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Dr. Suranga says Sri Lanka should take a leaf out of Zambia’s development programme

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by Reemus Fernando 

Dr. Titus Suranga Fernando, who is in Tokyo as the Chairperson Medical Commission of National Olympic Committee of Zambia says that Sri Lanka can take a leaf out of Zambia’s sports development plan to improve standards in Olympic sports.  

In an online interview with The Sunday Island Dr Fernando said that Zambia’s ‘Podium Performance Programme’ could be an ideal development model for Sri Lanka. 

“Zambia is in corporation with a number of other Southern African countries and promote competitions in selected sports among athletes of these countries. That has helped Zambia improve standards. That could be a model that Sri Lanka can adopt to improve standards,” said the Sri Lankan doctor. 

Like Sri Lanka, Zambia too has won only two Olympic medals in history with its most recent victory recorded in 1996 Olympics. Samuel Matete won the silver in the men’s 400 m hurdles. But from just seven competitors at the 2016 Rio Olympics where only two progressed beyond the first round, Zambia has produced a marked development within the last four years to field a contingent of over 30 athletes of whom a vast majority are qualified athletes. “All athletes except in swimming are qualified athletes.” 

At the point of writing two boxers, namely Chinyemba Patrick and Zimba Stephen had progressed from the first round and their two track and field athletes were yet to compete.  

“We (Zambia) had three boxers who qualified for the Olympics. They are between 19-22 years of age. So they have at least two more Olympics to go.” 

Some of their women’s footballers also earned recognition despite failing to make the quarterfinals. Their captain Barbra Banda wrote her name into the record books by becoming the only female player to have scored two hat tricks at an Olympic Games and her six tournament goals also equalled a record. 

According Dr. Fernando, the ‘Podium Performance Programme’ has helped the country improve standards in performances. 

 “Regular health monitoring which is usually not available to athletes who are not in the programme, the services of sports nutritionists and sports psychologists and other essential services are provided on demand to athletes in the programme. Conducting coaching camps for coaches and athletes, providing equipment, upgrading venues and providing support to conduct international competitions are also done.” 

Dr. Fernando suggests that such a programme would benefit countries like Sri Lanka. 

By Friday evening, seven out of nine Sri Lankan competitors had concluded their events and been eliminated in the first round.  



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Bumrah five-for, Archer’s Test return headline closely-contested day

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Jofra Archer struck in his first over back [Cricinfo]

Jasprit Bumrah was saved, or saved himself, for Lord’s. The temptation of the most famous honour’s board in the world might have had something to do with it, and if so, the plan worked. Bumrah was able to claim a five-for that helped bowl England out for 387 but he was far from the only fast bowler that set the pulse racing.

Jofra Archer would have spent three years thinking about this moment, being told of the light at the end of the tunnel as he willed himself through the rehab his body needed to shoulder the burden that comes with Test cricket. Three balls into his first over back, the light wasn’t hypothetical anymore. His day in the sun had finally come and he was bathed in its glow as he celebrated a wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal was sent back, wondering what he could have done against an 89mph rocket. Karun Nair was greeted by a 93mph missile.

Bumrah was carving out legacy. Archer was clearing away the cobwebs. Lord’s was spoiled rotten. KL Rahul went to stumps unbeaten on 53 and holds in his hands much of India’s hopes of getting close to England’s total. They are 242 behind.

The fans stood up as one to salute Joe Root when he got the chance to vent the nerves of spending the night on 99, the first ball offering him width that he took on happily. An outside edge squirted away to the deep third boundary to signal the Englishman’s 37th Test century – which puts him in the top five in all of Test cricket. He went past Rahul Dravid and Steven Smith. Late in the day, he stooped to conquer the world, a beautiful diving catch to his left securing an unprecedented 211th catch for England.

It was a special occasion at Lord’s – Red for Ruth day, where everyone is encouraged to wear their support for the charity run by former captain Andrew Strauss on their sleeves. It seemed to have moved inanimate objects as well because the pitch became a lot more generous to those willing to bend their backs. The quicker pace it offered made the sideways movement all the more deadly.

Set batters found themselves undone when they least expected it. Ben Stokes’ off stump was off to the races immediately after he hit a boundary. Root, on 104, turned lead-footed all of a sudden, which created a gap between bat and pad for Bumrah to hurtle through.Shubman Gill, who came into this game with 585 runs in four innings, was snapped up for just 16. Jamie Smith went to lunch having rescued England from 271 for 7 to 355 for 7 but as soon as he came back, Mohammed Siraj found his outside edge. He celebrated the wicket by signalling the number 20, like many footballers have done this week to pay tribute to Diogo Jota, the 28-year-old Liverpool forward who died in a car crash in Spain.

There was one who proved adept, so much that the very concept of dismissal started to look remote. Rahul made 53 not out off 113 balls and went to stumps unbeaten. This innings was built on his discipline and his judgment outside the off stump and his alertness for scoring opportunities when England shifted their lines straighter. Equally, his focus stood out. Archer tested him with a 142 kph bouncer. Rahul was surprised by it – his feet off the floor, his balance shot to hell and yet even in that vulnerable state he was able to get his hands over the ball and cushion its journey back into the ground. There was another example of his defensive skills in the next over itself, when Stokes went wide of the wicket to maximise the away movement that he gets. Rahul was aware of what the bowler was trying to do and he was very careful to present a straight bat instead of being sucked in by the angle and offering a closed one.

Rishabh Pant batted through injury. Nair almost got his redemption but fell 10 short of a half-century. England overloaded Gill. Targeting him with a bouncer barrage armed with five men on the leg side. Coaxing him across his stumps to bring lbw into play. Filling up the front of the wicket with catchers and also blockers that prevented easy singles. The Indian captain lost his patience this time, attempted to find loopholes, like backing away to cut a short ball way down leg and didn’t see his wicket coming. Chris Woakes, with the keeper up to the stumps, switched up the play and went for his outside edge. He got it. England went to stumps with a lead that looks stronger for this bit of enterprise.

A great many things happened on Friday, even though only 72.3 of the scheduled 90 overs were possible, and the most memorable were the work of a fast bowler who has turned modern-day cricket into a kindergarten playground. Nobody really came up to Bumrah’s level – he was getting the ball to swing one way and seam the other and four different batters could do nothing more than just give up their stumps to him.

Bumrah rested at Edgbaston so that he could play at Lord’s. He wanted to play here to get a five-wicket haul and a place on the honour’s board. When he did, he was merely relieved. Siraj had to act as puppet master, grabbing his new-ball partner’s hand and raising it aloft while the Indians in the crowd cheered. Kapil Dev was calmly brushed aside. He is no longer the Indian with the most five fors away from home. In the middle of all this, there was a small victory for the visitors when Gill secured his first successful review on tour to get rid of Woakes.

India continued to challenge the umpires, their irritation sparked by a second new ball that needed to be changed – a mere 10.3 overs into its use – and the replacement looking much the worse for wear. Gill spent the entire morning drinks break with umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula voicing his dissatisfaction, which had to have played a role in the officials eventually switching out even the replacement ball, after eight overs.

Away in the background, Smith, who was dropped by Rahul on 5, just kept his head down and did his thing. Once more, he led an England lower-order recovery mission, his skill-set perfectly suited to the task. A 52-ball half-century was the result of a man concentrating on the job at hand while the opposition was too busy fretting about what could have been. India tried to forget about Smith and blow away the other end, but that didn’t work either. Brydon Carse was batting well enough to hit Akash Deep on the up through the covers and getting down on bent knee to slash Bumrah past point. He completed an entertaining maiden half-century in Tests as England’s last three wickets added 116 runs.

Brief scores: [Day 2 stumps]   
India 145 for 3 in 43 overs (KL Rahul 53*, Karun Nair 40, Rishabh Pant 19*; Ben Stokes 1-16) trail  England 387 in 112.3 overs (Ollie Pope 44, Joe Root 104, Ben Stokes 44, Jamie Smith 51, Brydon Carse 56; Jasprit  Bumrah 5-74, Mohammed Siraj 2-85, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-62 ) by 242 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Five wickets in five balls! Curtis Campher creates history

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Curtis Campher took five wickets in five balls

Ireland allrounder Curtis Campher has become the first man in professional cricket to take five wickets in five balls. He achieved the feat for Munster Reds against North West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy, finishing with 5 for 16 from 2.3 overs.

Campher, the Munster Reds captain, took his five wickets across his second and third overs as Warriors slumped from 87 for 5 to 88 all out in their chase of 189. Jared Wilson, the first of the five wickets, was out off the penultimate delivery of the 12th over when Campher got the ball to swing in and crash into off stump. Next ball, Graham Hume was trapped lbw on the back foot as another inswinger hit him on the pads. That put Campher on a hat-trick at the start of his next over, and it came when Andy McBrine miscued a slog towards deep midwicket on the first ball of the 14th over.

The wicket-taking streak continued when No. 10 Robbie Millar was out caught behind first ball, trying to poke at a delivery outside off stump, after which No. 11 Josh Wilson couldn’t keep the ball from hitting the stumps as Campher came around the wicket.

“Because of the change of overs, I wasn’t really sure what was happening,” Campher said of his achievement. “I just kind of stuck to my guns and kept it real simple and luckily it kind of went off.”

When asked if he would have been able to do six in six if there was another batter to come, Campher said: “No, I don’t think so. It is what it is. Take the rough with the smooth. Just happy to be out there in the sun.”

This was Campher’s second match after a finger injury had ruled him out of the ODI and T20I series against West Indies. In his comeback match, against Leinster Lightning on Tuesday, he had scored 57 off 35 balls but did not bowl. On Thursday, too, he scored 44 off 24 balls before his five-for.

“Performances aside, it has been really good just to be around the boys,” he said. “When you get injured, it’s a bit of a dark place, when you get into the gym and stuff like that. So it has been really nice, just been treated with the weather too. So I have been really enjoying myself and putting pressure on myself to do well and it has kind of made me work for the last little bit.”

Campher, who is also part of an elite list of bowlers to take four wickets in four balls in T20 Internationals, however, is not the first person to achieve this feat. That honour belongs to Zimbabwe Women allrounder Kelis Ndhlovu who took five wickets in five balls for Zimbabwe U-19 against Eagles Women in the domestic T20 tournament in 2024.

[Cricinfo]

 

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Root holds the fort with unbeaten 99 as India put brakes on Bazball

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Joe Root celebrates his half-century [Cricinfo]

Shubman Gill declared the return of “boring Test cricket” but England did not care. They scored uncharacteristically slowly – at just 3.02 runs per over – and ground their way into the ascendancy on their slowest-scoring full day of the Bazball era, as Joe Root reached the close a run short of his 37th Test century and his eighth at Lord’s.

“Baz-Baz-Bazball! Come on, I want to see it,” Mohammed Siraj was heard telling Root over the stump microphones, as England put their attacking shots away during a wicketless second session. “No more entertaining cricket, lads,” Gill told his team-mates, after Ollie Pope left the ball alone outside his off stump. “Welcome back to the boring Test cricket.”

Boring suited England just fine. The crowd at Lord’s were probably anticipating a very different day when they cheered Ben Stokes’ decision to bat first after winning his third consecutive toss, but a sluggish surface and a disciplined bowling effort from India’s seamers – including the returning Jasprit Bumrah  – led England to scale back their usual aggressive intent.

But India will be heartened by the fact that after a long day in the field, they have kept England in check. The bowling heroes of their 336-run win at Edgbaston, Siraj and Akash Deep, both went wicketless, but timely scalps for Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and two in an over from Nitish Kumar Reddy ensured that England never got away from them.

Root walked in straight after Reddy’s first over, which accounted for both England openers and saw Gill drop a tough chance off Pope in the gully, and quickly got his head down. He put on 109 with Pope for the third wicket, then an unbroken 79 with Stokes for the fifth – though Stokes’ apparent groin issue could become a major worry.

India had their own injury problem to worry about: Rishabh Pant tried to grimace through the pain after being struck on the index finger as he tried to gather a rare loose ball from Bumrah, but instead spent the last 49 overs off the field. But Dhruv Jurel proved an able deputy, taking a fine catch to dismiss Pope as Jadeja found his outside edge with the first ball after tea.

Brendon McCullum ordered a pitch with “plenty of life in it” after England’s heavy defeat at Edgbaston but his plea either arrived too late or fell on deaf ears. It was clear within an over that this was a slow surface, with Ben Duckett edging through to Pant on the half-volley; Bumrah, who replaced Prasidh Krishna, immediately called for the slip cordon to stand closer.

Duckett was repeatedly struck on the body in the first hour as Bumrah nipped the new ball off the seam, while Zak Crawley was frenetic. He changed his guard several times and threw his hands at the ball; while he nailed three cover drives, he slashed another over the slips and regularly played-and-missed at both Akash Deep and Siraj.

But it was Reddy, wicketless in Birmingham, who made the breakthroughs. He struck first with perhaps the worst ball of the morning, a long-hop on Duckett’s hip which he under-edged to Pant on the pull, but then dismissed Crawley with one of the best, a wicked outswinger which angled in then shaped away late the take the outside edge.

Pope was reprieved by Gill in between those two dismissals and batted as though determined to live up to his tag – coined by Steve James in the Times – as “the worst starter since prawn cocktail”. But he made it through to lunch unscathed, and dug in alongside Root after the interval; early in the second session, they went 28 consecutive balls without scoring.

Root, the senior pro, recognised that the best way to play Bumrah was from the non-striker’s end: he faced only two balls of his five-over spell after lunch, pinching singles from both to give Pope the strike back. They added 70 in a sleepy second session, as India’s seamers hung the ball wide outside off stump and waited for a mistake which didn’t come.

It finally arrived straight after tea, as Pope flashed hard at Jadeja and edged through to Jurel. He stood disconsolate, bent over his bat handle in disbelief that he had thrown his wicket away. India had another soon after, as the battle between the ICC’s No. 1-ranked Test batter and bowler ended swiftly: Bumrah nipped one back off the seam to peg Harry Brook’s off stump back.

Stokes was underway early with consecutive cuts for four, but looked uncomfortable against spin once more and survived an lbw shout from Reddy via DRS thanks only to the on-field umpire’s call. He was in obvious discomfort after a leave against Akash Deep, but batted on getting treatment from England’s physio during another long delay.

Root, meanwhile, cruised along as he does, only once putting his foot down with a rasping slog-sweep off Jadeja. He was a boundary away from his hundred in the final over of the day but could only manage a two and then a single. History bodes well: the previous 16 men to sleep on 99 in Test cricket have all reached three figures the following morning.

Brief scores:
England 251 for 4 in 83 overs (Ben Duckett 23, Ollie Pope 44,  Joe Root 99*, Ben Stokes 39*; Nitish Kumar  Reddy 2-46) vs India

[Cricinfo]

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