Sports

New book says Bradman played at CCC in 1930

Published

2 years ago

2023/03/5

by Rex Clementine

All of us cricket nerds have heard stories of Sir Don Bradman’s visit to P. Sara Oval. There are a couple of images too; one where he strides out to bat and another where he walks alongside Ceylon skipper Mahadevan Sathasivam for the toss.

There are other famous stories as well about how the greatest batsman the game has seen appreciating the scoreboard at The Oval and him finding out the inadequacies of the pitch. Some even believed that P. Sara Oval was the only ground in Asia where Bradman had played.

However a new book ‘An Island’s Eleven’ by British writer Nicholas Brookes reveals that Bradman had played at Maitland Place in 1930 en route to England for the first time. Brookes’ book is a well researched document on Sri Lankan cricket and gives a vivid description of cricket in the island in the pre- Test era. The writer has spoken to many stalwarts of Sri Lankan cricket from S. Skandakumar to Kumar Sangakkara and elaborates how the game evolved.

“The whistle stops came thick and fast and 1930’s match was a momentous occasion. None present could have realized the history they were witnessing. On 3 April, at Colombo Cricket Club, Donald Bradman played his first game of cricket outside Australia. He treated the crowd to plenty of shots and had reached 40 when something remarkable happened. With his very first ball in international cricket, debutant Neil Joseph had Bradman hit-wicket.”

The book is a fascinating read but there are those who contest some of its content. Mahendra Ratnaweera, a cricket historian believes that the game took place not at Maitland Place but at the Nomads Grounds, the property owned by Colombo Municipal Council. Currently this location is the home for Nelum Pokuna where dramas, musical shows and functions take place.

Veteran journalist Palitha Perera disputes the date of the game.

Bradman’s 1948 visit to Colombo attracted a lot of attention as he was not only the captain of Australia but by that stage had broken every batting record. In 1930 when he visited Colombo, he was still a rookie finding his feet in the game at the age of 22.

Also compared to 1930, in 1948 the game had fairly established in the island, the newspaper industry was thriving and Ceylon itself had a proper cricket team. The book is not just about Bradman’s visit to Colombo. But it’s a comprehensive study on history of Sri Lankan cricket and you come across men and women who nurtured the game, the visionaries who saw the potential and the generous individuals who kept finances coming.

Cricket became popular as European planters went beyond Kandy for tea cultivation and apparently the game was quite healthy over there but gradually Colombo became the central location for cricket with most clubs being based in Colombo. Even bigger clubs in places like Galle and Matara have found it tough to maintain the sport. So many of their home grown talents have moved to Colombo.

In that context, you’ve got to take your hat off to Sumith Perera, who fought a lone battle for Badureliya. You may not agree with his politics but you’ve got to give the devil his due. He’s not a very wealthy man but he’s got a knack as to how to run a cricket team.

The book states that there were some rivalries between Europeans and locals in the early days and certain clubs were out of bounds for local cricketers. As a result there was no fair representation of Ceylon and some deserving cases missed out. The writer Nicholas Brookes was based at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia during his research for the book that stretched for several years.

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Sports

Police investigating death of Cricket Malawi operations director Arjun Menon

Published

3 hours ago

2025/05/13

Priyan

[File photo] Malawi were runners-up in Group A of the Men's T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier in September 2024 [Cricinfo]

Arjun Menon, Cricket Malawi’s operations director, has died aged 48. Police are reported to be investigating the circumstances of his death in Blantyre, Malawi’s financial and commercial capital, on Sunday.

Menon played for Singapore and held coaching roles with various international teams including Chile, Botswana, Indonesia and Singapore before taking on the Malawi role in 2020.

“As Cricket Malawi, we are devastated by this loss because Arjun did so much to our transformative agenda,” Vivek Ganesan, the president of Cricket Malawi, told Nation Online. “All the successes we have so far are attributed to him. This is a very painful loss.”

Dr. Henry Kamata, CEO of the Malawi National Council of Sports, also conveyed his condolences in a statement. “Arjun was a dedicated coach and a passionate advocate for the development of cricket in Malawi,” he said. “His contributions to the sport were immense and far-reaching, playing a pivotal role in the growth and success of the Malawi cricket team on regional and international platforms.

“His commitment, professionalism, and vision were truly inspirational, and his loss is a devastating blow to the sporting fraternity in Malawi and beyond.”

During Menon’s tenure, the Malawi men’s team were runners-up behind Tanzania in Group A of the T20 World Cub Sub Regional Africa Qualifier in September 2024. The Under-19 women’s team, meanwhile, topped Division 2 of the 2025 Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier, gaining entry to Division 1 where they achieved a seventh-place finish.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Ashlin wins third title at Colombo Championships

Published

5 hours ago

2025/05/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

Ashlin de Silva (Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya player Ashlin de Silva won his third title of the 110th Vision Care Colombo Championships when he beat Mayooran Kubheran in the Under 16 boys’ sigles final at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts.

While Ashlin clinched the Under 16 boys’ title, Akesha Silva bagged the girls’ singles title of that age category.

Akesha Silva

Ashlin beat Kubheran 6-0 in the first set before the latter retired when the score was 3-1 in Ashlin’s favour.

Ashlin was also the winner of the Under 18 boys’ singles and joined Kubheran to clinch the Under 16 boys’ doubles title, beating Yudheerya Atapattu and Damsath Peiris 7-6, 6-2.

In the Under 16 girls’ final Newstead College player Akesha Silva beat Annaya Norbert 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Latest News

IPL 2025 to resume on May 17, final to be played on June 3

Published

7 hours ago

2025/05/13

Priyan

IPL 2025 will resume on May 17 and end on June 3, as per the revised schedule announced by the BCCI on Monday night.

The remainder of the tournament, which was suspended on May 9 for a week due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, will be played at six venues: Bengaluru, Jaipur, Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The venues for the playoffs will be announced later, but the matches will be played on the following dates: Qualifier 1 on May 29, the Eliminator on May 30, Qualifier 2 on June 1 and the final on June 3. A total of 17 matches will be played after the resumption, with two double-headers, both of which will be played on Sundays.

The revised schedule features 13 league games and the four playoff matches. This means that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) game, which was called off midway through the first innings on May 8 in Dharamsala, will be played again, on May 24 in Jaipur, which will be the temporary home base for PBKS. Two days later, PBKS will play against Mumbai Indians (MI), a match they were originally meant to play in their second home base of Dharamsala on May 11. The match that will restart the tournament on May 17 will be played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Bengaluru.

On the first of the two double-header days, Rajasthan Royals (RR) will meet PBKS in the day game (3.30pm IST) on May 18 and DC will take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in the evening (7.30pm IST). The next Sunday – May 25 – will see GT take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the day game in Ahmedabad and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) meet KKR in Delhi at 7.30pm IST. The last league game will be between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and RCB on May 27 in Lucknow.

The change in venues also means that three teams – PBKS, CSK and SRH – won’t get to play on their original home grounds anymore. With CSK and SRH out of the playoffs race, PBKS will count themselves unlucky to be playing two of their home matches at a neutral venue. With 15 points from 11 matches, PBKS were third on the points table before the tournament was suspended.

The official release said the BCCI held “extensive consultations with government and security agencies, and with all the key stakeholders” before finalising the resumption of the tournament.

The delayed finish of the IPL, which was originally scheduled to end on May 25 in Kolkata, means it will now coincide with the entire ODI series between England and West Indies starting on May 29 in Birmingham and ending on June 3 at The Oval. It will lead to a clash for Romario Shepherd (RCB), Shamar Joseph (LSG) and Sherfane Rutherford (GT), who have all been picked in the West Indies ODI squad. England have not named their squad yet but the players likely to be affected are Jos Buttler (GT), Phil Salt (RCB), Jacob Bethell (RCB), Liam Livingston (RCB), Will Jacks (MI) and Reece Topley (MI), depending on which teams make the playoffs.

The revised IPL schedule also squeezes the gap between the IPL final and the WTC final to just seven days, with Australia and South Africa set to contest the Test world title from June 11 at Lord’s. Both Australia and South Africa are scheduled to announce their squads on Tuesday. The players who are currently part of the IPL teams and are likely to be picked for the WTC final are Australia captain Pat Cummins and Travis Head (both SRH), Mitchell Starc and Tristan Stubbs (both DC), Josh Hazlewood (RCB), Marco Jansen and Josh Inglis (both PBKS), Aiden Markram (LSG), Kagiso Rabada (GT), Ryan Rickelton (MI) and Kwena Mphaka (RR).

The revised schedule will also potentially impact the India A tour of England, which is scheduled to begin from May 30, for two unofficial Tests in Canterbury and Northampton. Several fringe India players, some of whom are likely to be part of the India squad for the five-Test series starting on June 20 in England, will now be part of the IPL when the A matches begin.

For now, the biggest challenge for the 10 IPL franchises will be to re-assemble their squads and bring back overseas players and support-staff members who had begun flying back home over the weekend. The team that could find it easiest to get back together will be GT, currently on top of the table, who had seen only two of their overseas players fly back: Buttler and Gerald Coetzee. The rest of their squad was continuing to train in Ahmedabad. MI could also benefit from the revised schedule, as their first game is on May 21, four days after the tournament resumes.

(Cricinfo)