Sports

Sajith: Small steps can help win big

Published

6 years ago

2020/09/3

by Reemus Fernando

Respected track and field coach Sajith Jayalal, the guru behind the success of highest ranked Sri Lankan athlete, believes that achieving tough Olympic qualifying standards is a matter of proper management of athletes and coordination of a diverse range of professionals from psychologists, nutritionists to doctors to get the best out of top athletes. “You don’t need big investments on infrastructure to achieve top performances. You can leap-frog to top international standards without being stagnated at Asian level if you can make available the services of professionals who can address nutritional, health, psychological and other issues of athletes,” said Jayalal in an interview with The Island.

Jayalal who is also the Director of the National Institute of Sports Sciences has trained numerous athletes to excel at international level and is the coach of steeplechaser Nilani Ratnayake who has come closer to achieving Olympic qualifying standards in track and field sports. In the absence of her pet event Ratnayake clinched two golds in her supporting events (1,500m, 5,000m) at the last South Asian Games.

“Look at the number of professionals working around athletes winning at Asian level. There is the coach, the officials from the federation, physio, psychologist, nutritionist and many others. These professionals work together to improve standards. I urge authorities to get involved to make this happen here. The coach is isolated here. You don’t need to spend big to achieve this,” Jayalal opined.

“At junior level, a coach can play several roles but at elite level it is different. You need only to have a system in place. I have under me several athletes who win at Asian level. There are others who train such athletes. If they can obtain the support of these professionals I have mentioned, Sri Lanka can win big,” said Jayalal.

“Coach should do the technical part. The training part. There are people who are willing to support without monetary gain. I am speaking as a coach not as the Director of an institution attached to the ministry of Sports. I am coaching because I have a burning desire to do that. I am not paid for coaching. There are people like that. Doctors, nutritionists and others who are willing to help. What we need is that help. Not money. What we need is the mechanism to bring these resource persons together to support elite athletes.

Jayalal also stressed the importance of managing athletes and their affairs. “I have had enough talented athletes but there was no one to manage them apart from me. There should be someone from the Association to manage the athletes in the elite pool. There should be a qualified individual to do that. For example I am not willing to send my athletes to Colombo from Boralanda even for a meeting conducted by Sri Lanka Athletics if that meeting falls during a peak training week. By sending my athletes I will be ruining the whole build up to that week. Since my athlete is not coming to the meeting, some other athlete in Colombo also takes that as an excuse to skip the meeting. I have to negotiate with the head of Sri Lanka Athletics to resolve matters. These matters should be taken care of by a manager. Managing these is a different area when it comes to elite level.”

Absence of quality and safe supplements for recovery has been the bone of contention. The veteran coach stressed the importance of regulating supplements. “We are afraid of taking protein supplements because there are no safe places to purchase them. If we do not provide athletes with correct nutrients and legal means of obtaining them then they will opt to take what ever available. There should be some responsible institution or company who could be trusted to provide pure protein supplements not contaminated with banned substances.”

Sajith Jayalal has dozens of his elite athletes engaged in high altitude training at Boralanda where the climatic conditions remain dry making it possible to maintain an uninterrupted training programme compared to Nuwara Eliya. While Ratnayake is based in Diyatalawa with Sri Lanka Army looking after the well-being of the athlete, some of his other elite athletes are housed at a rented place in Boralanda.

Speaking on Sri Lanka’s prospects of qualifying for Olympics Jayalal had this to say.

“Olympic qualifying standard have become tough. But if we prepare strategically we can qualify in several events. We can have hopes on the mix relay. Qualifying in the 100 metres relays will be really tough. According to what we observed before the lock down we had a chance in 400 metres relays. If we manage the athletes properly we can have hopes of qualifying. Hiruni Wijeratne (marathoner) is already doing well in the US. Then we have Sumeda Ranasinghe (javelin thrower), Nilani Ratnayake, even the two women’s 800 metres runners (Gayanthika Abeyratne and Nimali Liyanarachchi). Though the qualifying standards is high if they can break the national record they might come closer achieving entry standards. Then we have the men’s long jumpers. If five of our athletes could qualify for Olympics then we can build on that to succeed at regional international events. Coaches should work hard to achieve that.”

Lack of quality competitions had hampered the preparation of many a top level athlete in the past. The prevailing health issues around the world emanating from the Covid 19 pandemic has worsened the situation preventing the possibilities of taking part in competitions overseas in the immediate future. Jayalal said that tough competitions were necessary to improve standards. “We do not have proper competitions. We get Singapore Open or Thailand Open. We don’t get challenged at those races. We win by big leads there. For the elite athletes we need tough competitions. Where we get beaten. We must compete in competitions in Kazakhstan, Bahrain and India and if possible events in the European circuit where we can strive to be among the first five.”

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England Women appoint Leah Poulton as managing director

Published

5 hours ago

2026/09/9

Priyan

Leah Poulton will become Managing Director, England Women [Cricinfo]

Leah Poulton the former Australia batter turned coach and administrator, will join England Women as managing director, succeeding Clare Connor.

Poulton will be charged with overseeing the success of the international team and pathways after the ECB cited her “impressive track record driving women’s cricket forward in Australia”.

Poulton earned 90 caps for Australia before retiring in 2015 and has spent the past six years as head of elite female cricket at Cricket New South Wales. There, she oversees cricket performance operations across two WBBL franchises, women’s state cricket and one of the world’s largest women’s cricket talent pathways.

Before that, she spent three years at Cricket Australia as a High Performance Coach, where she was instrumental in setting up Australia’s enviable women’s high-performance pathway, which included developing the Australia A and Under-19s women’s teams.

In her new role, she will be accountable for the performances of England Women, England Women A, England Women Under-19s and the overall women’s high-performance system.

Poulton will start in her new role in November with England set to host the Women’s Ashes next summer. She fills the role vacated by Connor, who announced earlier this year that she would be leaving the ECB after a career spanning 18 years, and will work closely with England Women’s head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

“I’m incredibly excited and honoured to be joining England, and to have the opportunity to help shape our programmes and, most importantly, invest in our people,” Poulton said. “I’m looking forward to working with Charlotte, Nat and the wider team, building on the strong foundations already in place and taking the programme forward.

“I know how vital strong pathways and a healthy domestic game are to sustained success, so I’m looking forward to connecting with people across the game and helping give the next generation of English players every opportunity to thrive. It’s a huge privilege to be part of England Women, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Richard Gould, the ECB’s CEO, said that with the senior women’s team had made under Edwards, appointed last year, and having reached the final of their recent home T20 World Cup, England Women were well placed for a successful era.

“I’m delighted to welcome Leah on board to help us build on this and take us to the next level,” Gould said. “She has a deep understanding of international cricket from her playing career and has built an impressive reputation in her time in administration.

“I believe she and Lottie will be a formidable combination, and will continue the team’s progress and development as we compete for the ICC Women’s Champions Trophy and Women’s Ashes in 2027.”

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Avindu makes history with first World University gold for Sri Lanka

Published

7 hours ago

2026/09/9

Priyan

University of Sri Jayewardenepura weightlifter Avindu Liyanagedara made history yesterday by becoming the first Sri Lankan university student to win a gold medal at a World University sports event, as Sri Lanka made a spectacular start to the 2026 World University Weightlifting Championship in Doha, Qatar.

‎Liyanagedara won the men’s 60kg title, while Sabaragamuwa University’s Nipun Dissanayake added a bronze medal in the 65kg category on the opening day of the championship.

‎Liyanagedara lifted 105kg in the snatch and 132kg in the clean and jerk for an impressive combined total of 237kg.

‎Spain’s Gomez Martinez took the silver with 228kg, while Chun-Yen Tang of Chinese Taipei won bronze with 227kg.

‎Dissanayake also secured a podium finish in the 65kg class with a total of 220kg, comprising a 100kg snatch and a 120kg clean and jerk.

‎Iran’s Mohhadov Tehran won the gold with 289kg, with Moldova’s Ion Badanev taking silver with 288kg.

‎Liyanagedara’s achievement represents a landmark breakthrough for Sri Lankan university sport. His gold is the first gold medal won by a Sri Lankan university student at a World University sports event, while Dissanayake’s bronze further strengthened the country’s historic opening-day showing.

‎The Sri Lanka University Sports Association has entered five male and two female athletes for the championship, with University of Colombo’s Sujan Walgampaya serving as team manager and coach.

‎The championship continues in Doha until September 12, with Sri Lanka already assured of a memorable place in the history of World University sport through Liyanagedara’s historic gold medal.

Sports

Quicks, rotate them and look after them

Published

17 hours ago

2026/09/9

Sahan Weerasooriya

Dushmantha Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka are a treat to watch when on full flow but both have been injured all too frequently.

by Rex Clementine

Despite the disappointment over how Sri Lanka’s cricket teams have fared in recent years, there is one format in which they have managed to hold their heads high, ODI cricket. There are a couple of notable feathers in their cap too, having beaten Australia and India, the world’s two top ranked teams and finalists at the last World Cup.

Those impressive performances against the heavyweights have ensured that Sri Lanka are out of the woods this time around. Unlike ahead of the 2023 World Cup, they will not have to endure the indignity of a qualifying tournament to book their ticket to South Africa in 2027.

How they fare once they get there, of course, is another question altogether.

Sri Lanka failed to progress beyond the first round in both 2019 and 2023, a sharp contrast to their impressive run from 2003 to 2015. Across those four World Cups, they twice finished runners-up, reached a semi-final on another occasion and made the quarter-finals in the other.

If Sri Lanka are to make an impact in South Africa, one thing they must do is wrap their fast bowlers in cotton wool. Fast bowling has been one of the brighter areas of Sri Lankan cricket in recent years and there can hardly be a better place to cash in than South Africa, where hard, bouncy surfaces tend to put a spring in the step of any quick worth his salt.

The key man, obviously, is Dushmantha Chameera. The quickest bowler in the country, Chameera is now being used only in white ball cricket and that should make workload management considerably easier. Sri Lanka would be wise to count how many limited overs games they have between now and the World Cup rather than wheel him out for every bilateral contest.

Keep him for the important assignments, such as the Asia Cup. Then there is the IPL, where he will understandably want to ply his trade. Manage him sensibly and by the time the World Cup comes around this time next year, Sri Lanka could have a fresh and firing Chameera rather than one held together by strapping and hope.

Then there is Asitha Fernando, whose progress over the last five years has been remarkable. Currently ranked just outside the top ten among Test bowlers, he has earned admiration for his ability to make things happen, particularly with the older ball. He keeps asking questions even when conditions are against him.

A stint with Glamorgan last year appears to have added a few more tricks to his armoury as well. Asitha is no longer simply a wholehearted fast bowler. He is developing into a clever one.

Lahiru Kumara is another serious weapon. The second quickest bowler in the country behind Chameera, he can be devastating when fully fit. His career should probably have produced far more by now, but, like Chameera, injuries have repeatedly applied the handbrake.

Eshan Malinga, meanwhile, has arguably been the most improved fast bowler in the country over the last 12 months. He has pace, guile and every time you watch him, there seems to be another little trick added to his repertoire. The upcoming series against England should tell us plenty about how far he has come.

Eshan has already become a regular fixture for his IPL franchise. It should only be a matter of time before he establishes himself in similar fashion for Sri Lanka.

Then there is Dilshan Madushanka to provide the left-arm variety. When in full flow, he is a treat to watch. His ability to strike with the new ball makes him particularly valuable and when batters attempt to force the pace against him, he can be deadly. Used aggressively during the Power Play, he should provide plenty of early breakthroughs.

That makes Sri Lanka’s use of their quicks during the upcoming tour of England, particularly in the ODIs, worth watching closely. With the World Cup in mind, there is little sense in flogging the same men game after game. Rotate them, manage them and make sure the main weapons are still firing when the bigger battles arrive.

There are also Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara, the two slingers, although that style of bowling increasingly looks as though it is losing some of its novelty as batters become accustomed to it.

One man Sri Lanka should certainly not overlook is Milan Rathnayake. He bowls at a decent pace, bats beautifully and is probably the best fielder among the fast bowlers. That package could prove invaluable in South African conditions.

Sri Lanka have spent years searching for a pace attack with depth. They finally appear to have one. The challenge now is to preserve them. South Africa will reward pace. Sri Lanka’s job over the next year is to make sure their quicks land in Johannesburg fit.