Mahela Jayawardene, Janette Brittin and Shaun Pollock inducted into ICC Hall of Fame – by Sunil Thenabadu ( Sports editor – eLanka) Photo source: Daily mirror Photo Source:elanka via Daily News Photo source:Kyro Sports Mahela Jayawardene, Janette Brittin and Shaun Pollock have been announced by the International Cricket Conference as the latest inductees into the famed ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.  These three legends are to be inaugurated by fellow ICC Hall of fame Sir Clive Lloyd at the much-awaited final between New Zealand and Australia on Sunday the 14th November before the commencement of the match at the Dubai International Stadium.  ...

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T20 World Cup Winners List Year Wise Source:cricfann.com The Men’s T20 World Cup is a tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in which cricket teams from all around the world compete. Basically, there are 16 teams in which ten teams are selected from the top 10 rankings of the teams while the rest six are from the qualifiers of the previous World Cup. Generally, the T20 World Cup Winners List is held every two years but due to Covid-19 issues, the World Cup of 2020 couldn’t take place. Also in the year 2018, the World Cup was not played as ICC Championship Trophy took place in 2017. So, the idea of the World Cup for the next year dropped. The next T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in 2021 in UAE and Oman. The matches will be played in October and November. Earlier India was confirmed ...

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Sri Lanka Cricket appoints Mahela Jayawardene as consultant during T20 World Cup Source:Wionews Mahela Jayawardene has been appointed as the consultant of the Sri Lankan squad for the first round of the 2021 ICC Men`s T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Friday. Jayawardene, who is currently the head coach of the Mumbai Indians, will join the Sri Lanka team in UAE (Bio Bubble to Bio Bubble) immediately after the completion of the ongoing Indian Premier League. He will share his vast experience and provide invaluable strategic support for the players and management team during a 7-day period from October 16-23 when the team will play Namibia, Ireland, and the Netherlands as they seek to qualify for the Group Stages. ...

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The kid who came to Colombo to study law-by Rex Clementine In late 1990s, there was a kid from Kandy who came to Colombo to pursue his studies in law. In 1980s, the universities had been closed due to the JVP insurrection and as a result there was a backlog in enrolling students to complete their degrees.  The kid from Kandy had to wait for two years for his chance to enter university in a bid to become a lawyer going in the footsteps of his father. So with lot of spare time at his disposal, he decided to play some cricket and was employed by Informatics for a salary of Rs. 4000. Brendon Kuruppu was running cricket at Informatics. Around the same time, the national cricket team fared so poorly in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1999 in England despite being defending champions. Captain, seniors, cricket board and ...

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Ananda-Nalanda clash put off due to COVID-19 Action from an Under-19 cricket match Source:Dailynews The 92nd Battle of the Maroons Inter-School Big Match between traditional rivals Ananda College and Nalanda College which was scheduled for June 5 and 6 has been postponed due to the prevailing health situation in the country. The encounter was scheduled to be played in Colombo. Out of the 91 matches played, Ananda have won 14 with Nalanda accounting for five and 67 matches drawn. ...

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National Sports Strategy to focus on athletes – Mahela-by Dhammika Ratnaweera Mahela Jayawardene (Picture by Thushara Fernando) Source:Dailynews Chairman, National Sports Council (NSC) Mahela Jayawardene said that a national sports strategy will be launched to focus on athletes and to uplift their standard to the highest level in the future. The former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain made these comments during a media briefing held at the Sports Ministry Auditorium in Colombo on Wednesday. ...

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PAKISTAN’S LOVE OF SRI LANKA By Sanjeewa Jayaweera   Sanjeewa Jayaweera   Mr and Mrs Bhutto, Mrs Bandaranaike and the author’s father It was on 3rd January 1972 that our family arrived in Karachi from Moscow. Our departure from Moscow had been delayed for a few weeks due to the military confrontation between Pakistan and India. It ended on 16th December 1971. After that, international flights were not permitted for some time.    The contrast between Moscow and Karachi was unbelievable. First and foremost, Moscow’s temperature was near minus 40 degrees centigrade, while in Karachi, it was sunny and a warm 28 degrees centigrade. However, what struck us most was the extreme warmth with which the airport authorities greeted our family. As my father was a diplomat, we were quickly ushered to the airport’s VIP Lounge. We were in transit on our way to Rawalpindi, the airport serving the capital of ...

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‘We can turn the tables on England. This series is 50-50’ – Mahela Jayawardene Source:Island Jayawardene isn’t keen on taking up a permanent role in the Sri Lankan setup despite his status(Getty) Sri Lanka are raring to go ahead of facing an under-prepared England for a two-Test series, and the hosts see an opportunity for an upset.  England head into the series without Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes and with less than two days of match practice, while Sri Lanka are keen to bounce-back after a series defeat to South Africa.  Sportsmail’s Nasser Hussain caught up with Sri Lanka legend and Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene ahead of the series.  ...

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What’s England doing right in Sri Lanka -by Rex Clementine Source:Island There was a time when England barely lasted three days in Galle. The extreme heat, tracks that turned square and skilful spinners brought misery upon successive England teams. But they have found a way to turn the tide. What is England doing right to succeed in Sri Lankan conditions? In the last ten years, England have visited the island on three occasions and have never lost a series. The easy answer is to say that the Sri Lankan team has lost some big names and the team is in transition. That’s not the truth. When England squared the two match series in 2012, the big three – Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and T.M. Dilshan – were very much part of the side. So, they must be doing something right to do well here. ...

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SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS (JULY 2020) – Compiled by Victor Melder Former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has come in for criticism from all corners after the International Cricket Council denied claims that he had lodged a complaint with the game’s governing body in 2011 that the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was fixed. The ICC issued a statement hours after the Police department announced that they are dropping an ongoing investigations due to lack of evidence. Aluthgamage, who has a history of shooting from the hip, had claimed that he had evidence to prove that the closely contested 2011 final between India and Sri Lanka was fixed. Despite interrogating key members of the national cricket team and officials, the Police dropped the investigations as they did not suspect any foul play. The ICC meanwhile turned up the heat saying that they had nothing to feel suspect about the ...

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