West Indies in England — Sammy’s reflections after the First Test

 

Darren Sammy said West Indies continued to show signs of a competitive edge, despite losing the first Test against England by five wickets on Monday at Lord’s here. The West Indies captain said he was “quite pleased” that his side had pushed the World No.1 Test side, but he felt there were areas where his side could tighten up, making them even more ready for action in future battles.
“We were told there were no fifth-day tickets printed,” said Sammy. “. . .But we took the game into the fifth day. The team continued to show the never-say-die attitude which we promised to bring out here in England. And we had some good performances from some of the players. We’ll take these positives into the next Test.”

Cricket starts to make noise in the United States

Liz Clarke, in The Washington Post, 21 May 2012

With the ear-popping crack of a bat, shouts of “Shabash!” rang out on a recent Sunday afternoon at Silver Spring’s Galway Park. “Shabash!” “Shabash!”  The Urdu word for “excellent,” shabash also is a term among cricket players worldwide — whether from India or Pakistan, England or Australia, Jamaica or Guyana — to cheer on outstanding batting, bowling and fielding, the game’s essential skills.

Among cricket’s stateside adherents, the most pressing goal at the moment is making Americans equally fluent in the world’s second-most popular sport, eclipsed only by soccer. To most Americans, cricket is a puzzlement. Even savvy sports fans know little more than it’s traditionally played in white trousers, involves a flat wooden bat and lots of running back and forth. Fewer still realize it has a rich tradition in the United States; it predates by 140 years the national pastime of baseball, which is cricket’s direct descendant.

Nigel Kerner and Sri Lanka Cricket

Neil Perera, in the Sunday Island, 12 February 2012

Nigel Kerner in an article entitled ‘A College of Guardians for  Cricket in Sri Lanka’ which appeared in ‘Sunday Island’ of February 5, has made  some very  valuable suggestions to resurrect Sri Lanka cricket from  the  depths of ignominy it has fallen in recent times. He has made a passing reference to me in the article as follows:  “I remember the BCCSL as it was way back when, with just Rs. 6 million in the  Bank and Neil Perera struggling valiantly and magnificently to hold the fiscal  administration reins at the time. Money was no master then. It was all love and  intent.”

I must apologise to Nigel for letting out a secret he wanted us  at the BCCSL at the time to keep. The year was 1992 and the financial position of the BCCSL was in  dire straits. Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka had just been awarded the staging of  the World Cup in 1996. The facilities available to our cricketers for training  at that time were minimal. The basic requirement of a gymnasium was not  available as the BCCSL budget did not allow any money for this purpose.

Nigel Kerner, who was on a visit to Sri Lanka from his second  home in England, dropped in at the BCCSL office and knowing that we were in  financial difficulties, inquired whether we had a gymnasium for the physical  training of our cricketers. He was shocked that we did not have any equipment at  all.

Anura Tennekoon talks about Lankan cricket in the past with Firdose Moonda

“We had to prove ourselves in every game” — Tennekoon in Q and A with Firdose Moonda, 5 February 2012, courtesy of ESPN cricinfo

We didn’t have helmets. Players’ reactions had to be better. We watched the ball better – it was the natural instinct to survive. When you don’t have a helmet, you won’t hook in front of your face. You will step inside the line and hook. I got hit on the nose while trying to hook in club cricket.

When I started playing, cricket was very much an amateur sport. The engagements Ceylon got against international sides happened when, for example, England were travelling to Australia. They would stop and play a game. India and Pakistan also gave us games quite regularly.

I can put my feet up now but I don’t wish to do that. I will probably get involved with a bit of coaching. I would love to coach my old school team.

Sri Lankan cricket’s proudest moment was the World Cup final in 1996. I was witness to it in Lahore. The PCB invited me. It was a dream come true. That really put us on the map and also helped our administration, because we became more of a marketable team.

Those were the days: wine, women & dance all night as prep for a Test hundred

Martin Wiliamson courtesy of cricinfo where the title is “A Test hundred with a hangover”

Batting at the highest level is hard enough, but doing so with a raging hangover adds another dimension to the challenge.  At Lord’s in 1973, Garry Sobers, one of the greatest players to have graced the game, did just that, and what’s more, scored what turned out to be his 26th and final Test hundred. Sobers had been left out of the West Indies squad for the three-Test series in the second half of the 1973 English summer. He was almost 37, increasingly hampered by knee problems, and it was generally believed his international career was behind him.  By early July his form for Nottinghamshire was very ordinary – 436 runs at 36.33 and 12 wickets – but when a string of injuries left the touring side short, he was asked to help out. He scored fifties in the second innings at The Oval and Edgbaston, and also picked up three wickets in each game with the new ball.

West Indies headed to Lord’s for the third and final Test with a 1-0 series lead, thanks to a big win at The Oval.  Rohan Kanhai won the toss, batted, and by the close of the first day West Indies had reached 335 for 4 with Sobers unbeaten on 31. Sobers was known as someone who was likely to be in the mood for a party, even during a major match. “I rarely went to bed at a normal time because I am one of those people who can have four or five hours’ sleep and still wake up fresh,” he admitted. “It was well known I liked a drink after play.  My philosophy was that life is for living… I played hard and drank reasonably hard on occasions. I had to make sure those late nights could continue by maintaining a consistently high level of performance.”

Wallaby Rugger Man to scrum down for Australian cricket

Peter Lalor, in The Australian 14 Oct. 2011, with title “”Cricket Australia picks a Wallaby, Pat Howard, to lead the way”

THE man appointed to lead Australian cricket out of the ash-strewn wilderness has played 20 Tests, but they did not involve stumps, red balls or lunch breaks. Pat Howard, 37, a former rugby international, was yesterday appointed to the new position of Cricket Australia’s general manager team performance. He played 20 Tests for the Wallabies during the 1990s and was recently the high-performance manager for the Australian Rugby Union, but admits his cricket playing experience is rather limited.

Gamini Goonasena: Tribute to a legend

Rodney Cavalier

Former Sri Lanka captain Gamini Goonasena died in Canberra last week. Gamini was a familiar name to us who were born after the War and grew up inSydney. Just as were being captured by the glories of cricket, we encountered Gamini Goonasena. He was a player out of the ordinary. Such a striking name. A black in a team of whites. Gamini was born in a country then called Ceylon. As a child of Empire, he was playing county cricket in England, first for Nottingham, then Cambridge University. He was a right-arm leg-spinner who gave the ball plenty of flight. When the wickets were helpful he could bring off prodigious spin. He was more than a useful batsman: his score of 211 in the annualOxfordvCambridgematch in 1957 remains the record for a Cambridgebatsman. He played seven times for the Gentlemen against the Players, itself a record.