Atherton tweaks the the West Indians chasing moghuls in India … and elsewhere

Mike Atherton, in The Times and the Weekend Australian, 26 May 2009, with title “Swatting balls in Delhi doesn’t compare to facing up at Lord’s, it’s just Gaylic”

Pic by Getty Images

 

LET’S call it Gaylic, shall we, the language of the modern, supranational, jet-setting Twenty20 cricketer. It is almost universal now, cricket’s version of Esperanto if you like, and it doesn’t matter whether it is IPL, BPL, Big Bash or the original, the Friends Life t20, the language is the same – cash is the game – and the building blocks of this new language are taken from its founder, the biggest, baddest Twenty20 cricketer in town: Chris Gayle.

Gaylic was being played out over the loudspeakers with deafening effects during the first Test at Lord’s. While his fellow West Indians were fretting about swing, seam and the slope, and other variables that make batting at Lord’s in May such a difficult task, Gayle was freewheeling for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Every shot he played echoed all the way to Lord’s.

The Colombo Oval or “P Sara” — a historic venue as England search for redemption

Adam Mountford, for the BBC

Jonathan Agnew began his podcast with Geoff Boycott on Thursday talking about how romantics were dreaming of an historic England victory. Well if those romantics did not get the result they wished for in the first Test, they should at least be pleased with the venue for the second because the P Sara Stadium is an enchanting location. To give it its full name, the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium is the oldest cricket ground in Sri Lanka and is home to the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club.

The ground was famous for having a female curator named Amravati who worked at the P Sara for 40 years. Although she is long retired, her sister Saroja continues to be involved.  It is a little rough around the edges and there is clearly a last-gasp effort to get things ready in time for Tuesday’s 10am start, but the ground has a wonderful aura of history.

Its most famous feature is the beautiful ivy-covered scoreboard – surely one of the most distinctive on any international ground. When I visited, the scoreboard was showing a team total of 631 and when I asked one of the current groundsman what the wicket was like he just looked at me and said “it’s for the batsman”. I asked him whether England should play two frontline spinners and he said “it doesn’t matter”!

Sri Lanka’s Inaugural Test at the Colombo Oval remembered

Oliver Doward of  BBC Sport,

This Monday, England play Sri Lanka in what for the hosts will be their 211th Test match. Just over 30 years ago, Sri Lanka was making their Test bow, also against England, at Colombo’s Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium. For Sri Lanka, the match marked the end of a long wait for Test recognition. They first played first-class cricket as Ceylon in 1927 against the MCC and made their international debut at the 1975 World Cup.

For England, the contest came off the back of a gruelling tour of India. A 1-0 series defeat after six energy-sapping Tests was quite a come-down from the euphoria of the summer of 1981 when Mike Brearley’s men so famously retained the Ashes. Brearley had sauntered off into the sunset to be replaced by another wily veteran, Keith Fletcher, the Essex captain who had last played for England in 1977. After losing the first Test in Mumbai, Fletcher and England became increasingly frustrated tourists, complaining of ill health, poor accommodation, lifeless pitches and bad umpiring.

‘The Gnome’, as he was affectionately known, also had to contend with his fair share of off-field issues including clandestine conversations that would eventually result in the first ‘rebel tour’ of South Africa and the banishment of England’s record run-scorer Geoffrey Boycott, sent home for playing golf while off the field because of illness.

Lankan fans bajau as the side goes down at Adelaide

 Lankan fans begin to assemble beside Bradman Stand – midday

massed fans — in bajau

 Aussie Fans in the Bradman stand and cheer as the last wicket falls …

while the Sri Lankans stand quietly…

but then continue to trumpet sing and adhere to kaala beela joli karanava outside the  Adelaide Oval …

 … and two young Aussies join in the revelry

Sri Lankan Cricket as Entertaining, Vibrant Fun

Harry Solomons, with his title being “The Entertainers”

If there are two things I can say about the Sri Lankan cricket teams of recent years it is that there is never a dull moment about their cricket and that this current team has, win or lose, made all Sri Lankans very proud. Last Saturday I bumped into Mitchell Starc (Australia’s young fast bowler) at a cricket dinner. Mitchell had just lost his place in the finals of this Tri Series due to a fair “touch up” he had playing Sri Lanka. He told me that the Australians actually enjoy playing the Sri Lankans because while they play their cricket hard, they were friendly, relaxed, smiled and even spoke to the Australian players.

In Sri Lankan cricket lingo, there are two very jovial sayings which have been in use for more than 50 years.  .  .  and that is as far as I can remember. My Sinhalese (official Sri Lankan) is not the best and I stand corrected, but here goes

Näva gilunath.  .  .  Band Choon – meaning, even if the ship goes down, the band will still play (or is still in tune)

Win or Lose  . .  .    We Booze! – pretty self explanatory, but very true.

This typifies the way Sri Lanka play the game and the way the Sri Lankan supporters enjoy the game. Whether their team is winning or losing, you will see the Sri Lankan spectator still smiling and still “bopping” away. No doubt, many of us cricket followers have seen this all over the world.

Sri Lankan Cricketers entertained by Julia Gillard

Cricketing Stars to battle it out in Toronto

James Christie in the Globe & Mail, 16 February 2012 with title “Toronto cricket match will pit Asia vs. the world”

The most talented international cricketers to play under a Canadian roof in almost 20 years – a mixture of legends and up-and-comers – will meet at Rogers Centre on May 12 in an all-star match that organizers hope will be at catalyst to move the sport into the Canadian psyche. “We got the idea from watching NBA and NHL all-star games and we’re putting together a couple of good teams, one representing Asia and one International,” said Herb Choga, president of Kat Rose Inc., which is promoting the event with Cricket Canada.

Incursions and Excursions in and around Sri Lankan Cricket

BOOK EVENT at Premadasa Stadium in 2011 – courtesy of http://www.islandcricket.lk/columns/michael_roberts/155590201/incursions-and-excursions-in-and-around-sri-lankan-cricket

This presentation of my book Incursions and Excursions in and around Sri Lankan Cricket occurred at the R. Premadasa Stadium last year, during the World Cup 2011 squad’s practice session. It was deliberately timed before the quarter-finals of the World Cup because this author holds that the plaudits that should be extended to the cricketers remain valid, irrespective of the joys or sorrows attending the outcome of one game.

This gesture marks my appreciation of the achievements secured by the various Sri Lankan squads in recent years and, most significantly, the measured and calm manner in which they responded to the terrorist attack in Lahore on March 3, 2009, an event that is reviewed as Chapter VI in this book.

The book is available at Vijitha Yapa bookshops and at www.vijithayapa.com

                                                                                                                                                                     Pics by Eranga Jayawardena

 

India, IPL and Twenty20 Vision

Michael Atherton, in The Weekend Australian, 28-29 January 2012

CRICKET writers these days think long and hard before they pass judgment on the Indian game. The Twittersphere is awash with examples of irate Indian “supporters” lashing out at perceived slights.  The language of debate is always unreasonable and often disgraceful, a reminder that out east, cricket is much more than a game.

So reader comments need to be understood in that context where Indian cricket is concerned, which made those underneath a recent piece on Cricinfo all the more interesting. “Way to go”, “decision to be applauded”, “positive step for the right reasons”, “good decision”, “fantastic move” were just some of the comments and then, revealingly, “it should always be your country first, and then the rest”.

Darren Sammy turns down Bangla T20 Offer for domestic cricket

STATEMENT FROM DARREN SAMMY RE BANGLADESH PREMIER LEAGUE

I wish to thank the Bangladesh Premier League and Sylhet Royals for the offer to join the inaugural BPL. I am both humbled and honoured by this recognition of me as a professional cricketer. I have discussed with my family and given much thought and consideration to the offer and regrettably I have informed the BPL and the Sylhet Royals that I am unable to accept it at this stage.

While I enjoyed playing cricket in front the enthusiastic and passionate Bangladeshi fans the BPL’s schedule clashes with that of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional 4 Day Tournament. Participating in the BPL would mean missing the first four rounds of the Regional 4 Day.