Sports

Rajapaksa dropped as selectors stick to fitness guidelines

Published

4 years ago

2022/02/22

by Rex Clementine

The national selection panel headed by former fast bowler Pramodaya Wickramasinghe has come in for high praise after they stuck to strict fitness guidelines and did not make any exceptions for those who had failed to reach minimum fitness standards ahead of Sri Lanka’s tour of India.

Top order batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksa is the biggest casualty as he was overlooked for the three match T-20 series starting this week. Rajapaksa was in the Colombo bubble along with seven other players who were training ahead of the Indain series.

Earlier this year Rajapaksa had announced his international retirement but after intervention from a VVIP he had made a u turn pledging his solidarity with Sri Lanka Cricket. It was reported that he will be given certain exceptions when it comes to fitness, but to the selectors’ credit, they have stuck to their guns demanding all players who intend to represent Sri Lanka to meet minimum fitness standards.

The Island learns that while Rajapaksa had completed the two kilometer run under the stipulated time of eight minutes and 35 seconds, his skinfold levels were over 100. Players need to maintain skinfold levels below 80 to be eligible for selection.

With Rajapaksa getting an IPL deal, some expected the selectors to soft peddle, but they have not allowed anyone to take short cuts.

Several players earlier had become ineligible for selections after failing fitness tests.

The strict fitness regime imposed by Mickey Arthur was expected to fall off once the former Head Coach moved on, but the selectors seem to have realized the value of placing a high premium on fitness.

The national selection panel announced the squad for the India series yesterday and Rajapaksa was omitted.

The selectors have named 18 players in the squad for the three match T-20 series in India. Those players who took part in the Australia T-20s reached India yesterday evening straight from Melbourne via Singapore. They stayed in Delhi overnight and are expected to reach Lucknow today. The first game gets underway in the north Indian city on Thursday. Avishka Fernando, Nuwan Thushara and Ramesh Mendis who were part of for Australian T20s have returned home with injuries.

Meanwhile the team’s Test players Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Thirimanne, Suranga Lakmal and Lasith Embuldeniya are training in Colombo and they are expected to leave for India on the 24th. There was a Covid scare yesterday when one of the net bowlers tested positive. But all seven Test players returned negative PCR tests.

Sri Lanka T20 Squad for India: Dasun Shanaka (Captain) Charith Asalanka (Vice-Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis,Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama and Ashian Daniel.

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Sports

Ganuka accomplishes rare feat

Published

2 hours ago

2025/12/10

Thilina Walpola

Ganuka Fernando accomplished a rare feat reaching the final of the Nepal J30 ITF tournament in Pokohora. He became the first Sri Lankan male player in more than a decade to reach an overseas final at the tournament held in Nepal.

‎The St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya player finished as the runner up.

‎He is the first to reach an overseas ITF final after Sharmal Dissanayake accomplished the feat in 2013.

‎Sharmal has the credit of winning ITF tournaments in India and in Brunei. He also reached another final in India.

Sports

Unbeaten Seylan Bank retain basketball title

Published

2 hours ago

2025/12/10

Thilina Walpola

After nearly three months of competition, the 33rd Mercantile Services Basketball League concluded with Seylan Bank being crowned as undisputed champions. The defending champions showcased their dominance with an unbeaten record cruising past all their opponents.

Seylan Bank started off the campaign by beating Hatton National Bank in a three point thriller with the final score being 58-55. They overcame Commercial Credit 59-47 and had a big win over David Pieris Motor Company 73-59.

In the semi-final, Seylan Bank overcame Commercial Credit by 13 points while the final was a rematch against David Pieris Motor Company and won comfortably by Seylan.

Epciba Washington Clay of Seylan was named the Most Valuable Player.

The Seylan Bank side comprised; Kamalene Mills, Kunchana Wijesiriwardena, Kindu Jayaliya, Benika Thalagala, Epciba Washington Clay, Hansini Maleesha, Nihari Perera, Sanduni Bollegala, Maleka Rafaideen, Bethani Liyanage and Malavika Ariyaratne.

The Seylan Bank team was coached by Chathura Rodrigo.

Latest News

Henry, Santner, Nathan Smith ruled out of rest of West Indies Test series

Published

2 days ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

Matt Henry is nursing a calf injury [Cricinfo]

New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Matt Henry (calf strain), seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith (side strain) and spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner (groin injury) have all been ruled out of the rest of the home Test series against West Indies.

Glenn Phillips, who joined the squad in Christchurch early as a substitute fielder, has officially been added to the Test squad for the remainder of the series, New Zealand Cricket confirmed. This after he proved his match fitness in the Plunket Shield before joining the squad for the first Test, and he could be in contention to be selected in the XI for the second Test.

In another bit of good news for New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell, who put in a long shift as a substitute fielder in the first Test, is set to be available for the second and slot back in as their middle-order mainstay.

Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell had already been sidelined from the second Test in Wellington after suffering a hamstring injury while batting on day one in Christchurch. Mitchell Hay has been added to the squad and could make his Test debut.

Also, a day after uncapped seamer Michael Rae was called up to the Test squad, Kristan Clarke, a seam-bowling allrounder from Northern Districts, was added to it. With Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke managing “return to play” protocols, New Zealand were left scrambling for last-minute replacements, with the Wellington Test set to begin on November 10.

Both Rae and Clarke were pulled out of the third round of the Plunket Shield. Clarke didn’t bowl for ND in the final innings against Otago in Hamilton, with rookie James Naylor stepping in as his replacement.

Clarke, 24, is uncapped in Test cricket, but was recently part of the ODI series against England as a replacement player after Henry had suffered a separate calf injury. He has now earned his maiden Test call-up as a like-for-like replacement for Smith.

“On the cricket field, I’m a bowling allrounder, you know, and I pride myself on trying to offer as much as I can in the game,” Clarke said in October after breaking into the ODI side. “I just want to be a good person around the group also and just offer as much as I can.”

Clarke has played 27 first-class games so far, taking 77 wickets at an average of 33 and scoring 893 runs at an average of 23.50. He was also part of a New Zealand A tour to Bangladesh during the winter. Though bowling is his primary skill, Kristian is also a capable batter and had notched up his maiden century in senior cricket, against Central Districts in the one-day Ford Trophy, in October.

Clarke hails from Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato region and played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup before rising up the ranks in New Zealand cricket. His brother Matti Clarke has also played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup.

“Yeah, so [I was] born and raised in Te Awamutu, [and I] still live in Te Awamutu, still at home,” Clarke said. “I hold Te Amuru very dear to my heart – it’s a cool little town and yeah, quiet little place. Just sort of grew up through the cricket system there and then yeah, sort of just went from there.”

While Blair Tickner, who was the reserve seamer at Hagley Oval, comes into the selection frame for Wellington, there might be a toss-up between Rae and Clarke for a potential Test debut at Basin Reserve.

The first Test was drawn after West Indies, faced with a 530-run deficit in the fourth innings, held on for 163.3 overs to pull off a draw, with Justin Greaves (202 not out) and Shai Hope (140) their main men with the bat

New Zealand squad for second Test vs West Indies :
Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Michael Rae, Kristian Clarke

[Cricinfo]