Sports

Cricket’s finest gentleman Michael Tissera

Published

4 years ago

2021/11/28

Michael Tissera and Sir Garry Sobers give away the trophy named after them to Angelo Mathews as Sri Lanka won the maiden

by Rex Clementine

Next week, as the second Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies comes to a conclusion, Michael Tissera will be in Galle to give away Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne a trophy that bears his name and that of West Indies legend Sir Garry Sobers. Irrespective of the result of the second Test, Sri Lanka will retain the Sobers-Tissera Trophy having won the first Test. West Indies can only square the series and as the holders of the trophy, Sri Lanka will retain the title.

Sri Lanka’s current cricketers will do well to pick the brains of Tissera, an iconic figure in our game. He played the game at a time when the sport had no money and the perks that the current generation is enjoying, because of men like Tissera, Anura Tennekoon and many others of their generation who laid a solid foundation for the sport. Built on that strong foundation is the brand name called Sri Lankan cricket.

Tissera respects the game and he has taken the values of cricket to his personal life and to his business. That’s why he is so successful. These are factors that are missing in some young players for whom cricket is their profession and nothing beyond. Not just players, but there are many of us who make a living out of cricket, but do we take values of the game beyond our working spaces? That’s the best thing that we can learn from Tissera – respect the game, value it and stay humble.

Talent itself is a great blessing and it is important to respect that. That’s why Tissera is an exceptional role model.

A disciplined man, he has set the standards and others have simply followed. His unquestionable integrity as Chairman of Selectors ensured fair-play in team selections and politicians dare not challenge him.

When Tissera took over as Chairman of Selectors in 2002, Aravinda de Silva had faded away. His cricket was over. He was heavily focusing on his business. But having realized that Aravinda still had much to offer the game, he threw down a challenge to Aravinda. If you are interested, the number four position of the national cricket team is all yours. But on one condition. ‘You are overweight and you need to get fitter.’ Aravinda loves those challenges. He knew he had cricket in him and apparently in two months he lost 15 kilos. A lot of running around Independence Square and no fancy stuff like lamb, pork sausages, cakes and of course his favourite Kandos.

On his comeback, he was a revelation. Aravinda produced a double hundred in his last Test match, he was the star as Sri Lanka reached the finals of the Champions Trophy in 2002 beating Australia in the semis. Basically he carried the team on his shoulders during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Making runs on those bouncy tracks was child’s play for Aravinda. And Tissera knew the man better than many others. Some of those knocks were out of this world. They are the stuff that you dream of. All that was possible because of Tissera. He gave Aravinda a second chance. Every young man deserves a second chance. Had Tissera been managing the Sri Lankan cricket team, Kusal Mendis would have been like Babar Azam of Pakistan leading Sri Lanka not serving a suspension.

Tissera’s two year tenure as the Manager of the national cricket team was highly successful. Tom Moody was the Head Coach and the team reached new heights. England were thrashed 5-0 in their own backyard in 2006 and the team won many Test matches overseas. It all culminated with Sri Lanka reaching the finals of the 2007 World Cup.

That team had some tricky customers. Tissera’s brilliant man management skills saw there was smooth sailing. Moody can be ruthless, like a typical Aussie. You needed the calm head of Tissera to ensure that things did not get out of hand. Well, they did get out of hand at certain points, but no one spilled the beans. What happened on tour, stayed on tour. None dared leaking information.

Tissera is tough when he needs to be, but he is also a father figure when players need support. Straight out of school when Sanath Jayasuriya from Matara ended up at CCC it is people like Tissera who looked after him. He has done much more to help up and coming players. All silently though.

Good on Sidath Wettimuny as President of Sri Lanka Cricket for naming this trophy after one of the iconic figures of our game. It takes one great man to respect another.

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All-round Athapaththu helps Sri Lanka level series against Bangladesh

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/22

Priyan

Chamari Athapaththu bagged 3 for 36 [BCB]

Chamari Athapaththu’s all-round show helped Sri Lanka level the ODI series against Bangladesh in Rajshahi. The visitors won by four wickets after chasing down the home side’s sub-par 165 all out in 45.5 overs.

Athapaththu, who had missed the first match due to a finger injury, roared back into action with three wickets. She started off with Sarmin Sultana’s wicket in the 16th over, although the batter expressed her disbelief at the umpire’s lbw decision against her. Athapaththu then removed Sobhana Mostary in her next over by having her caught at square leg.

Nilakshika Silva then took a brilliant catch at mid-off to help Athapaththu take her third wicket when Ritu Moni had mistimed a cover drive in the 31st over. Sharmin Akhter, Bangladesh’s top-scorer from the first ODI, fell for a duck to Malki Madara in the fifth over.

Captain Nigar Sultana top-scored on Wednesday with 58 off 101 balls with four boundaries. She had little support at the other end, before Nimesha Meepage had her caught behind in the 41st over.

Madara, Meepage and Inoka Ranaweera took two wickets each while Kavisha Dilhari picked up one.

During the chase, Athapaththu dominated the Bangladesh attack despite little support from her top order. She made 40 off 39 balls with eight fours, before falling to left-arm spinner Nahida Akhter in the 17th over. Nahida gave her a send-off, with Athapaththu staring back at her for several seconds before walking off.

Harshitha Samarawickrema and Hansima Karunaratne then added 79 runs for the fourth wicket to get Sri Lanka close to the 166-run target. Samarawickrama made 50 off 76 balls with seven fours, while Karunaratne struck six fours in her 40 off 64 balls.

Nahida removed both batters, before getting Kaushini Nuthyangana to complete her four-wicket haul. Sultana Khatun and Moni, meanwhile, took one wicket each.

The third and final ODI of the three-match series will also be held in Rajshahi, on April 25.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 166 for 6 in 38.2 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 40, Harshitha Samarawickrama 50, Hansima Karunaratne 40; Sultana Khatun 1-36, Ritu Moni 1-27, Nahida Akter 4-21) beat Bangladesh Women 165 in 45.5 overs (Sarmin Sultana 25, Nigar Sultana 58, Nahider Akter 20; Malki Madara 2-30, Nimesha Meepage 2-29, Inoka Ranaweera 2-28, Chamari Athapaththu 3-36, ) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Dates Set for Lanka Premier League 2026

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/22

Priyan

Jaffna Kings won the 2024 edition of the LPL

The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 will be held from 10^th July to 5 August 2026.

The sixth edition of the much-anticipated T20 league will be played across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RPICS, Colombo; PICS, Pallekele; and RDICS, Dambulla.

The online portal for foreign player registration will open on 4^th May 2026.

The tournament will be conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder of the tournament.

The Lanka Premier League, Sri Lanka’s premier domestic T20 tournament with an international flavor, was launched in 2020.

Samantha Dodanwela, who is an Executive Committee Member of the SLC, will continue to function as the Tournament Director.

Latest News

Wasim Khan to step down as ICC’s general manager

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/22

Priyan

Wasim Khan took over from Geoff Allardice in May 2022 [Cricinfo]

Wasim Khan will step down as the ICC’s general manager, cricket after four years in the role.

Wasim took over from Geoff Allardice in May 2022, after Allardice assumed the CEO role at the ICC. Wasim had arrived at the ICC after nearly three years as the PCB’s CEO.

Wasim was the first British-born Muslim to play county cricket, turning out for Warwickshire in the mid-to-late 90s. A left-handed batter, he played 58 first-class matches and 30 List A matches for Warwickshire, Sussex and Derbyshire. He was part of Warwickshire’s county title-winning campaign in 1995, averaging nearly 50 through the season.

He has since built an impressive administrative career, including a stint as CEO at Leicestershire county and before that at Cricket Foundation where he helped transform Chance to Shine into a leading national cricket charity in the UK.

One of the main challenges during Wasim’s stint at the ICC was an increasingly cramped cricket schedule with more T20 and T10 leagues eating into the space for international cricket. But in the last Future Tours Programme (2023-27) which was finalised during his time, there was actually an increase in the amount of international cricket. The first ever Women’s FTP was also unveiled in this period.

Wasim will finish at the end of June and is set to take up another role from July. His impending exit follows the departure of several senior ICC officials over the last two years, including Allardice – replaced by Sanjog Gupta as CEO – Chris Tetley (head of evens) and Alex Marshall, who led the anti-corruption unit. Tetley has been replaced by Gaurav Saxena and Marshall by Andrew Ephgrave.

[Cricinfo]