Sports

A champagne exit from Lord’s

Published

6 years ago

2020/08/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

36th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s first ever Test match at Lord’s – Part 3

by Rohan Wijeyaratna

The story of this match will serve as a testament not only to the abilities of the 1984 Sri Lankan team, but also to the long cricketing tradition established through the commitment of many generations of past Ceylon cricketers, the country’s wonderful nurseries – the schools, the indefatigable coaches and the clubs that dot the island. All of them played an unseen hand in moulding the Sri Lankan sporting pedigree; an outpouring of which was seen on the first two days at Lord’s. Even though it appeared at the start that there would be only one winner and the game would be one-sided, by the end of day two many were of the view that the most agreeable cricket they witnessed during the entire summer was played on the first two days of this Test at Lord’s and the more deserving side was now on the ascendancy. Denis Compton when I met him at the end of day two put things in perspective. “You chaps today taught us how to bat” he said with disarming candour. There could have been no greater praise, coming from probably England’s finest post war batsman. Others of note – including Tom Graveney expressed similar sentiments. These were indeed heady days for all those who were from the Sri Lankan camp, be they players or spectators alike.

End of two epic innings

There was greater purpose and hurry seen in the Sri Lankan approach when play resumed on Day three. Mendis heaved at anything and everything, while Wettimuny was happy, playing away from his body and relying on his previous day’s form and eye. Something had to give, and it did. Wettimuny forcing Allott on the off from where he stood, managed to deflect a catch behind. That announced the end of an epic feat of endurance which lasted altogether, 642 minutes. It was till then, the longest innings ever in a Test match at Lord’s, and served as the cornerstone upon which the entire innings was built. Shortly thereafter, Mendis heaved at Pocock and holed out to Fowler at long-on. With each of those exits, the crowd rose, as a mark of their appreciation of two magnificently contrasting styles of play which lit up Lord’s in the two preceding days. The applause was long and sustained.

The Sri Lankan intention now appeared plain as pikestaff. De Mel being no mug with the bat, dealt some mighty blows while little Aravinda on his Test debut produced a stroke filled short burst before Mendis declared at 491 for 7. It was the highest ever score by a team playing their maiden Test in England. The closure left Sri Lanka 20 minutes of bowling before lunch.

Posterity might have been better served had the Lankans registered 500 in their very first Test outing at Lord’s, but the decision to close was not without an attacking intent. England were low in form and down in spirit, and to attack them with the new ball on either side of lunch, would give the Lankans their best chance of grabbing some early wickets. Or so they thought.

England’s first requirement was making 292 to avoid the embarrassment of a follow-on. After Fowler had escaped a near catch in the gully to the very first ball from De Mel, Vinothen John bowled a lot of tripe from the other end. It was embarrassing to watch a string of full tosses being delivered at a time when the calling was to put the batsmen under pressure. At lunch, England profiting from this unexpected windfall, were 32 for 0, after 5 overs of rapid batting. With ‘DS’ not making an appearance due to an ankle injury, bleak times portended for the Lankans.

Wretchedly out of form ….

Shortly after resumption, Fowler departed, slicing a catch to second slip. That heralded the most extraordinary passage of play in the match. Vinothen John had by now settled down while De Mel kept steaming in, giving all he got. But they both were far from menacing. The third seamer Ratnayake was largely innocuous, while D.S. de Silva making his appearance only after lunch, bowled his stock-in- trade top spinners nursing a sprained ankle. Against an attack so debilitated, Tavare and Broad went into near slumber. What followed was perhaps the most forgettable passage of play seen in a Lord’s Test for a long time. In 27 dreary overs between lunch and tea, England advanced by 49 runs, with Broad making 19 of them. Together with Tavare, the pair prodded and pushed with infuriating ordinariness, while making the Sri Lankan bowlers seem twice as threatening as they actually were. The batsmen were so out of touch, they allowed ample time and opportunity for a hopelessly ill tuned Sri Lankan attack to find its feet and some rhythm. Tavare having batted toothlessly for 20 overs, advanced to 12 by tea and when he finally went shortly after resumption for 14, he left behind the memory of a man who was so wretchedly out of form, he could hardly hit the ball outside the square.

Woodcock said it all….

Broad not to be outdone was similarly comatose. While surviving two close lbw decisions from a tireless De Mel, he was twice dropped into the bargain. Gower the new man in, was only marginally better. By close of play 29 overs after tea, the pair had added only 58 runs more to England’s teatime score. The crowd expressed their disapproval unreservedly with some heavy barracking rarely heard at Lord’s. The two sessions since lunch had produced only 107 runs against an attack that was out of fitness and out of form. England were 139 for 2 by the close, with only 105 runs coming off their last 56 overs. John Woodcock writing in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ said “No self-respecting club side would have been content with the way England batted”. And that said it all.

England had the whole of the rest day to digest all the scorn heaped upon them in all forms of the media and bar room conversations. And if one thought there would be a reformed approach to entertain the sparse crowd on Monday, they were mistaken. In fact, by the end of the 4th day, it was generally felt that those who had stayed away from the cricket had been wise; they hadn’t missed much at all.

Lacked imagination

When play resumed on day four Broad and Gower played as though their intention was to bat out the entire day; never mind the prevailing crowd sentiment. England made 71 in the morning session for the loss of Broad shortly before lunch. When De Mel removed Gower with the second new ball shortly after lunch and Botham soon followed, England were 218 for five; still some distance away from avoiding the follow on.

England averted that ignominy through a Lamb – Ellison partnership which realised 87 priceless runs together. Lamb grassed by the keeper when on 36, went on to complete his 4th Test hundred of the summer and when Ellison went for 41, the tireless De Mel accounted for both Downton and Allott in successive balls. With the exit of Pocock and then Lamb off the last ball of the day England were all out for 370, and were trailing Sri Lanka by 121 runs with one more day to go.

Had England the imagination or desire to give themselves the slightest sniff at a possible chance of victory, they might have rotated the strike and pushed up the run rate, allowing themselves the opportunity to declare sometime after the follow on was averted. But Gower ‘s intransigence and lack of enterprise had been a feature throughout the match. Accordingly, Sri Lanka went into the fifth day, knowing full well the game would only be one of academic interest. Allott pulling a muscle left the proceedings after only one over, while Agnew’s front foot was eternally at odds with the popping crease. This meant that Pocock had to manfully bear the brunt of the attack, along with Botham who was finally reduced to bowling off spin to men adept at playing them in their sleep. That he captured six of the seven wickets to fall may not fully reflect the merit of his performance, although initially, he found some rhythm and swing and snaked a few past the defense of some of the early batsmen. During this effort, Botham surpassed both Fred Trueman and Lance Gibbs’ Test wicket hauls and became the third in line, behind Dennis Lillee and Bob Willis in the all time highest wicket takers’ list at the time. With the 80th over bowled, Sri Lanka declared, to bring to a close a game which was meandering without purpose. It was an ending the tired Englishmen embraced with open arms and a huge sigh of relief.

Near twin centuries

But that ending came not before another show-piece effort from Mendis who came within a whisker of making twin centuries in his debut Test at Lord’s. Had he done so he would have joined the famous George Headley as only the second in the game’s history to do so. Mendis biffed the bowling with such gay abandon, he made 94 in 97 balls in just over two hours of batting, while reducing Botham to bowling off spin off just two paces, as the effort of a run up wasn’t worth it. Apart from Mendis, the white-helmeted Amal Silva contributed to the score with an unbeaten 102. It was his maiden first class hundred and in only his second Test match.

Unprecedented publicity

No one would deny Sri Lanka’s magnificent showing at Lord’s added considerably to their rising cricketing stock. In fact, no amount of Ambassadors or Politicians could have matched or done more to get their country such creditworthy mention in every single major English newspaper and every single BBC World Service news bulletin for the better part of a week. Had they a more penetrative attack and had their fielding been consistently sharper, the Lankans might have pulled off an improbable win and added to England’s woeful record of losing every single Test match that summer. Though drawn, England were at the receiving end for most of the match and deserved the sobriquet of possibly, the weakest Test team among the seven Test playing nations at the time. While it was an unforgettable Test match for the Sri Lankans, for England the experience was a bolt out of the blue and brought down the curtain on a most forgettable summer.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Balogun reprieve in vain as Belgium beat USA to set up Spain quarterfinal

Published

15 hours ago

2026/07/7

Priyan

Matt Freese of the United States reacts after Belgium's third goal scored by Hans Vanaken of Belgium [Aljazeera]

Belgium dumped USA out of their own World Cup on Monday, as Charles De Ketelaere’s brace secured a 4-1 win that was eclipsed by the bitter row over Folarin Balogun’s ban.

Victory means the Belgians face Spain in the quarterfinals, while the USA follow the other World Cup cohosts, Canada and Mexico, out of the tournament with elimination in the round of 16 after a thoroughly flat performance.

All attention pre-game had been on Balogun’s place in the USA starting lineup, after US President Donald Trump had asked FIFA to review the striker’s one-game suspension for a red card, and the governing body controversially obliged.

Belgium’s starting lineup had a few surprises of its own, with Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku among the heavyweights benched. But coach Rudi Garcia’s gambit proved inspired, with De Ketelaere grabbing an early goal to puncture the feel-good vibes in Seattle.

Malik Tillman grabbed one back from a free kick, but De Ketelaere swiftly restored Belgium’s lead. A catastrophic piece of goalkeeping by Matt Freese and a late Romelu Lukaku goal left the Americans dead and buried.

FIFA’s move to suspend Balogun’s ban after he was sent off in the previous round against Bosnia and Herzegovina has been slammed by football fans, pundits and players around the world, but there were no such misgivings among the Seattle crowd.

A colossal roar greeted the stadium announcement of Balogun’s name in the starting lineup, vastly dwarfing the cheers even for USA talisman Christian Pulisic.

The “USA” thunderclap then echoed around the stadium, utterly drowning out a small corner of chanting Belgium fans in the opening minutes.

But the American party was swiftly silenced. The majority of 67,000 fans fell silent in the ninth minute as De Ketelaere scored, easily tapping home from close range after Nicolas Raskin’s cross evaded some lax defending.

It was the first time the Americans had conceded the opener all tournament. With the atmosphere deflated, no immediate fightback was visible on the pitch either. The midfield was outgunned, and the defence looked nervous.

On the half-hour mark, Balogun drew a foul on the edge of the area and whipped the crowd back to life. He waved his arms frantically as Tillman – fresh from scoring a free kick against Bosnia – lined up the ball.

Tillman’s shot deflected off the Belgian wall and spun into the net, and the stadium shook.

But the joy was again short-lived. In the 33rd minute, De Ketelaere leapt up to meet Leandro Trossard’s cross, and comfortably out-jumped an off-balance Tim Ream to score his second.

The US inched back into the game as the first half closed out, with Balogun blasting over from a long Tillman throw, then narrowly failing to catch a long ball, again from the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder.

US coach Mauricio Pochettino switched formation at half-time, sending Gio Reyna into the number 10 role and pushing Weston McKennie out to the right. The Americans resumed play with more intensity, pushing higher up the pitch.

But self-inflicted disaster struck in the 57th minute. Freese came out to collect a Belgium long ball, turned to evade the charging De Ketelaere, but then hesitated with his pass.

De Ketelaere jabbed the ball to Hans Vanaken, who made no mistake with an open goal from long range.

Pulisic limped off with an injury minutes later, and with him went the US dreams of reaching a first World Cup quarterfinal since 2002.

His replacement, Sebastian Berhalter, flashed an ambitious shot narrowly wide in the 79th minute, and Balogun had a close-range effort saved soon after.

But Chris Richards handed the ball to Lukaku in stoppage time, and the veteran striker did not hesitate to seal the rout.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Trump confirms he asked Fifa to review Balogun ban

Published

17 hours ago

2026/07/7

Priyan

President Donald Trump has confirmed he asked Fifa to review United States striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match suspension at the World Cup.

Balogun, 25, was set to miss his side’s last-16 tie against Belgium after being shown a straight red card for a foul on Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic in the previous round.

But Fifa made the shock decision to suspend the automatic one match ban for 12 months, leading to widespread criticism, including from Uefa, Belgium and England boss Thomas Tuchel.

Fifa’s decision frees US forward Balogun, who has scored three goals at this summer’s tournament, to be selected for the match in Seattle, which kicks off at 17:00 local time (01:00 BST on Tuesday).

The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) says it is “astonished” by the move and has told the United States Soccer Federation it “contests the eligibility” of Balogun playing in the tie after its appeal against the decision was dismissed.

Trump said football’s world governing body “made the right decision”, adding it would have left a “big stain” on the tournament had the ban been implemented.

Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said he had asked Fifa to review the decision because he “didn’t think it was a foul”.

He confirmed he had spoken to Fifa president Gianni Infantino but said “all” he did was ask for a review and added he did not tell the Swiss he had to suspend Balogun’s ban.

Trump added: “I think it [the suspension] would have left a big stain. I can’t tell them what to do. I don’t believe they made the decision; I believe it was the commission that made the decision. And it was the right decision.”

However, European football governing body Uefa said it left the integrity of football at stake.

Trump also said referee Raphael Claus’ decision to send off Balogun was “horrible” and called the Brazilian “a little bit suspect”.

In response, the Brazilian football conferdation (CBF) defended Claus’ integrity, stating: “There is nothing in his record that discredits him or gives grounds for any suspicion. He is an exemplary professional.”

In a statement on X, Infantino said that on receiving a call from Trump, he told the US President there was “an ongoing legal process involving Fifa’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies”.

The Fifa appeal committee deemed Belgium are not an interested party as they were not involved in the original decision and are merely the United States’ next opponents.

“The request was rendered inadmissible on the grounds that the Belgian FA is not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,” said Fifa in a statement.

This means Balogun will be free to play against Belgium because there is no party who would appeal against the decision.

The RBFA said it has “still not received any grounds” for the Fifa appeal committee rejecting its appeal and is still awaiting information requested, including the “motivation [for] declearing the player eligible as well as the referee’s report”.

The RBFA added this is a “breach” of Fifa regulations.

When asked by BBC Sport about Trump’s comments and his view on Claus, Fifa said it had “nothing more” to add.

Infantino later stated Fifa’s judicial bodies were “independent” and rulings “must always be respected”.

He added: “I read the decisions of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree.

“What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant.

“Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of Fifa at all times.”

In raising its concerns, the RBFA said: “Regardless of the sporting outcome of this match, the RBFA is deeply concerned by the course of events and will continue to fight in the coming hours, days and months in defence of the fundamental principles of ethics, fair competition, and the interests of football as a whole.”

England head coach Thomas Tuchel said the ruling set a dangerous precedent.

Tuchel had defender Jarell Quansah sent off in a dramatic 3-2 win over Mexico.

“Where to draw the line is the question that I ask,” he said. “I have no answer to that.

“Do we appeal if a yellow card is not a yellow card? Do we think it is not a red card or who thinks it? Where does this start and where does this end? It’s my question. I don’t have an answer.”

Uefa said intervening to effectively cancel a suspension at a tournament “crossed a red line”.

Of the 189 other red cards at the World Cup, only once has a player escaped a suspension.

That was Brazil’s Garrincha in 1962 – before automatic bans were in place, and the failure to impose a sanction was shrouded in allegations of political interference.

Fifa cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which gives authority to partially suspended disciplinary measures, in announcing Balogun’s one-match ban would be suspended for a probationary period of one year.

In an 871-word statement released later on Monday, Fifa again outlined the process in which article 27 can be used, but gave no further reasoning behind the specific decision to suspend Balogun’s one-match ban.

The Swiss Football Association, whose side face Colombia in the last 16 on Tuesday, called the decision “incomprehensible”, adding it “raises ‌questions and creates ⁠uncertainty, particularly regarding the authority of referees’ decisions, especially when the video assistant referee (VAR) is involved”.

[BBC]

Latest News

Late Spain goal eliminates Portugal, ends Ronaldo’s international career?

Published

17 hours ago

2026/07/7

Priyan

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo with his hands on his hips [Aljazeera]

Mikel Merino scored in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, and Spain beat Portugal 1-0 on Monday to likely end the World Cup career of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

After being fouled, Merino took a quick free kick, ran towards the goal and fired past goalkeeper Diogo Costa after a pass from Ferran Torres.

Spain advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning its only World Cup title in 2010 in South Africa. La Roja will play either the USA or Belgium on Friday at Los Angeles Stadium.

Ronaldo was trying to get Portugal to the quarterfinals for a second consecutive tournament – something the nation has not achieved before. Instead, his career on the biggest stage is likely over for the all-time leader in international goals (146) and appearances (233).

Merino did not come on as a sub until the 85th minute, and his heads-up play showed some of the versatility that helped Arsenal win its first Premier League title in more than 20 years in May. He had been doubtful to make Spain’s squad because of injuries, which also impacted his Premier League season.

The latest meeting of the Iberian Peninsula rivals – who first played a friendly in Madrid 105 years ago – was quite the contrast to their most recent World Cup match.

It was eight years ago that Ronaldo had his only World Cup hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Spain, a group-stage opener considered one of the tournament’s best games.

The 41-year-old superstar scored three times in this tournament, but did not have many chances against Spain’s Unai Simon.

La Roja had created better chances, but extra time and possibly penalties loomed until Merino’s late intervention.

Spain's Mikel Merino scores their first goal — *Spain’s Mikel Merino scores their first goal [Aljazeera]*

Spain broke a World Cup record with its sixth consecutive clean sheet, and goalkeeper Simon extended his record shutout streak to 609 minutes.

Spain broke its tie with Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10) for the most consecutive World Cup matches not allowing a goal. Spain’s streak began with a 0-0 draw in the 2022 round of 16, when Morocco advanced after a penalty shootout.

There was also a surprising scoreless draw against Cape Verde to open group play in this tournament, followed by four consecutive shutout victories to advance to the quarterfinals.

Simon surpassed the previous record of 517 consecutive scoreless minutes during a 3-0 blanking of Austria to open the knockout round on Thursday. Famed Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga set the standard in 1990 with five consecutive clean sheets in his home World Cup.

Simon’s shutout streak started in 2022 in Qatar, during a 2-1 loss to Japan to wrap up group play.

He came into the Portugal game having made only four saves in this World Cup – Austria had no shots on target – and on Monday in Arlington, Simon had to make two saves in the first half against Portugal, both from shots by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The second of those saves was an impressive diving stop when he was still in midair after reaching back to grab the ball with both hands.