Sports
Celebrating 75 years of cricketing excellence
by Rex Clementine
A new controlling body for cricket in Ceylon was formed on the 25th of June 1948 and was named Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. Today marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the cricket board. At a meeting held at the Malay Cricket Club at Rifle Green, P. Saravanamuttu was elected as President of the board. The entity has over the years gone through name changes such as Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka and its present name Sri Lanka Cricket.
The initial crest of the board contained two elephants, a coconut tree, a paddy field and Adam’s peak. Over the years this too has gone through significant changes. At a time when the country didn’t have full member status of the International Cricket Council, opportunities against international sides were few and rare and usually teams travelling to either Australia or England played a game or two as their ships docked at Colombo harbour. India and Pakistan of course engaged in regular contests called ‘unofficial Tests’.
Goonasena makes his mark
Several Ceylonese cricketers in the early days such as Dr. C.H. Gunasekara, F.C. de Seram, Gamini Goonasena, Laddie Outschoorn and Stanley Jayasinghe excelled in County Cricket in England. Goonasena among them made a name for himself having become the first Asian to captain Oxford or Cambridge. He completed the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets for Cambridge in two seasons and repeated the feat twice at Nottinghamshire, which he represented for 11 seasons. Subsequently he became the first Ceylonese to be named as one of Wisden’s five cricketers in 1957.
Tissera’s remarkable captaincy
The year 1965 was a landmark one for cricket in Ceylon. The team had travelled to India for a three-match four-day unofficial Test series and they beat a strong Indian side skippered by Tiger Pataudi. The victory came in Ahmedabad and Tissera’s bold captaincy was hailed by all and sundry. It was the captain’s declaration with the team still trailing that set up the match. The victory had its rewards as later that year Ceylon were made an Associate member of the ICC. The proposal was brought forward by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and seconded by Pakistan. Tissera, a living legend richly deserves to have a trophy named after him in international cricket as West indies and – Sri Lanka play for Sobers – Tissera Trophy.
First ACC meeting in Colombo
In 1972, Sri Lanka hosted the Asian Cricket Council conference with the participation of key stakeholders of the region. Sri Lanka was represented by Shelly Wickramasinghe and Neil Perera.
ODI status for Sri Lanka
For the inaugural World Cup in 1975, the full members of the ICC took part and two other teams had been invited – East Africa and Sri Lanka. It was an historical event as Sri Lanka played their first major cricket competition and their batters had a decent outing with the world appreciating the efforts. Their first ODI was against West Indies. While there were 11 Sri Lankan debutants in that game, there were also two West Indies players who were making their debuts – a certain Vivian Richards and Andy Roberts.
Sri Lanka wins ICC Trophy
For the subsequent World Cup in 1979 there was too much interest and the ICC had to conduct a qualifying round. It was called the ICC Trophy and the two finalists were going through to the World Cup. Sri Lanka beat Canada in the finals of the ICC Trophy and shocked a strong Indian side during the World Cup at Old Trafford. They became the first Associate Member to beat a full member of the ICC. This win went a long way in the team being granted Test status two years later. Anura Tennakoon captained the Sri Lankan side
Muttiah Muralitharan holds the World Record for most wickets in Test match cricket and One-Day Internationals
Test status for Sri Lanka
With Gamini Dissanayake becoming the President of the board, there was an aggressive push to gain Test status. A powerful Cabinet Minister, he addressed key areas like new venues to host international games, sponsorships from the private sector, three-day cricket, indoor nets and trained coaches in a bid to make the nation’s cricket team a strong force. To his credit, in his first attempt Sri Lanka were granted Test status on July 22nd, 1981.
Impressive feats in international cricket
Sri Lanka played their inaugural Test match in 1982 against England and it took them just three years to win their maiden Test match – against India in 1985. The Asia Cup win came not too long after that and it was a feather in the cap of a young cricketing nation. Duleep Mendis skippered the side in both landmark victories.
Sri Lanka’s first overseas Test win came in 1995 in Napier against New Zealand. Just 15 years after gaining full membership of the ICC, the national team went onto win the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996. Since then, the team has won a T-20 World Cup and reached two other 50 over World Cup finals and two more T-20 World Cup finals. They were also joint champions of the 2002 Champions Trophy when they shared the trophy with India.
The team’s 952 for six declared in the 1997 Test match against India is a World Record. Sanath Jayasuriya scored a triple hundred and Sri Lanka had a triple centurion in Test match cricket seven years before India had one, although the big brother had been playing Test match cricket since 1936.
In 1998, Sri Lanka recorded their first Test win in England. Eight years later, they whitewashed England in their backyard 5-0 in ODIs. In 2014, the team won their first Test series in England.
In 2011 Sri Lanka won a Test match in South Africa for the first time and in 2019 they became the first Asian nation to win a Test series in South Africa. In fact, apart from Australia and England, no other team has won a Test series in South Africa.
Spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan is world’s highest wicket taker in Test match cricket with 800 scalps to his name. His 534 wickets in ODI cricket is also a World Record.Interestingly, Sri Lanka had two batsmen – Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara – scoring 10,000 Test runs, before anyone from England reached the milestone. England started playing Test cricket more than 100 years before Sri Lanka.In 2006, Jayawardene and Sangakkara added 624 runs for the third wicket against South Africa, a World Record for any wicket in Test match cricket.
At one point, Sangakkara was ranked world’s number one batter while Muralitharan held the number one rank for bowlers for a record number of weeks.In 2020, Sangakkara became the first non-British President of the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Twenty years before him, fellow Kandyan Ranjan Madugalle was made Chief Match Referee of the ICC ahead of other illustrious former players like Clive Lloyd, Gundappa Viswanath and Mike Procter.There are so many other individuals who have so generously contributed for the benefit of cricket in Sri Lanka and there are several other milestones in the sport that has brought credit to the country. It is regretted that we are not able to record each of those moments or mention all those individuals.
With just one round left in the group stage, Dambulla hit the top of the National Super League (NSL) table like a runaway train, pulling off a breathtaking run chase that left Kandy shell-shocked at the R. Premadasa Stadium. In a high-octane encounter that had lot of twists, Dambulla played out of their skins to snatch victory from the jaws of what looked like certain defeat.
Chasing a towering 392 in just 69 overs, the Dambulla batters threw caution to the wind and came out swinging. They crossed the finish line with 25 balls to spare, making the improbable seem routine.
At the top of the order, Nishan Madushka dropped anchor and played the sheet anchor role to perfection, compiling a masterful 126 off 153 balls. He stitched together a solid 136-run opening stand with Ron Chandraguptha, who chipped in with a stylish 64, laying the perfect foundation for the fireworks to follow.
But the real show-stopper was none other than Dasun Shanaka. Despite being courted by a slew of T20 leagues flashing big bucks, Shanaka stayed loyal to red-ball cricket — and he makes it count. He walked in with the scoreboard ticking and turned the game on its head with a whirlwind century off just 56 deliveries. It was a blitzkrieg that featured nine sizzling boundaries and six towering sixes. When Shanaka’s in the zone, bowlers might as well be bowling with a bar of soap.
From 286 for 1, Dambulla had a minor hiccup, losing quick wickets and stumbling to 326 for 5. But the damage had been done — Shanaka’s thunderous assault had knocked the stuffing out of the Kandy attack. All that remained was for the tail to wag, nudge a few singles, and coast home with room to spare.
Akila Dananjaya, meanwhile, continued to turn heads with a match bag of ten wickets. But while his performance was eye-catching, any talk of a national recall should come with a pinch of salt — his action, having been under the microscope before, will need a clean bill of health before selectors roll the dice.
Down south in Hambantota, Galle all but booked their ticket to the final, thanks to a first-innings win over Jaffna. Unless they somehow manage to shoot themselves in the foot in their last group game, they should be packing their bags for the final.
Ramesh Mendis played the unlikely hero, batting at number eight and top-scoring with a gutsy 124 to take Galle to 374, well past Jaffna’s 305.
Jaffna’s response in the second innings was spirited, with Angelo Mathews rolling back the years and crafting a classy century as they made 354 for five.
Rain played spoil sport with only 6.4 overs possible on day one and a further 55 overs on day two and that left little room for a result.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
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