Sri Lanka A Squad yearning for England A Stoush — Two Notices

Match schedule:
January 27: 1st ODI at Rangiri Dambulla ICS
January 29: 2nd ODI at Rangiri Dambulla ICS
January 31: 3rd ODI at Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala
February 3: 4th ODI at R. Premadasa ICS, Colombo
February 6: 5th ODI at R. Premadasa ICS, Colombo

“Kandambi’s army itching to prove a point” — by Naushad Amit in Sunday Times, 22 January 2012

Sri Lanka ‘A’ coach, Romesh Kaluwitharana speaking to the Sunday Times on the forthcoming series against England ‘A’ emphasised the need of exposure for the players who are expected to fit into the national side. He said while preparing the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side which is relatively stronger than before with a batch of 10 national players will take on England ‘A’ in a bilateral ODI series consisting five matches beginning from January 27.

“This series is played on home soil and much will be anticipated from the local cricket fans as we play at three different venues in the country. We have always made it a point to plan the games aiming to win as end of the day it’s an encounter. But from another aspect Sri Lanka ‘A’ is all about grooming players to the national team,” Kaluwitharana said.

Drugs for Lankan Sportsmen: Mendis and White under the gun

Saroj Pathirana, BBC Sinhala Service

The sports minister in Sri Lanka has said he will launch an investigation into allegations that the ministry’s own medical unit provided banned substances to some of the country’s sports personnel. Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage told the BBC Sinhala Service that he was sacking the head of the unit, Dr Geethanjana Mendis, and replacing the whole team with sports medical experts. “We have received numerous serious complaints from sports personnel and sports associations that individuals at the unit provided banned substances,” said Aluthgamage. “The unit also does not have any sports medical specialist. Under these circumstances, mainly due to the recent doping incidents, we need to strengthen the unit to conduct a wider anti-doping programme island-wide.”

Upali Dharmadasa, the SLC chief, slams Interim Committees

Saroj Pathirana, for the BBC Sinhala Service, 21 August 2011

The head of Sri Lanka Cricket says the continuous appointment of Interim Committtees  over the years to run the country’s richest sports body has paved the way for what he calls a greedy culture. Upali Dharmadasa, who was recently appointed by the sports minister as the new chairman of the chairman of the interim committee (IC), says that only two governing bodies were democratically elected since 1998. “The SLC has been controlled by nine interim committees, including me, since then,” he told BBC Sandeshaya. “This (the new culture) is a direct result of the appointment of interim committees.”

‘Injustice’: He said the continuous appointment of the ICs by consecutive governments is an injustice to the game of cricket. The IC chief described the recent controversy over a group of junior coaches refusing to provide voluntary assistance to organise the current Sri Lanka Vs Australia series as a ‘clear indication of the greedy culture created as a result of cricket management by ICs’.

Mr Dharmadasa said he took over the chairmanship of the new interim committee, on the request of the minister, to sort out alleged malpractices including financial irregularities during the recently concluded cricket World Cup and to pave the way for and elected governing body. “I would like to see that the clubs, affiliate clubs and district associations once again working to uplift cricket. That is what we had before,” the chairman who took over the reigns from DS de Silva on 01 July said.