Sri Lankan Cricketers to be targetted in Chennai

Special Correspondent

The Students Federation for Free Eelam is planning to petition the city police commissioner to urge him not to grant permission for the IPL cricket matches in Chennai, if Sri Lankan players are participating. The first IPL match this season is to be played between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium on April 6. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s application seeking a public resort licence to conduct the match is pending with the city police.

The federation’s state coordinator, V. Prabhakaran, said letters would be written to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, IPL team owners as well as stadium authorities to not permit Sri Lankans to play in Chennai as it would hurt the sentiments of Tamils in the State. “A decision to this effect was taken after a majority of youth, who responded to a questionnaire in Chennai on Sunday, concurred with our view that Sri Lankan players should not be allowed to play in Chennai,” he said. Earlier in the day, several teams of students went around distributing hundreds of questionnaires to youth in the city. Some of the questions were – are you aware of the Sri Lankan issue? Should Sri Lankan players be allowed to play IPL in Chennai? Do you support the ongoing students’ protests?

Percy is not PISSU, but he is still THERE

 Cheerleader Percy Abeysekera holds the Sri Lankan flag as Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews, front right, and Lahiru Thirimanne walk back to pavilion after winning the second cricket Test against Bangladesh in Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, Tuesday, March 19. Sri Lanka won by seven wickets. In the match, Mathews led Sri Lanka for the first time in Test cricket. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Way back in those halcyon days Pissu Percy used run round the boundary every time a Ceylonese and thereafter Sri Lankan batsman scored a four. He is now more sedate but… …..remains sharp=tongued …. and, like Peter Sellars, he is STILL THERE.

Aussie Wounds are Self-Inflicted

Ian Chappell, in the Sunday Mail 15 March  and Courier Mail

YOU have to give the Australian cricket team management credit for being innovators when it comes to streamlining the selection process.  Seriously, though, how did it reach a point where four players had to be suspended for minor disciplinary infractions? Why weren’t the team’s struggles sorted out face-to-face in the team room over a few drinks and a bit of candid conversation, rather than asking for suggestions by text or emailMany a stormy confrontation has cleared the air in a sporting team and allowed a side to move on to better things without any outsider being aware of the reason for the sudden form reversal.

Neil Perera laments the State of Sri Lanka Cricket in Open Letter to Sanath Jayasuriya

Dear Sanath,                        Stop the impending rot in Sri Lanka Cricket
 *Please accept my heartiest congratulations in your appointment as the Chairman of the Selection Committee.
* You richly deserve this job as your contribution to Sri Lanka Cricket is second to none. But you have a big task to clean up the place. Although we have some temporary success in the T20 and 50 over ODI’s, the future appears to be doomed after Mahela, Sanga and Dilshan gives up. Although we have a lot of young batting talent in Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne and a few others, they need a lot of exposure at the highest level to be able to be selective in their shot making. Now they take a lot of risks but with more experience they

Six and Six of the Womens’ BEST in cricket

Shasalika Siriwardane, Skipper & allrounder -Pic by Solaris

Sri Lankan women cricketers beat England in a thriller at Mumbai

• Sri Lanka won by one wicket off the last ball of the match – both are firsts in Women’s World Cup.
• Sri Lanka‘s total of 244 is the highest by any team batting second in the World Cup.
• It’s only the second successful run-chase of a target of 190 or more in 79 attempts in a World Cup game. The previous one was by New Zealand against India in 2009.
• Sri Lanka struck five sixes, including the final hit of the match. It’s the first time any side has struck more than four sixes in a World Cup game against England, and the second time in any ODI against them.

SEE http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-womens-world-cup-2013/content/current/story/603037.html  AND http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-womens-world-cup-2013/content/current/story/603046.html

Woman of the Match = LE Kaushalya ++

End of over 48 (16 runs) Sri Lanka Women 226/7 (13 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.70, RRR: 6.50) HMD Rasangika   8* (6b 1×4)   JL Gunn   5-0-32-1 LE Kaushalya   47* (36b 5×4 2×6)   KH Brunt   10-0-36-2
48.1	Hazell to Kaushalya, no run, plays and misses.
48.2	Hazell to Kaushalya, 1 run, driven down the ground to long off.
48.3	Hazell to Rasangika, 1 run, to the sweeper cover.
48.4	Hazell to Kaushalya, 1 run, hit down the ground to long on.
48.5	Hazell to Rasangika, OUT, hit in the air behind point and Elwiss takes the catch.
	HMD Rasangika c Elwiss b Hazell 9 (8b 1×4 0×6) SR: 112.50
48.6	Hazell to Surangika, 1 run, played to deep midwicket.
End of over 49 (4 runs) Sri Lanka Women 230/8 (9 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 4.69, RRR: 9.00) MADD Surangika   1* (1b)   D Hazell   9-0-44-1 LE Kaushalya   49* (39b 5×4 2×6)   JL Gunn   5-0-32-1
49.1	Elwiss to Surangika, 1 run, gets it to short fine leg.
49.2	Elwiss to Kaushalya, SIX, goes all the way over the fence for a six, over square leg.
49.3	Elwiss to Kaushalya, 1 run, oh! Elwiss has dropped the match, as Kaushalya miscues it high in the air.
49.4	Elwiss to Surangika, OUT, driven to mid-off, and what do we have now, a run out as Kaushalya takes off from the non-strikers end for a non-existant single.
	LE Kaushalya run out 56 (41b 5×4 3×6) SR: 136.58
49.5	Elwiss to Surangika, no run, driven straight to backward point.
49.6	Elwiss to Surangika, SIX, hit well in the air and over the midwicket fence and Sri Lanka win.
Sri Lanka Women win by 1 wicket, a historic win and a thrilling finish. Thanks for tuning in, do join us again on Sunday.Pat: “Get the boys… Who says women cricket is boring. Excellent chase by Sri Lanka and keeping cool under pressure.”
End of over 50 (12 runs) Sri Lanka Women 244/9 MADD Surangika   8* (5b 1×6)   GA Elwiss   7-0-39-2 S Ravikumar   0* (0b)   D Hazell   9-0-44-1

How Sri Lanka turned its women’s cricket around

Alison Mitchell 9 hours, 45 minutes ago in ICC Women’s World Cup 2013

 Sri Lanka celebrate a historic achievement, beating the defending champions England off the final ball © ICC/Solaris Images

I can’t think of a bigger upset in 40 years of Women’s World Cup cricket than Sri Lanka’s win over England. The defending champions lost to a side that had never beaten them before, and who didn’t win a single game at the last World Cup in 2009. It was a match that defied expectations and Sri Lanka have improved beyond recognition from the side I watched in both the 2005 and 2009 tournaments. There was a strength and sense of fight in this team built on a trust of their instincts and ability.

After the game, Sri Lanka players and friends lingered long on the verandah of the dressing rooms at the Cricket Club of India, while small square tables and wicker chairs began to be set out on the edge of the outfield for club members to enjoy dining in the evening sun. It was a happy melee, with team captain Shashikala Siriwardene grinning from ear to ear as she was congratulated by passers-by doing their nightly exercise on the walking track around the boundary.

A chat with team manager and selector ARM Aroos helped to shed some light on just how Sri Lanka have transformed themselves in the last couple of years. He pointed firstly to Sri Lanka Cricket contracts and match fees, which are now awarded at a rate of US$100 for an ODI and US$50 for a T20. The fees aren’t much, but the contracts provide a monthly income.

They were only introduced in 2011 and the injection of spending by SLC appears only to have started in earnest since then, even though SLC had responsibility for the women’s cricket in the country from as early as 2005, when the International Women’s Cricket Council merged with the ICC. Prior to that, women’s cricket on the island was coordinated by Gwen Herath, a tireless former president of the country’s Women’s Cricket Association. She ensured Sri Lanka became a member of the IWCC following the men’s World Cup win of 1996, and in 1997 Sri Lanka’s women played their first international matches. Victory over England is by far their biggest moment since then.

Besides the contracts, the women’s game has a strong domestic structure, based around schools and provincial tournaments. The country’s military plays a huge part in nurturing the best players, as the Sports Clubs of the Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force run teams that feature most of the players in the side that beat England. Players are contracted for up to five years at a time, not to work in the military but to play cricket, and those contracts could be worth 35,000 rupees per month (US$277 or £175). It is enough to make a difference.

As for the team’s celebrations after beating the reigning World Champions, Mr Aroos, who sees himself as something of a proud father figure to the players, declared “tonight, dinner is hosted by me!”

     ************                   **************

	England Women innings (50 overs maximum)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	CM Edwards*	b Kaushalya	9	15	2	0	60.00
	4.5 the ball was heading down the leg side, the ball deflects off the boots of Edwards onto the stumps. 22/1
	DN Wyatt	lbw b Seneviratna	15	18	3	0	83.33
	5.4 pitches outside the off stump and spins in to strike the pad in line and Wyatt is gone. 26/2
	A Brindle	run out (SS Weerakkody/Dolawatte)	31	64	3	0	48.43
	24.3 from Dolawatte, driven through the off side to extra cover, misfield and a chance for a run out and Brindle is out. 93/4
	LS Greenway	lbw b Seneviratna	2	7	0	0	28.57
	7.5 pitches on leg and middle and strikes the pad in line, another one bites the dust. 29/3
	HC Knight	b Dolawatte	38	62	2	0	61.29
	30.1 sweeps from outside the off stump and drags it back onto the stumps. 114/5
	JL Gunn	c †Surangika b Kaushalya	52	71	4	0	73.23
	46.6 Gunn makes room and edges to the keeper. 197/6
	A Jones†	b Siriwardene	41	49	4	0	83.67
	47.5 comes down the track and the ball goes through the gap and hits the stumps. 203/7
	KH Brunt	c Mendis b Siriwardene	12	5	1	1	240.00
	49.1 mishit in the air to mid-off. 223/8
	D Hazell	not out	19	8	3	0	237.50
	HL Colvin	not out	4	1	1	0	400.00
	Extras	(lb 3, w 12)	15
	Total	(8 wickets; 50 overs)	238	(4.76 runs per over)

Did not bat GA Elwiss

Fall of wickets 1-22 (Edwards, 4.5 ov), 2-26 (Wyatt, 5.4 ov), 3-29 (Greenway, 7.5 ov), 4-93 (Brindle, 24.3 ov), 5-114 (Knight, 30.1 ov), 6-197 (Gunn, 46.6 ov), 7-203 (Jones, 47.5 ov), 8-223 (Brunt, 49.1 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	LE Kaushalya	9	1	49	2	5.44	(3w)
	4.5 to Edwards, the ball was heading down the leg side, the ball deflects off the boots of Edwards onto the stumps. 22/146.6 to Gunn, Gunn makes room and edges to the keeper. 197/6
	SS Weerakkody	4	0	20	0	5.00	(2w)
	CR Seneviratna	8	0	35	2	4.37	(1w)
	5.4 to Wyatt, pitches outside the off stump and spins in to strike the pad in line and Wyatt is gone. 26/27.5 to Greenway, pitches on leg and middle and strikes the pad in line, another one bites the dust. 29/3
	S Ravikumar	9	0	35	0	3.88
	HASD Siriwardene	10	0	62	2	6.20	(2w)
	47.5 to Jones, comes down the track and the ball goes through the gap and hits the stumps. 203/749.1 to Brunt, mishit in the air to mid-off. 223/8
	SK Dolawatte	10	0	34	1	3.40
	30.1 to Knight, sweeps from outside the off stump and drags it back onto the stumps. 114/5

	Sri Lanka Women innings (target: 239 runs from 50 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	AC Jayangani	c Hazell b Brindle	62	72	7	1	86.11
	23.1 hits in the air straight to Hazell at mid-on. 103/1
	BYA Mendis	c Colvin b Brunt	46	90	6	0	51.11
	32.2 mistimes the short ball in the air and Colvin at midwicket takes the catch. 142/2
	HASD Siriwardene*	c Greenway b Elwiss	34	45	4	0	75.55
	35.5 hit in the air behind point and Greenway takes the catch. 153/4
	PM Weerakkody	b Elwiss	1	5	0	0	20.00
	33.5 plays across the line and gets bowled. 145/3
	SK Dolawatte	c Greenway b Brunt	4	10	0	0	40.00
	38.1 cut in the air straight to Greenway. 157/5
	LE Kaushalya	run out (Elwiss)	56	41	5	3	136.58
	49.4 Elwiss to Surangika, driven to mid-off, and what do we have now, a run out as Kaushalya takes off from the non-strikers end for a non-existant single. 238/9
	CR Seneviratna	b Gunn	14	23	1	0	60.86
	44.6 full and in the block-hole, Seneviratna is gone. 197/6
	SS Weerakkody	c †Jones b Brindle	0	1	0	0	0.00
	45.5 drives and finds the edge, Jones takes a good catch. 206/7
	HMD Rasangika	c Elwiss b Hazell	9	8	1	0	112.50
	48.5 hit in the air behind point and Elwiss takes the catch. 229/8
	MADD Surangika†	not out	8	5	0	1	160.00
	S Ravikumar	not out	0	0	0	0	-
	Extras	(w 10)	10
	Total	(9 wickets; 50 overs)	244	(4.88 runs per over)

Fall of wickets 1-103 (Jayangani, 23.1 ov), 2-142 (Mendis, 32.2 ov), 3-145 (PM Weerakkody, 33.5 ov), 4-153 (Siriwardene, 35.5 ov), 5-157 (Dolawatte, 38.1 ov), 6-197 (Seneviratna, 44.6 ov), 7-206 (SS Weerakkody, 45.5 ov), 8-229 (Rasangika, 48.5 ov), 9-238 (Kaushalya, 49.4 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	KH Brunt	10	0	36	2	3.60	(5w)
	32.2 to Mendis, mistimes the short ball in the air and Colvin at midwicket takes the catch. 142/238.1 to Dolawatte, cut in the air straight to Greenway. 157/5
	GA Elwiss	7	0	39	2	5.57	(2w)
	33.5 to PM Weerakkody, plays across the line and gets bowled. 145/335.5 to Siriwardene, hit in the air behind point and Greenway takes the catch. 153/4
	D Hazell	9	0	44	1	4.88	(1w)
	48.5 to Rasangika, hit in the air behind point and Elwiss takes the catch. 229/8
	HL Colvin	8	0	47	0	5.87
	A Brindle	9	0	38	2	4.22	(1w)
	23.1 to Jayangani, hits in the air straight to Hazell at mid-on. 103/145.5 to SS Weerakkody, drives and finds the edge, Jones takes a good catch. 206/7
	JL Gunn	5	0	32	1	6.40	(1w)
	44.6 to Seneviratna, full and in the block-hole, Seneviratna is gone. 197/6
	DN Wyatt	2	0	8	0	4.00

Match details

Toss Sri Lanka Women, who chose to field Points Sri Lanka Women 2, England Women 0

Women’s ODI debut A Jones (England Women) Player of the match LE Kaushalya (Sri Lanka Women)

Umpires GO Brathwaite (West Indies) and BB Pradhan (Nepal) TV umpire VA Kulkarni Match referee DT Jukes (England) Reserve umpire Sarika Prasad (Singapore)

SL Cricketers at Dinner in Adelaide–An Amateur’s Viewpoint

 filling glasses assiduously

 Signing bats 

Sri Lankan cricket fans … it takes all sorts

 Brits for Lanka … with a Dushy somewhere -at Premadasa Stadium

 Our most powerful fan! … and THEN there is JULIA

 the fans in Adelaide, 2013 …  and honkers at Sooriyawewa, 2011

as well as cheerful souls at Adelaide … and the massive gatherings at the MCG

Adelaide Oval during Sri Lanka’s Triumph at ODI Match vs Australia

 Mahela speaks at post-match ceremony

 The two teams shake hands at the end of the match

 Aussie mavericks rooting for Lanka !!

 Scoreboard -Adelaide Oval, a heritage landmark  Members Stand

part of the crowd of 12,000 odd — but not All sACA members turned up — Maybe why Oz lost?

 Sri Lanka’ss reserves on the boundary line  Mahela signs autographs

Sri Lanka wary of emotional distraction from expats

Wayne Smith, in  The Australian December 26

SENIOR Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara believes the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne will almost be like a home match for the visitors but that might not necessarily turn out to be a positive.  Sangakkara, who needs just 40 runs in this match to become only the 10th player i to reach 10,000 Test runs, spoke enthusiastically this week about the prospect of a big turn-out at the MCG from the expat Sri Lankan community. “It will affect the mentality of the side when they see such a lot of support in a foreign country,” Sangakkara said. “That sort of atmosphere will help us. But at the same time, it’s pretty important not to get carried away by your emotions and the occasion.”

Yet that applies outside the fence as well as inside, with the Tamil Refugee Council planning to use the occasion to protest against the Sri Lankan Government which, it claims, was guilty of war crimes against the Tamil Tigers during the bloody civil war and still is persecuting the Tamil community. The Tamil organisation maintains the Sri Lankan side is too closely aligned to the government which it asserts has used the cricketers to improve its standing internationally. Few Tamils are members of the team, although one of them, current vice-captain Angelo Mathews, has been nominated by retiring captain Mahela Jayawardene as the man to replace him. The leading wicket-taker in Test history, Muttiah Muralidaran, also is a Tamil.

Hitler’s confrontation with Sri Lankan cricket

SEE  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=03SaJojicyU