Sports

Australia; a friend indeed

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/12

Days after the tsunami, spin legend Shane Warne visited Sri Lanka pleading for support to rebuild the nation and Australians showed their generosity responding to the nation’s iconic cricketer.

by Rex Clementine

We have been fortunate to witness some of the great fast bowlers on show in our shores in Test match cricket in the last 40 years. Sir Richard Hadlee, Dennis Lillee, Bob Willis, Kapil Dev, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram have all had their moments in our backyard, but no fast bowler has had the impact that Mitchell Starc had when Australia toured here in 2016. On tracks that were tailor-made for spin, Starc took 24 wickets in three Tests, the most by a fast bowler in a Test series in Sri Lanka. It was great to see the man who inspired many young aspiring Sri Lankan fast bowlers appealing to the world to support Sri Lankan communities that are severely affected by the economic crisis. He was joined by one of the modern day greats of the game – Steve Smith.

Australia’s role in supporting Sri Lankan cricket over the last four decades has been outstanding. The 9thMay attack on peaceful protestors at the Galle Face that triggered civil unrest across the nation put Australia’s six week tour of the island in serious doubt. But to the credit of Cricket Australia and the Australian government, they not only sent down the team, but stuck to the original schedule too although many suspected that Colombo’s games will be shifted to outstations.

Tickets to Colombo games on Tuesday and Wednesday went on sale last Saturday and were sold out by 2:30 pm same day, even to the surprise of SLC. Our country has gone through tough times bringing misery to the general public and it is cricket that brings them some solace. Now that Australia have come, there is certainty that the country will not face cricketing isolation and there’s hope for the Asia Cup taking place in August without being shifted to Dubai. That will be a shot in the arm for the economy with the epic India-Pakistan clash bringing fans across the world to Colombo to witness war without bullets.

Australia has been one of Sri Lankan cricket’s greatest allies. Our nation’s application for Test status had been turned down a few times and when Gamini Dissanayake wanted to put out a fresh bid in 1981, he invited Australian Cricket Board bosses Fred Bennett and David Richards for a tour of the island during which they visited and inspected various cricket facilities. Quite impressed by the standard of cricket in the country, particularly at the schools, Bennett assured Australia’s support for Sri Lanka’s bid. The veteran’s cricket acumen was pretty good having dedicated half a century of his life to the sport from the lowest levels at Balmain District to the highest echelons of Jolimont Street.

To show Australia’s solidarity to Sri Lanka’s bid, Kim Hughes’ side played an unofficial Test match in Colombo on their way to England for the 1981 Ashes.

At the ICC meeting in June 1981, Australia, one of the founding members of ICC with veto power, supported Sri Lanka’s bid. England by the way abstained from voting and Sri Lanka’s bid went through.

Once Sri Lanka were in the big league, the opportunities that Australia provided to help the nation develop into a strong force was immense. Local curators were trained down under by Arthur Mailey. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s several Sri Lankan teams played the World Series cricket better known as Benson & Hedges Series and these were welcome breaks. Australia also played a three match Test series against Sri Lanka, a decade before England did so.

Due to the civil unrest in Sri Lanka, there was little cricket played at home between 1987 to 1992. In early 1990s, the cricket board was headed by a Royal-Thomian combination of Ian Pieris and S. Skandakumar. It was to Australia this pair turned to to end Sri Lanka’s cricketing isolation and they readily agreed and Alan Border’s side visited in 1992 and the legend of Shane Warne was born. That paved the way for every cricketing nation to visit the island including West Indies and South Africa who made their inaugural visits to the country in 1993.

When ambitious Ana Punchihewa became the Board President in 1994, he launched a project where he wanted to make the country the best cricket playing nation by the year 2000. His first move was to hire a qualified foreign coach. He asked the Australian board for recommendations and was given several names with special emphasis on one Davenell Frederick Whatmore, the Head Coach of Victoria. Punchihewa grabbed the idea but soon got cold feet after realizing that the Sri Lankan board had a bank balance of Rs. 300,000. Whatmore was going to cost them US$ 100,000 annually.

Alan Crompton, who passed away in April this year was the Chairman of the Australian board at that point and he informed his Sri Lankan counterpart to hire Whatmore and Australia would sort his payment out. It was done subtly. Sri Lanka were set to tour Australia in 1995 and the guarantee fee for the tour had been set as US$ 100,000. The amount was doubled and an advance was paid resulting in Whatmore coming in. The rest as they say is history.

The excellent relationships were soured at one point in 2010 when Australia mooted the idea to nominate former Prime Minister John Howard as the Vice-President of the ICC. The plan was for Howard to go onto become the ICC President. It was a superb initiative as Howard was the most senior world figure ever considered for the role. But the Sri Lankan board put a spoke in the wheel crashing the move. The excuses that SLC were dishing out were lame ones. It is a well kept secret that our cricket bosses were merely a cat’s paw to the powerful BCCI, who feared a world figure at ICC like the plague.

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Ronaldo apologizes for Portugal walkout; says Jesus broke promise

Published

9 hours ago

2026/10/7

Priyan

Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal's leading scorer (Aljazeera)

Cristiano Ronaldo has accused Portugal ‌coach Jorge Jesus of twice breaking his word, saying a failed agreement to publicly ⁠explain his omission ⁠against Norway drove him out of the camp, but insisting he remained available after any punishment.

In a lengthy statement, the 41-year-old gave his account of the dispute ⁠that prompted his departure from Copenhagen before Portugal’s Nations League match versus Denmark last week.

Ronaldo said Jesus had agreed a plan under which the forward would miss the Norway and Denmark ⁠matches to manage his fitness. However, on the day of the Norway game, the coach told him he would play for 30 minutes.

“Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from halftime onwards, watched the minutes tick by and wasn’t called on,” Ronaldo said.

“The manager had broken his word to me.”

Portugal’s ‌captain and all-time leading scorer said a subsequent meeting with Jesus, attended by his club side Al Nassr’s sporting director Simao Coutinho, produced an agreement for the coach to clarify events at his next news conference.

According to Ronaldo, an eight-point document was prepared saying he had never demanded playing time, had respected Jesus’s decisions and that the coach asking him to warm up without bringing him on had been a mistake.

Ronaldo said the agreed notes did ⁠not require Jesus to apologise to him but said the coach’s ⁠public remarks bore no resemblance to their private discussion.

“It was the second time he had broken his word to me,” Ronaldo said. “I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises.”

The statement provided Ronaldo’s account⁠, but on Sunday, after Portugal’s win over Norway, Jesus denied he had made any agreement with the player, nevertheless leaving the door open ⁠for his return.

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) did not immediately respond ⁠to a request for comment about Ronaldo’s statement.

Ronaldo apologised for failing to greet supporters after the Norway match and for leaving his teammates, accepting that his captaincy made his conduct more serious.

“The consequences of my actions must be assessed ‌and punished by the Portuguese Football Federation,” he said.

Despite the rupture, Ronaldo said he was not limiting his international ambitions to a farewell appearance.

“If I’m physically fit, playing for my club – scoring ‌goals, ‌I hope – after serving whatever suspension is imposed on me, I’ll be available, as I’ve always been until now, to compete and win for our national team,” he added.

(Aljazeera)

Sports

Nalanda on the cusp of reaching knockout stage as unbeaten run continues

Published

10 hours ago

2026/10/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rusandu Silva has nine wickets against his name after three matches.

by Reemus Fernando

Nalanda College, Colombo continued their unbeaten run to come closer to securing a berth in the knockout stage as they beat Gurukula College by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier A Limited Overs Tournament match played at Campbell Place on Tuesday.

‎With Rusandu Silva continuing his impressive run in the tournament, Nalanda did well to restrict the team from Kelaniya to just 113 runs (in 35.4 overs).

‎After two outings Rusandu had six wickets against his name coming to this match.‎Rusandu and Methuka Perera claimed three wickets each. ‎Lithum Wijekumara also impressed with two wickets, while Santhul Wijeyarathne took one.

‎Adeepa Pinsara was the only batsman to make a contribution of note as he top-scored with 35 off 49 balls, including four fours and two sixes, while Javindu Madusanka made 20.

‎In their chase Nalanda made light work of the modest target, reaching 114 for one, scoring at a rate of over a run a ball.

‎Nadul Jayalath cracked an unbeaten 62 from just 52 balls. His innings contained four fours and five sixes. He received valuable support from Lithum Wijekumara, who scored 35 off 42 deliveries with six boundaries.

‎Ranmith Senarath completed the successful chase with an unbeaten 10 off seven balls, including two fours.

‎Nalanda lost only one wicket as the opening pair added 89 for the first wicket. Jayalath and Senarath then finished the contest comfortably, securing a convincing nine-wicket victory with many overs to spare.

‎It was Nalanda’s third successive victory in the Tier A tourney after having beaten Thurstan (155) by seven wickets and St. Servatius’ Matara (187) by four wickets in the first two matches.

‎As of now, they are the leading team in Group G where they have only St. Joseph’s Darley Road to meet before the knockout stage.

‎With just two teams advancing to the next stage from each Group Nalanda are almost assured of their place.

Sports

Wins for Hayley’s Group ‘A’ , HNB ‘A’ and CDB on Saturday

Published

10 hours ago

2026/10/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

33RD SINGER – MCA Super PREMIER LEAGUE

Hayley’s Group ‘A’, HNB ‘A’ and CDB registered wins by defeating Colombo Aces, Fairfirst Insurance and SLC Youth in the matches of the Mercantile Cricket Association’s Super Premier League cricket tournament on Sunday (04).

The MCA Super Premier League is sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka for the 33rd consecutive year.

At the Bloomfield Cricket ground, Nishan Madushka, Pulindu Perera and Minod Dhanuka smashed half tons as Hayley’s Group ‘A’ registered their second win of the tournament defeating Colombo Aces by six wickets.

At the Thurstan ground, Nipun Dhananjaya and Muditha Lakshan posted eighty plus scores to help CDB amass 307/8, which the bowlers defended by 71runs.

At the Colts Ground Milan Rathnayake starred with bat and ball [71 and 3-24] to help HNB ‘A’ overcome SLC Youth by 41 runs. Rehan Pieris topped SLC Youth score card with a 108 ball 77 with six fours and a six.

At Bloomfield Ground Colombo:

Hayley’s overcome Colombo Aces by six wickets

Colombo Aces 222/10 in 49 overs

[ Kavin Bandara 62, Dinura Kalupahan 50; Dhanajaya Lakshan 2-14, Ramesh Mendis 4-36]

Hayleys Group A 227/4 in 25.2 overs [Nishan Madushka 61, Pulindu Perera 51, Minod Bhanuka 54; Dinura Kalupahana 2-35]

At Thurstan College Ground:

CDB BY 71 runs

CDB 307/8 in 50 overs

[ Vishsd Randika 53, Nipun Dhananjaya 86, Muditha Lakshan 89; Himesh Ramanayake 3-49, ]

Fairfirst Insurance 236/10 in 46.4 overs

[Sanoj Dharshika 58, Yasiru Rodriga 78; Movin Subasinghe 3-27, Lahiru Madushanka 2-16]

At Colts ground;