Informed Commentary on the DRS in Cricket: CMJ, Tissera, Mahela and Others

Michael Roberts

I insert a series of opinions on the working of the DRS system from ex-cricketers and knowledgeable observers, commentary that is spiced at the end by Mahela Jayawardene’s response to questions from Tony Greig at a critical point during the Second Test match versus England in Sri Lanka. The sequence here is as follows

 

A: A web site reference to my slashing criticism of Indian cricketers and the Indian board for their position on the DRS in cricket, namely, Hegemonic Idiocy: BCCI and Dhoni on the DRS in cricket http://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/hegemonic-idiocy-bcci-and-dhoni-on-the-drs-in-cricket/

B: my “Exploring Reader Opinion, an Addendum” in http://www.islandcricket.lk/columns/michael_roberts/168720221/exploring-reader-opinions-an-addendum ……………..which, alas, drew no comment.

Mannar Cricket Initiative is taking off

This excellent initiative backed by the Mannar Urban Council and Jeremy Liyanage of Australia is set to take off — again. It has already attracted a few sponsors –see ADDENDUM at the end … and I am sure this posting will expand. Michael Roberts.

Introduction: For the first time in Mannar’s history the Mannar Premier League, a hard ball cricket tournament, was held in July 2011 and featured the eight best cricket teams in Mannar. Organized by Mannar’s own Periyakadai Star Eagle Sports Club, the event attracted key sponsors, Singer Plus, Kandy Tailors, Periyakadai Fishermen Co-operative Society and Diaspora Lanka as well as leading Tamil radio station, Sooriyan FM.Purpose: Mannar has emerged from thirty years of civil conflict. Although Mannar’s youngsters excel in various sports, there have been few opportunities for them to shine. Mannar has clearly demonstrated its football excellence with many school teams winning national championships. Now it is time for Mannar’s many promising young cricketers to develop their level of skills to national standards. The Mannar Premier League gives aspiring local cricketers a chance to compete with the best. This is an important time to encourage youngsters in sport, especially in the Northern Province, as this will help them recover more quickly from the adverse effects of the war and embrace peace in Sri Lanka.

Lankan Women gear up to face the Windies Women

The West Indies Women and Sri Lanka Women will be training on Monday and Tuesday at Kensington Oval ahead of the opening match in their eight-match series. At the conclusion of training a player or team official will be available to speak to the Media. 

Series Schedule

April 25: 1st ODI at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 9 am

April 27: 2nd ODI at Windward Cricket Club, Barbados – 9 am

April 29: 3rd ODI at Windward Cricket Club, Barbados – 9 am

May 1: 1st T20 at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 2:30 pm

May 2: 2nd T20 at Kensington Oval, Barbados – 2:30 pm

May 6: 3rd T20 at Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 2:30 pm

May 7: 4th T20 Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 6:30 pm

May 9: 5th T20 Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad – 2:30 pm

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History in the making as Shillingford prepare for “home” Test: Shane Shillingford is set to create history on Monday when

Hopps on Kumar Sangakkara and the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2012

David Hopps in cric info

When Kumar Sangakkara challenged Sri Lanka’s political establishment during the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s last summer, it came as no surprise. His powerful intellect comes with an impulsive nature and a principled belief in right and wrong; his strong sense of national identity carries with it an idealism about how his country should develop after its long terrorist war. The lecture provided a platform to examine the ethics of Sri Lankan cricket; scribbling his speech in spare moments during the England tour, he did not waste his opportunity.

“Writing that speech became a deep personal experience,” says Sangakkara. “I knew there were ways it could be misinterpreted, but it was a story I felt I needed to tell. I was greatly moved by the response, especially in Sri Lanka, where many people seemed to identify with what I was saying.”

Percy Abeysekara, Lanka’s Iconic Cheerleader

Rex Clementine,

The entire team rose up in respect when one of the greatest fast bowler to have played the game Sir Richard Hadlee paid a visit to the Sri Lankan dressing room during the first Test Match in Christchurch. While Hadlee collected a few autographs from the players, he apparently asked Chaminda Vaas how his great pal Percy Abeysekara was. Hadlee has been a great admirer of Percy and had even presented the Sri Lankan cheerleader some of his memorabilia after he saw the Sri Lankan’s knowledge and passion for the game. ‘Percy, don’t lose your voice, Sri Lanka needs it more than you,’ he’s supposed to have written in one of Percy’s autographs.
 
Many players have had a liking for this cheerleader. His knowledge of the game and its history is second to none and Percy comes up with certain anecdotes that stun you at times. Percy has been a usual visitor to the cricket ground even before the country gained Test status and present day Sri Lankan players call him affectionately ‘Uncle Percy’. No doubt that some of his comments have angered overseas players, but none of them have a had a row with him for they know that Percy doesn’t mean any harm. Today in ‘Outrageous moments of Sri Lanka Cricket’, we look back at some of those unforgettable comments by Percy the legend.

Sri Lanka’s men of letters recall English cricket’s class divide

Frank Keating, in The Guardian, 3 April 2012

Last week’s letter to the editor from Surrey reader David Robinson stirred memories of English cricket’s medieval class divisions when an ornate cluster of forenames and initials determined rank and precedence. How flamboyantly the abundance of initials sported by the current Sri Lanka Test side – from the Jayawardenes (DPMD and HAPW) to the luxuriant UWMBCA (Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanka) Welegedara – trump England’s ancient scorecard aristocracy of such as JWHT Douglas and Sir HDG Leveson Gower.

 UWMBCA Welagedera -Pic by Getty Images

Welagedara’s literally hits for six Sri Lanka’s all-time initial charts, beating the notable five of his new-ball predecessor WPUJC Vaas. History’s only England player to equal the four of Essex’s all-rounder and sometime Olympic pugilist John William Henry Tyler Douglas is Lancashire’s VPFA (Vernon Peter Fanshawe Archer) Royle, a one-cap wonder of 1878 who excelled at fielding in the deep and became a country parson.

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”!

Colts Clinch Premier League Title

Naushad Amit, in The Sunday Times, 1 April 2012

After years Colts managed to topple nine contenders to clinch the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Club Premier championship this season. Last season they missed a golden opportunity of regaining the title but were thwarted by the disappointing weather pattern which prevailed at that time. But this season the Colts lads were adamant that they will only settle down with a title which they could not claim last year.“We can call this year’s mission a sweet revenge for the reason that we were more or less foiled from clinching the title last year.

We begin every season with the aim of winning the championship and over the years we have been there are at least closer to the title. But this year was special,” asserted Nishantha Weerasinghe, the head coach of Colts.

Colts’ sixth win of the premier championship comes as an extraordinary feat for them. Sans their main contenders Angelo Matthews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Thissara Perera who were with the national side throughout that period and with the absence of the veteran duo, Chaminda Vaas and Jeewantha Kulatunga who opted to offer their places to youngsters, Colts mainly ran with the power of young blood. The notable seniors who were in the champion team were skipper Malinda Warnapura and spinners Dilruwan Perera and Sajeewa Weerakoon. Apart from these three, young and promising Roshen Silva played a key role for Colts’s success.

Evaluating Rangana Herath with Plaudits – Rex and Scyld

The Lessons We could learn from Herath –Rex Clementine in The Island, 31 March 2012

The country’s one of the most respected cricketers, Kumar Sangakkara once called Rangana Herath ‘the work horse’ of the team. Now that he has emerged as country’s premier bowler, we should talk about his other virtues as well and how tough the rise for him has been having represented two unfashionable entities – Maliyadeva Vidyalaya and Moors SC. (Only two seasons back he left Moors after an association of 14 years after the club got demoted).

Loyalty and perseverance are two virtues of Herath that we should admire. Although HeThe rath made his debut in 1999, opportunities were rare for him due to the presence of champion Muttiah Muralitharan and Sri Lanka always had Sanath Jayasuriya to bowl a bit of left-arm spin.

But occasionally Herath was used in Test cricket, particularly against Pakistan once John Dyson developed this idea that Pakistan were in fact susceptible against left-arm spin.

Sri Lankan Stars recollect First Test vs England in February1982

Island Collective, 25 March 2012

The First Test between Sri Lanka and England that gets underway tomorrow will be the 12th the tourists will be playing in the country. Thirty years ago, Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test was played at P. Sara Stadium, the venue for the second Test between the countries this time around. In today’s Sunday Island, some of stalwarts who played that game remember the inaugural Test, which Sri Lanka lost by seven wickets.

“We found out that we had been granted Test status in a Yorkshire hotel during our 1981 tour of England. We were very excited and there was huge expectation from both players and fans. In the 1975 World Cup, we had given Australia a real scare. We firmly believed that we were good enough to compete with the best in the world.” – Sidath Wettimuny.