Sanga to star in STAR SPORTS Commentary Team

Abhisek Patil in CRICKET AGE, April 2018 where the title is “Kumar Sangakkara Joins Star Sports India Commentary Team

Sri Lankan Legend Kumar Sangakkara has joined the illustrious Commentary team of Star Sports. The channel has just yesterday secured the Television Rights of BCCI’s Home bilateral series for next five years, in a whopping 6138.1 Crore bid. The channel has already secured media rights for the Lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

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Cricketers snapped Extraordinary

Rangaiyaa! Rangaaiyya! Budu Ammo! Herath raised aloft after securing a match fo Sr Lanka … or so one can imagine

Reflections on Sri Lanka’s Topsy-Turvy Journey in Cricket — Mark Nicholas

Mark Nicholas in ESPNcricinfo, 22 October 2018, where the title runs “Sri Lanka’s cricket legacy is glorious, but what does the future hold?”

The first two Sri Lankan cricketers to catch this observer’s eye were Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. Dias, slim and elegant at the crease, played the game in beautifully straight lines and had a hand in important moments during Sri Lanka’s early days at the top table, most especially against Pakistan and India. Mendis was a bull of a fellow on first look but the most genial of cricketers, whose explosive strokeplay at Lord’s in 1984 won him many a heart. It was for the Indians, however, that he reserved his very best cricket, making hundreds in both innings of the 1982 Madras Test and then leading his country to a famous series win in 1985 with a match-saving hundred in the final Test at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. It is close to impossible to describe how much this meant to his people. It was more than a victory for cricketers; it was a victory for character and for relevance – a precursor to the days when Arjuna Ranatunga would bow before no one in the pursuit of his country’s place in the world order.

England have taken a Leaf from Sri Lanka’s Ranatunga Book

Tanya Aldred in The Spin,8 October 2018  where the title is “How Sri Lanka’s magical 1996 cocktail paved the way for Morgan’s men”

Echoes of Arjuna Ranatunga’s World Cup-winning blueprint – potent spinners, pinch-hitting openers, bucket loads of confidence – can be seen in the England ODI side today

As England and Sri Lanka prepare for the five-match one-day series starting on Wednesday in Dambulla, a warm-up of sorts for the World Cup now less than eight months away, it feels the right time to stumble backwards 22 years, to one of cricket’s greatest stories.

On 17 March 1996, in the sultry atmosphere of Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s captain, lifted the World Cup high into the air. No one could quite believe it. Sri Lanka, the baby brother of the Asian block, the international whipping boys, had popped out of the hat, brandishing a party popper, a grin and a new kick-ass way of playing the game.

Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga celebrates with his team after winning the Cricket World Cup final against Australia in Lahore in 1996. Photograph: John Parkin/Getty Images

Chandimal’s Ball-Tampering and Responses to the Punishment

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, !8 june 2018, where the title is “Sweet v sandpaper – why Chandimal’s tampering is different”

Only two months ago, three Australia cricketers were slapped with long suspensions for their role in the ball tampering scandal in Cape Town. Dinesh Chandimal, however, is unlikely to face punishments beyond the one-Test suspension the ICC has dealt out for the tampering itself (the “spirit of cricket” charge is a separate one). Here is why the two incidents will be treated differently.

There is minimal outrage in Sri Lanka

Where Cricket Australia’s response was spurred by public condemnation of the Cape Town incident, Sri Lanka’s public has, at most, expressed only quiet disappointment so far. Two possible reasons why the public reactions have been dissimilar:

• Australian sportspeople are generally put on a high pedestal, and allegations of cheating – even for what was a Level 2 ICC offence – are taken seriously. Sri Lanka’s cricketers are widely admired, but do not face anywhere near the level of public scrutiny that many others from around the world contend with. Several former players, including the super-popular Kumar Sangakkara, have spoken of the relatively laidback nature of Sri Lankan fame. As such, there is not so high an expectation of morality, even from a Sri Lanka captain.

New Structure for Local Cricket Competition

Rex Clementine, in Island, 7 January 2018, with title “Domestic cricket set for complete overhaul”

Following the national cricket team’s disastrous showing in 2017 across all formats of the game, Sri Lanka Cricket has been under the pump for messing with the domestic cricket structure. SLC’s decision to increase the number of First Class teams from 14 to 24 had drawn much criticism forcing the Sports Ministry to intervene. It resulted in a high profile committee put in place to restructure domestic cricket and the committee has now forwarded its recommendations to the Ministry.

Former Test captains Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara were part of a high profile committee that was formed by the Sports Ministry to address the woes of domestic cricket.

Hathurusingha as New Broom?

Madushka Balasuriya, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, where the title is  Hathurusingha to enlist aid of former SL players, sports psychologist” …. Note–emphasis by highlighting has been added by The eDitor

The employment of a sports psychologist and tapping into the wealth of knowledge in Sri Lanka’s network of former players are among new coach Chandika Hathurusingha‘s first moves towards rehabilitating Sri Lanka Cricket.

“I will get Kumar Sangakkara‘s expertise and invite him to come and help us. If I don’t look for his help, then I will be wasting this opportunity I’ve been given,” Hathurusingha said to the media, following a prolonged training session with a pool of 23 players, some of whom will be travelling to Bangladesh next month.