Rex Clementine Reviews SAF Test Tour-by Rex Clementine Source:Thuppahis Sri Lankan cricket has experienced a year of dramatic highs and sobering lows. Triumphs across formats—like breaking a 27-year ODI series drought against India, clinching a Test win in England after a decade, and securing a Test series victory over New Zealand after 14 years—are testaments to their resurgence. But the recent Test series defeat in South Africa has been a bitter pill to swallow, especially when a World Test Championship final berth seemed within reach. At the forefront of this rollercoaster ride is Sanath Jayasuriya, who has reinvigorated the team with his bold decisions and unwavering support for emerging players. However, the South African tour exposed significant gaps in Sri Lanka’s armour, leading to a 2-0 defeat. “It’s been a good turnaround overall, but this series was disappointing,” Jayasuriya admitted candidly. “We had moments of promise but couldn’t sustain pressure. Back home, ...

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Chamari Athapaththu, along with teammates Georgia Voll and Taneale Peschel, visited Drummoyne this week to experience the festival preparations firsthand.   source: Cricket Australia – CA Multicultural Media (eLanka)   Chamari Athapaththu, along with teammates Georgia Voll and Taneale Peschel, visited Drummoyne this week to experience the festival preparations firsthand. They met with henna painters and saw the giant posters of Chamari and Phoebe Litchfield. In a thrilling celebration of cricket and culture, Sydney Thunder will host a Cricket & Culture Festival at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday, November 17. The event will feature two exciting WBBL matches, showcasing the talents of Sri Lankan cricket star Chamari Athapaththu and her Sydney Thunder teammates.     Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox!   ...

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Winds of change indicate surge in Sri Lankan cricket.  Windies crushed in one- day rout. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  (eLanka Sports Editor) Sri Lanka’s white ball game has finally turned the corner with a comprehensive blitz of the West Indies in Pallekelle.  Brimming with confidence after a series win in the T20 format, the cock-a-hoop Lankans rammed home their new found belief to reduce the Windies to non competitors taking a unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series.  Two 5-wicket thrashings in as many games strongly suggests Sri Lanka has now stepped up to be noticed as a worthy competitor once more. The sudden swing in the winds of change, is a significant step in the right direction for Sri Lanka cricket, which like the country’s plight, was on a downward trend.  Things overall appears to have changed for the better as the country, and cricket have ...

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Richmond College Skippers spearhead Sri Lankan Cricket-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis After Charith Asalanka led Sri Lanka to hard-fought triumph against India recently   — see  …  and continues to captain the side in the two shortern-form games, Dhananjaya De Silva has stepped up as skipper, batsman, bowler and slip-fielder in leading Sri Lanka to a win against New Zealand in a tight TEST  MATCH contest at Galle this week. Dhananjaya …. & …. Asalanka Dhananjaya will savour this triumph in his home grounds of Galle (as I do too) and will, perhaps, emphasise the contributions of another Richmondite –namely Kamindu Mendis (an allrounder who happens to be ambidextrous and can bowl both left-arm and right-arm spin). Speaking here as a product of Galle, albeit from a rival college, I note that its about time for some cricketing aficianados from Richmond to pinpoint the services to Ceylon/Lankan cricket provided by Richmond College players  from the 1940s onwards.  Christie Karunaratne, Arnold ...

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Sri Lanka’s Triumph at The Oval Analysed & Weighed-by Nick Brookes Source:Thuppahis in his MURALI END site with this title “English Summer gives Sri Lanka Something to Build Upon”…… reproduced here with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi The scene couldn’t have been any less Sri Lankan. The skies were ashen and the clouds heavy; the harsh gusts of wind warned that winter was on its way. Sri Lanka’s support staff wore hoodies and woolly hats; even the English fielders clung to handwarmers. Yet, the awful weather couldn’t keep Sri Lanka’s fans away. Nor could it keep Pathum Nissanka quiet. As he nudged the ball past backward point – declaring Sri Lanka emphatic winners of the third Test – smiles lit up South London and lion flags fluttered all around The Oval. Sri Lanka had their fourth victory on English soil. Unexpected? Undoubtedly. Yet it’s hard to say that it wasn’t deserved. Of course, the ...

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Face-to-Face in Admonishment: Drama at the Adelaide Oval, 23rd January 1998-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Ashan de Alwis’s article in The Ceylon Journal Volume 1/1 published in mid-2024 is as readable and excellent an essay as anyone can wish for.[i] It focuses on the 50-over one-day cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka played at Adelaide Oval on the 23rd January 1999 and specifically on the no-balling of Muralitharan for throwing by umpire Ross Emerson and captain Arjuna Ranatunga’s unprecedented actions in challenging the umpire.[1] This account is supported by a graphic picture – as iconic as world-famous unusual. It does not fail to note that the Sri Lankan batsmen, batting second, did not let Murali or the fans down: led by a Mahela Jayawardene century, they reached the massive England total of 303 in the last over with the last man Murali at the crease. Ashan rightly notes that the “spirit of Sri Lanka was in full ...

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Rex Clementine & His Magical Moments-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Rex has travelled far and wide in keeping track of Sri Lankan cricket … and even banged into me in Adelaide. However, this bethrothal event would have been one of his happiest moments. I am stretching my ‘license’ and selecting other moments in his life’s work which must have been quite special; while inserting references to the occasions when he strode into ‘the parlour of the’Thuppahi site — a mansion that is usuallly selective in its choices. https://cricketique.wordpress.com/2019/02/24/how-sri-lanka-transformed-themselves-in-south-africa-rex-clementine/ How Sri Lanka Transformed Themselves in South Africa — Rex Clementine February 24, 2019 ONE: Rex Clementine in Port Elizabeth, Sunday Island, 25 February 2019 = Karunaratne credits change of team culture for series win” Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne has credited changing the dressing room environment for the success his team enjoyed in South Africa. Sri Lanka arrived in Johannesburg straight from Australia having suffered successive humiliating series defeats ...

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Principles to Guide the Choice of Lanka’s Cricket Selectors-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Rather exceptionally for a lad from the plantation Tamil peoples in the mid-20th century Chandra Schaffter was educated at St. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia. He excelled at hockey and cricket in particular and went on to represent Ceylon in both sports in the 1950s. He became one of the Cricket Selection Committee headed by DWL Lieversz and others in the 1960s. He went on to found the JANASHAKTHI insurance company in 1994 — an enterprise that has been so solid that it gave him time to serve as the Manager of Sri Lankan cricket teams in the decade 2000s. Chandra also took the meaningful step of organising SS ‘Chandra’ Perera’s unique collection of cricketing memorabilia and cuttings in the Janashakthi Book of Cricket in the year 1999 … ……….. a godsend to historians of cricket as well as those involved in social history. I was ...

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Chamari Athapaththu leads Sri Lanka to a clean sweep in their group. Semi-Finals will be engaging. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  (eLanka Sports Editor). Chamari Athapaththu led Sri Lanka on a run spree and into the Asia Cup semi- finals as the host nation swept aside Thailand in their final game of the group stages in Dambulla. Thailand had the consolation of winning the toss and electing to bat. Their good fortunes ended there as Sri Lanka romped to a 10 -wicket victory in a canter chasing a mediocre 94 for victory. The Thai batters floundered miserably against a full strength Sri Lanka bowling attack who kept them on a tight leash. And, at 6 for 53 off 14.1 overs, the writing was on the wall as to where the result was heading. All of Sri Lanka’s bowlers shared the seven Thai wickets to fall as they laboured to 93 ...

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Tamils in Ceylon Cricket, 1901-2024-by Michael Roberts source:Thuppahis DEAR FRIENDS, A major error by a Sri Lankan lady re Tamil representatives in Ceylon/Sri Lankan cricket in the exchanges in LINKED IN drives me to compose an item in TPS on the Tamil cricketers who played cricket for the island at the highest level in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Janashakthi Book on cricket sponsored by the Schaffters, which places SS Perera’s wonderful archive of work on the bookshelves, is an example of Sinhala Tamil cooperation that places sources for all manner of information on the island’s rich cricket history within our reach. While I will be scouring this work for data, I reach out here to aficionado seeking data (and photographs) displaying information on Tamils who represented Ceylon/Sri Lanka at the highest level in the years stretching from 1901 to 2024. We are, of course, aware of the political factors that reduced ...

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