SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS – MAY 2017 –  Compiled by Victor Melder

Sri Lanka Cricket has hired the services of former fast bowling great Alan Donald, known as ‘white lightning’ for the national cricket team’s Champions Trophy campaign to be played in England and Wales next month, SLC announced. Donald (50), South Africa’s greatest fast bowler will arrive in the island today and he is expected to address the media at SLC headquarters on Tuesday. His presence makes Sri Lanka’s coaching staff all South African with Head Coach Graham Ford and Fielding Coach Nic Pothas being the others. Donald will work with the team during the Training and Conditioning Programme that will take place in Kandy from 9th to 16th May. He will travel with the team to England and will participate in the two week training camp in Kent prior to Champions Trophy. Donald has been heavily into coaching since his retirement in 2003 having been involved with South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England . Donald was South Africa’s main weapon when they returned to international cricket after apartheid in 1992. His raw pace and pinpoint accuracy troubled batsmen all over the world and he went onto become the first South African to take 300 Test wickets. He was the mentor of several South African fast bowlers like Shaun Pollock, Makaya Ntini and Andre Nel. Legend has it that when Nel felled his hero with a fierce bouncer during a First-Class match, the bowler burst into tears when Donald was forced to leave the field. It later emerged that he was following instructions from coach Ray Jennings to target South Africa’s premier fast bowler. Donald toured Sri Lanka under Kepler Wessles in 1993 and humbled the hosts pairing up with left-arm quick Brett Schutlz on unresponsive wickets. (Daily Mirror 1.5.2017)

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) suffered a massive blow when former captain Aravinda de Silva stepped down from the Cricket Committee, the advisory body to SLC on cricket matters. The 51-year-old de Silva had headed the Cricket Committee since 2016 and was responsible for putting up the coaching structure as SLC stepped into modernised coaching methods. His visionary thinking had benefited the national team hugely and when Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0 in the Test series last year, captain Angelo Mathews singled out his contributions for the historic win. De Silva was not available for comments yesterday, but sources told The Island that SLC had snubbed the former great in recent times when taking major policy decisions. De Silva was functioning in an honourary capacity as the Head of Cricket Committee. It is learnt that some leading figures attached to SLC had continued to ignore the role of Cricket Committee and had failed to attend its meetings. Since his retirement from the game in 2003, De Silva has been involved with SLC in several capacities, mainly as Chairman of Selectors and Chairman of Cricket Committee dedicating his valuable time despite his hectic schedule due to business interests. He has also served in the ICC Cricket Committee. Former great Kumar Sangakkara, who was captain when De Silva was Chairman of Selectors, from 2009 to 2011, has time and again praised the latter’s contributions and his no-nonsense approach as a selector. (Daily Mirror 5.5.2017)

Scotland bet Sri Lanka by 7 wickets to win, their practice match against Sri Lanka (Scotland tour of England), in their match played at Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 287 in 49.5 Overs (Chandimal 79, Kapugedera 71, M.D.K.J. Perera 57, Whittingham 3/56, Evans 3/62, Sole 2/64)
Scotland – 291/3 in 42.5 Overs (Coetzer 118, Cross 106, Mathews 1/35, N.L.T.C.Perera 1/62, Sandakan 1/66)

Sri Lankan cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara said he will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the present English county championship season in September. The 39-year-old — fifth in the list of all-time Test run scorers averaging more than 57 runs in 134 Tests, making 11 double centuries — is still in prime form having scored two centuries for Surrey in their match with Middlesex which finished on Monday. However, Sangakkara — also one of the all-time great limited overs batsmen and a member of the Sri Lanka side that reached both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals (losing to Australia and India respectively) — said he could sense the time was right to retire. “You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you’re ahead,” Sangakkara, who was a pivotal member of the Sri Lanka team that lifted the 2014 World Twenty20 trophy and lost in both the 2009 and 2012 finals, told the BBC. “It’s the last time I’ll play a four-day game here. I’ll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket.” Sangakkara, who formed a swashbuckling partnership on many occasions with fellow Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, said he didn’t want to make the error of overstaying his welcome. “The biggest mistake that sometimes you can make is that you think you’re better than you really are,” he said. “Cricketers, or any sort of sportsperson, have an expiry date and you need to walk away. “I have been very lucky to play for as long as I did so but there’s a lot more life to be lived away from the game.” (Daily Mirror 24.5.2017)

Sri Lanka beat Scotland by 9 wickets, in their practice match against Scotland (Scotland tour of England), played at Kent County Crickety Ground, Beckenham. Scores:
Scotland – 166 in 42.1 Overs (Wallace 46, Cross 27, Evans 22, Sandakan 4/94, Kulasekera 2/23, Prasanna 2/28)
Sri Lanka – 170/1 in 22.5 Overs (Mendis 74no, Tharanga 53no, Dickwella 29, Evans 1/29)

Australia beat Sri Lanka by 2 wickets, in the ICC Champions Trophy Warm-Up played at Kennington Oval, London. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 318/7 in 50 Overs (Mathews 95, Gunaratna 70, Dickwella 41, Prasanna 31, Kapugedera 30, Henriques 3/46, Head 1/13)
Australia – 319/8 in 49.4 Overs (Finch 137, Head 85no, Pradeep 3/57, Sandakan 2/69, Malinga 1/32, Gunaratne 1/36)

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets, in the ICC Champions Trophy Warm-Up played at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 356/8 in 50 Overs (Tharanga 110, Mendis 57, Chandimal 55, Boult 2/47, Southee 2/48, de Grandhomme 1/16)
New Zealand – 359/4 in 46.1 Overs (Guptil 116, Williamson 88, Anderson 50no, Latham 44, Prasanna 2/63)