Is our cricket going the same way as West Indies cricket? – By Sanjeewa Jayaweera Source : island Until 1977, when Kerry Packer set up the World Series Cricket (WSC) tournament, Australia and England took turns to hold the mantle of being the world’s top test-playing team; during this period, the West Indies did, on occasions, challenge the order of supremacy but were never able to be consistently good. The Indians and Pakistanis were competitive when playing at home but could not defeat the Australians in Australia. All that changed in 1979 when the Australian and English Boards and the ICC made peace with Kerry Packer. The West Indies team that emerged post the WSC were to dominate world cricket for nearly a decade and a half as they possessed a conveyor belt of fast bowlers and some brilliant batsmen. When playing in the WSC tournament, the West Indies team under ...

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ICC bans Sri Lanka Cricket for a second time for political interference. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports editor) The ICC has at long last cracked the whip over Sri Lanka’s political riddled cricket administration and governance by banning the country with immediate effect. The decision came shortly after Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister’s knee jerk reaction to a sub standard showing at the Cricket World Cup in India. Under Sri Lanka law, the Sports Ministry oversees all matters relating to sport. But in this instance all hell broke loose when the country, which has been successful in most editions of this tournament, was humbled by the lersser knowns, challenging the pride of a once fierce competitor. It is widely reported that Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe immediately used his powers to dissolve the existing administration headed by Shammi Silva and proceeded to install an interim committee headed by former ...

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Bangladesh and questionable umpiring make for a sad day in cricketing history.  Sr Lanka bow out of World Cup. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  (Elanka Sports Editor). Shakib Al Hassan and Marias Erasmus sensationally made cricketing history by making a blotch on the Spirit of Cricket adding insult to injury to Sri Lanka who confirmed their exit from the World Cup with a three wicket loss.  The combine brought back bizarre memories of the 1980’s when Austrlian Umpires Darrell Hair and Ross Emerson took centre stage by embarrassing Sri Lanka’s greatest bowler Mutthiah Muralitharan,  by calling him for chucking. It was a ruling they lived to regret. There were other unsavoury incidents involving Mankad and Trevor Chappell that would be best forgotten, then there was this. Angelo Matthews was given “timed out” without facing a ball while calling for another helmet when the strap on the one he had, broke. ...

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Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs furious after the batting debacle against India scoring only 55 runs, then losing to Afghanistan by 7 wickets – By  Sunil Thenabadu After this disastrous batting display against India collapsing for a paltry 55 runs ,thereafter to Afghanistan by seven wickets , to console the irritated fuming cricket fanatics very appropriately the Minister of sports and youth affairs Roshan Abeysinghe had requested the President and the supporting staff of the Sri Lanka Cricket to resign immediately before he takes drastic action. The Minster of sports and youth affairs Roshan Ranasinghe via his media division has expressed his discontentment on the dismal performance of our cricket team once again in the hands of India losing the WC encounter by a massive margin of 302 runs the worst defeat inflicted on Sri Lanka since participating in  all world cups from year 1975.The defeat recently has made all ...

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Sri Lanka win by 8 wickets against the West Indies at the cricket World Cup Qualifier games Source : ICC Cricket Wold Cup Website  West Indies: 243 Sri Lanka: 244/2 Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets (with 34 balls remaining) Pathum Nissanka (104), Dimuth Karunaratne (83), Maheesh Theekshana (4 for 34) ...

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Remembering an indefatigable icon-HON GAMINI DISSANAYAKE – By Sunil Thenabadu Tribute to Gamini Dissanayake: The endeavours of the late Gamini Dissanayake, while holding several Ministerial Portfolios other than spearheading the Mahaweli project, have helped vastly to uplift to a large extent the basic living standards, especially of the average citizen and made a tremendous impact on the economic revival of the country, which is of course is no exaggeration. Besides being dynamically engaged in our development progression, he found the time to be actively involved in the game of cricket; having held office as the President of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, (BCCSL, now known as Sri Lanka Cricket, SLC) from June 1981 to June 1989 and thereafter, for a brief period of four months, immediately prior to his tragic death in 1994; during which period he made loads of momentous contributions. Throughout the tenure of ...

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Dasun Shanaka inspires Sri Lanka leveller. But validity of Indian team selection under question – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE India’s arrogance backfired on them when Sri Lanka led by skipper Dasun Shanaka turned tables on them breathing new life to a questionable three game T20 series. Smarting from the first game loss to India’s second string, the pride if the Lion rose in defiance to beat India and level the T20 series reigniting casual interest in what appeared to be a listless contest. Dasun Shanaka led his team with pride in a man-of-the-match performance to give the visitors some respect in their 16-run win. While the decider is of academic interest, India’s disrespect of an opponent with their team selection suggests a few things. Did they plan this tour to generate financial benefit to the cash strapped Sri Lankans, or are they fearful of failure before the Australian leg ...

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India’s castle blown down by a mighty England huff and puff. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.     England huffed and puffed and blew India’s house down, much to the dismay of the ICC, the rest of all experts, and all expectations.  So, Asia in the form of Pakistan, take on England, and I would be a optimist to even venture on predicting a winner with two teams not really a popular choice who have made this World Cup final, and are capable of winning against anyone on their day.  Skipper Jos Buttler and Alex Hales smashed unbeaten 80 and 86 in whirlwind fashion to lead England on a romp to the final chasing 170. They achieved a par total with four overs to spare after an incredible run chase.  India provided the early fireworks led by prolific batters Virat Kohli 50 0ff40 balls, and Hardik Pandiya whose brutal ...

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Five ex-Schoolboy Cricketers of the Year in action at T20 World Cup – BY DINESH WEERAWANSA Source : sundayobserver Five former Observer SLT Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketers of the Year will be seen in action during the forthcoming T20 World Cup tournament which starts in Australia next week. Out of the five Sri Lankans in action, three will be playing for the national T20 team while the other two will be on duty as ICC officials. Bhanuka Rajapakse (2010 and 2011 winner), Kusal Mendis (2013 winner) and Charith Asalanka (2016 and 2016 winner) will be the Sri Lanka T20 players in action while the other two award-winning ICC officials will be the chief Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle (1979 winner) and ICC Elite Panel umpire Kumara Dharmasena (1989 winner). Besides Madugalle, the other ICC Match Referees in the panel are former Zimbabwe player Andrew Pycroft, ex-England star Christopher Broad and ex-Australian top order ...

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INTERNATIONAL CRICKET VENUES IN SRILANKA – By Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam On Wednesday February 17 1982, when Bob Willis bowled to Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka became the eighth test playing country in cricket. That moment was none symbolic than the country arriving as a force in cricket. The honour of hosting that match fell on Colombo Oval, later renamed as P. Saravanamuttu stadium, the home ground of Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club. In seven months since ICC decision to grant test status to Srilanka in July 1981, preparations had been made for this match, and more than £100,000 had been spent on modernising that venue, to increase the capacity to more than 20,000. Subsequently tests and international games have been staged in other venues such as Sinhalese Sports Club, Asgiriya ground Kandy, Galle esplanade, Premadasa stadium, Colombo Cricket Club, Dambulla stadium, Pallekele stadium and Rajapakse stadium.   ...

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