad in time for Hong Kong .
At September's event launch, the 10 teams
were drawn into the following groups for the round-robin
play.
Bradman Group - England, India, New
Zealand,
Sobers Group- All-Stars, Australia ,
South Africa, Bangladesh
Cowdrey Group - Hong Kong, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka
Ravindu, Rajitha in grand stand
Thurstan College registered and easy
first innings win over Royal, Panadura, in their All
Island Under 13 Division One cricket tournament at
Thurstan grounds. Royal Panadura taking first lease of
the wicket were bundled out for 105 runs.
Thurstan in their turn were struggling at
65 for 5 at one stage. But the 6th wicket pair Kavinda
Kulasekara and Rajith Perera kept the scoreboard ticking
to put up a 132 runs partnership and help them to pass
the visitors total. Rajitha Perera scored his maiden
ton and Kavindu Kalasekara hit a fighting 35 runs which
were the highlight of the Thurstan innings.
Scores : Royal Panadura 1st innings - 105
all out (A Romesh 23, Kusal Fernando 15, Rajitha Perer 3
for 10, S. Smaratunga 3 for 25) and 60 for 2.
Thurstan 1st innings - 233 for 6 declared
(Rajitha Perera 105, n.o, Kavindu
Kulasekara 35, M. Jaleel 22, Avishka Peiris 16, Sadeera
Samarawickrama 15, D. Wijesinghe 3 for 50).
Cricket
- Inter school
Dinal Dhambarage 5 for 34
Left arm opening bowler Dinal Dhambarage
captured five wickets for 34 runs as St. Joseph's
College bowled out Maris Stella College Negombo for 74
runs on the opening day of their inter school cricket
tournament match which commenced at Darley Road
yesterday. Scores :Maris Stella: 74 (S. de Silva 21, H.
Silva 25, D. Dhambarage 5 for 34, T. Perera 4 for 25)
St. Joseph's: 185 for 5 (D. Karunaratne 45, A. de Livera
18, R. Silva 58 n.o, P. Sankalpa 28, S. Gomes 2 for 60,
A. Silva 2 for 44)
Haroon Mawjood 5 for 32
Haroon Mawjood picked up five wickets for
32 runs to help Royal College dismiss D. S. Senanayake
for 232 runs in their first innings on the opening day
of their inter school cricket tournament match which
began at Reid Avenue yesterday. Scores :D. S. Senanayake:
232 (L. Weragala 58, H. Udugamavithana 22, K.
Sooriyarachchi 48, N. Jayakody 28, H. Mawjood 5 for 32,
K. Boteju 3 for 50) Royal: 22 for no loss.
Wesley 201 for 6
Wesley College reached 201 for 6 in their
rain hit inter school cricket tournament match against
St. Anthony's College played for the L. V. Jayaweera
memorial trophy at Campbell Park yesterday. Scores :
Wesley: 201 for 6 (L. Fernando 39, R. Kern 38, D.
Wijesinghe 32, I. Jayaratne 25, S. Siriratne 21, S.
Rupasinghe 19, A. Riyaz 2 for 69, K. Ekanayake 2 for 39)
v St. Anthony's.
Waruna Fernando 140 n.o
Waruna Fernando hit an unbeaten 140 to
help St. Benedict's College compile 245 for 5 in their
first innings on the opening day of their rain hit inter
school cricket tournament match against Ananda College
played at Kotahena yesterday. Scores :St. Benedict's:
245 for 5 (W. Fernando 140 n.o, C. Wijeweardena 41, S.
Nandalal 25, U. Peiris 2 for 58) v Ananda.
S. Thomas' well placed
S. Thomas' College were well set to take
a first innings lead over Kingswood College Kandy on the
opening day of their inter school cricket tournament
match played at Mount Lavinia yesterday. Scores :Kingswood:
107 (M. Bandaranayake 40, C. Dharmaprema 28, N. Fernando
4 for 23, M. Fernando 3 for 29) S. Thomas': 56 for 2 (R.
Niroshan 32)
Thurstan win by innings
Thurstan College routed St. Mary's
College Kegalle by an innings and 22 runs in their inter
school cricket tournament match concluded at Bauddhaloka
Mawatha yesterday. Scores :St. Mary's: 107 and 74 (C.
Wijetunga 19, V. Mendis 19, U. Karunaratne 4 for 31, R.
Wijeratne 5 for 11) Thurstan: 203 (G. Kumara 45, U.
Karunaratne 46, C. Jayan 25, L. Wijetunga 2 for 35, S.
Perera 4 for 80).
Fingara Cricket Awards 2007
Fingara International Cricket Academy
(FICA) will be conducting its first ever awards
presentation ceremony at the Main Hall, BMICH on Monday
22nd October 2007 at 3.00 p.m. Basel on the evaluation
of students of the academy during the past 6 months by
the team of FICA Coaches, the students will be presented
certificates according to their skill levels and
standards reached by them.
Poromotions will also be recommended to
higher level and students who have achieved improvement
and qualifed for the same.
Sepecial awards will be presented to FICA
student who have performed exceptionally well during the
past two years.
Colours will be awarded to the members of
the FICA Team which emerged champions of the under -14
inter-acadamy cricket tournament.
Sports happenings at
a glance
Monday
Cricket
Australia seal series victory
Australia narrowly defeated India by just
18 runs in their sixth ODI at Nagpur to take an
unbeatable series victory by 4-1. Andrew Symonds was
named 'man of the match' for striking a breathtaking 108
runs in just 88 balls.
Scores: Australia 317 for 8 wickets in 50
overs, India 299 for 7 wickets in 50 overs
Banned Akthar signs with IPL
Pakistan cricket board has given
permission for banned Shoaib Akhtar to sign a contract
to play for the Indian Premier League and he considers
it an honour to play in India.
Symonds not concerned on racist abuse
Andrew Symonds the Australian all rounder
is ready to play on in spite of racial abuse. For
Symonds it is not a big issue.
Flintoff, out of Tests to be played in
Sri Lanka.
The English and Wales Cricket Board has
confirmed that Andrew Flintoff England's all rounder
will not participate in the Tests against Sri Lanka in
December due to his ankle injury.
Hockey
Royal win 'Orville Abeynaike' memorial
trophy
Royal stickers beat S.Thomas' 4-0 to
deprive the Thomian's in regaining it after 8 long years
in their annual encounter played on the Astro Turf at
Reid Avenue.
Rugby
England in Rugby World Cup final
The defending champions England beat
France 14-9 in the first semi final over hosts France. A
massive booze party toasted the victory of England while
the France supporters were mourning...
Athletics
33rd National sports festival
Western Province took an early lead in
the opening day of the 33rd national sports festival
commenced, at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Tuesday
Rugby
Springboks tame Argentina in world cup
rugby
South Africa beat Argentina by a massive
margin of 37-13 in the second semi final and will meet
England in the final whom they beat 36-0 in a pool
game just a month back.
Weight Lifting
Three gold medals
The gold medalist at the recent
Commonwealth games in Melbourne established three
records in the weight lifting championships worked off
at the Kelaniya University Gymnasium at the 33rd
national sports festival.
Athletics
Jani Chathurangani de Silva back on track
Jani Chathurangani de Silva competing for
the first time after the controversial drug scandal last
year clocked 24,56 seconds to win the Women's 200 meters
at the Sugathadasa Stadium track.
Soccer
Uva Province wins gold
medal
Uva Province, Women's soccerrites won the
gold medal by defeating Central Province counterparts
1-0 in the final played under lights at the Sugathadasa
Stadium.
Badminton
Southern Province Men Central Province
Women win gold
Southern province shuttlers emerged Men's
champions while North Central Province took the Women's
gold at the badminton championships worked off at the
Badminton Association courts at Maitland Place.
Hockey
Western Province wins 2 golds
Western Province defeated North Central
Province to win the gold medal in both men's and women's
finals.
Athletics
Padmanadani Wijesundera wins her 16th
consecutive gold
National record holder Padmanandani
Wijesundera secured her 16th consecutive National Sports
festival gold in the Women's discus throw event when
she cleared a distance of 42.25 meters at the
Sugathadasa Stadium.
Wednesday
Cricket
Pollock and Oram sign for IPL
South African All rounder Shaun Pollock
and New Zealand's Jacob Oram have signed up for the
Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty/20 series. The number
who have already signed has risen to 25 foreign players
who have committed to the lucrative league due to
commence April next year.
Jamaica to probe death of Woolmer
Jamaican Police have not ruled out the
possibility of foul play in the death of former Pakistan
cricket coach Bob Woolmer which will be the subject of a
Coroner's inquest scheduled to commence.
Rugby
Asiad in Sri Lanka
Ten leading rugby playing nations in
Asia, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia,
India, Pakistan and minnows of Asian rugby Qatar and
Iran will play in the Asiad championships from November
3 to the 10 the after a long lapse of 17 years.
Hockey
Under 19 District Schools
Matale and Kandy districts clinched both
Boys and Girls titles in the inter district schools
hockey played at the Astro turf, Reid Avenue. The
tournament was organised by the Sri Lankan Schools
Hockey Association,
Athletics
Western Province retain title
The Western Province team with a huge
total of 220 points retained the President's trophy and
the overall title at the national sports festival
organised by the Ministry of Sports and Recreation
concluded at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Menaka wins gold in India
Sri Lanka's Menaka Wickremasinghe won the
gold medal in the Women's 400 meter event in the 4th
CISM Military games held in Hyderbad,India clocking
56,28 seconds..A total of 108 countries fielding over
7000 competitors are participating in this mega event.
Thursday
Cricket
Murali takes top CEAT Award 2007
Sri Lanka's champion off spinner Muttiah
Muralidharan has won the CEATS top cricket award, The
Ceat Cricketer of the year as well as the Best Bowlers
award while Sri Lankan Skipper, Mahela Jayawardena, has
been awarded The Best Batsman's award which will be
presented to them in Mumbai. Murali's award is of much
significance to him as he had been chosen for this award
twice before in the years 2000/2001 and 2001/2002
India defeat Australia in the 7thODI
In the final 7th ODI when world champions
Australia had already clinched the 'Fortune Trophy'
India only had to play for the loss pride,which they did
exactly through Mural Kartik's brilliant all round
performance when he captured 6 wickets in his 10 overs
for just 27 runs,3 of which were maidens and made an
unbeaten 21 runs to seal victory for India to complete
the series 4-2.
Scores: Australia 193 all out in 41.3
overs, India 195 for 8 wickets in 48 overs.
Sri Lanka 'A' a formidable 426 runs
A 141 run sixth wicket partnership
between Dilruwan Perera 75 and Kaushal Silva 63 helped
Sri Lanka 'A' to a total of 426 runs against a Zimbabwe
Select X1 played in Harare.
Scores: Sri Lanka 'A' 1st Innings 426 all
out, Zimbabwe Select XI 1st Innings 33 for no loss.
Rugby
Five Sri Lankan players to be axed
Five top Sri Lankan rugby players are to
be axed from the National squad for the next month's
Rugby Asiad tournament in Colombo after missing out on
training by opting to witness the current World Cup
matches in France.
Netball
Sri Lankan Airlines win
Netball title
Sri Lankan Airlines team ably led by goal
shoot Lakshani Gunatialke, Sri Lanka Airlines retained
the Travel Trade Sports Club Netball title beating Eden
Resort and Spa in the final
Friday
Cricket
Woolmer dies from heart disease
Heart disease was the likely culprit in
the death of Pakistan Coach, Bob Woolmer during the last
World Cup, a British paltologist had said.
Marvan for Aussies tour
The National Selection Committee, headed
by Ashantha de Mel had decided to include former
caption, Marvan Atapattu in the Sri Lanakan team for the
tour of Australia next month.
South Africa beat Pakistan
South Africa beat Pakistan by 45 runs in
the first D/N ODI at the Gadafi Stadium on Thursday.
Scores: South Africa 294 for 5 in 50
overs. Pakistan 249 all out.
Lanka 'A' leads by 223
After Collecting 426 runs in their first
innings Sri Lanka dismissed Zimbabwe Select XI for 203
to enjoy a lead of 223 runs
Compiled by Sunil Thenabadu |
