Sports

School rugby captains must think like leaders, not managers

Published

2 years ago

2023/09/6

Isipatana managed to defuse a charge by Zahira with a 39-10 win in their President’s Trophy semi-final encounter at Havelock Park on Saturday.

By A Special Sports Correspondent

The two semi-finals of the under 19 Inter-School President’s Trophy rugby tournament produced two finalists after well-contested games with Isipatana and League champions St. Peter’s booking their slots for the final showdown at the Sugathadasa Stadium on September 10 (Sunday).

The second semi-final between arch-rivals St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s produced a nail-biting finish with the lads from Bambalapitiya pulling through with a 16 points to 11 win at Havelock Sports Club. What must be lauded is that St. Peter’s have remained unbeaten this season and have a strong bench when compared to other teams. We saw how the Peterites were reinforced time and again in their semi-final game with able reserve players who stepped in and continued with the momentum on the field. Joes played well, but their downfall was probably the yellow card given away by skipper Navin Marasinghe in the 57th minute of play. Joes survived without their skipper for ten minutes and even managed to level the scores 11 all with a penalty by Ivano White. What must be mentioned here is that Marasinghe is such an asset to the side as an attacking player, but his role as captain must be questioned. Last season too he was the danger man and the main ball carrier, but this year the Joes could have done better if he improved his reading on the game by moving to the next level as a thinker and leader on the rugby field. It will serve the game well if coaches also concentrate on molding captains and instilling leadership qualities in them. But then again some may argue that there are distinct differences between leaders on the sports field and managers in the corporate sector. Abraham Zaleznik writing for the special edition of the Harvard Business Review of 2004 states that managers’ goals arise out of necessity rather than desire. He adds that on the contrary, a leader adopts personal active attitudes toward goals. He continues to add, “They look (leaders) for the opportunities and rewards that lie around the corner, inspiring subordinates, firing up the creative process with their own energy. There is enough here in Zeleznik’s writing for school rugby captains to pick up and get inspired. The school rugby authorities also can seriously consider introducing an award for the best school rugby captain during each season. There were a few occasions in the past when rugby authorities had an award for the ‘best-disciplined schools rugby team’ during invitation tournaments, but sadly the authorities didn’t continue with this award and made it a permanent feature during the awards distribution ceremonies at school rugby tournaments.

St. Peter’s did well to clear their semi-final hurdle in the President’s Trophy Knockout Tournament against St. Joseph’s with a 16-11 win at Havelock Park on Sunday.

In the other semi-final Isipatana did well to defuse a charge by Zahira; the first half producing an even contest with the lads from Maradana scoring first and taking the fight up to the Green Shirts. Zahira were trailing 13-10 at the breather. Isipatana then swelled their score with a barrage of tries in the second half; Navin Kanishka’s chargers crossing the Zahira goal line on four occasions after the turn around to seal the game. The winners ran down as many as six tries during the entire game and most importantly found an addition to supplement the place-kicking duties of Rinesh Silva, who has suddenly encountered issues with accuracy when kicking at goal. Skipper Kanishka rose to the occasion and chipped in with two conversions; most importantly taking away some of the pressure from Silva’s shoulders. Isipatana coach Saliya Kumara will vouch that one cannot ask for a better set of three quarters and it’s just about fine-tuning their skills before the big one on Sunday. Players in the likes of Heshan Randimal, Shahid Zumri, Chamindu Chirath, Iroshana Gamage, Shehandu de Costa, Kalindu Silva, Rinesh Silva and Nisaja Jayaweera have backed their skipper Kanishka with large-hearted performances this season.

Zahira must be applauded for coming so far this season having earned a promotion to Division 1 Segment A rugby after working its way up from Segment B last season. The other team that did exceptionally well this season was D.S. Senanayake which was quite unlucky not to make it to the knockout stage of the school rugby season. They too earned a promotion to Division 1 Segment A after playing in Segment B last season.

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SCG curator ‘really happy’ with pitch for final Ashes Test

Published

7 hours ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

The pitch at the SCG has been the centre of much attention [Cricinfo]

Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.

With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.

But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.

“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.

“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”

Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.

It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.

Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.

One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.

Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.

“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”

CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.

“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”

All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.

Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.

With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.

England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.

“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.

That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”

The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Pramod hits 42 runs in an over

Published

18 hours ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

Pramod Madushan hit 42 runs in an over.

Young Pramod Madushan has become the talk in cricket circles after he scored 42 runs in an over for Mercantile Services Cricket Academy against Sigi Cricket Academy at Ambalangoda recently.

In an over that contained nine deliveries, including two no-balls and a wide, Madushan cut loose hitting three fours and five sixes. In all, the over bowled by Bihandu Sandiv went for 45 runs.

The young cricketer from D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo shares the same name as Sri Lanka fast bowler Pramod Madushan. However, the 19-year-old is a wicketkeeper batter.

His knock of 103 came in just 38 deliveries and contained eight fours and ten sixes.

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Usman Khawaja to retire after fifth Ashes Test

Published

19 hours ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

Usman Khawaja has played 22 Ashes Tests [BBC]

Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.

The 39-year-old will play his 88th and final Test on the ground where he made his debut against the same opponents in January 2011.

Khawaja was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to play for Australia when he took the place of Ricky Ponting at the end of England’s 3-1 series win 15 years ago.

The left-hander has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.

He has played in six Ashes series – winning two, losing two and drawing two.

He was also part of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship in 2023.

The final Test at the SCG starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).

Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their most recent series win in this country in 2010-11.

He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey and into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.

Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.

Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.

Often in and out of the Australia team during his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.

However, his place has come under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.

Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.

Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.

He made 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place for the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-1.

After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.

[BBC]