Sports

Keep backing players with right attitude

Published

3 years ago

2023/07/23

Some young players are under pressure after Sri Lanka’s four wicket loss to Pakistan in Galle, but you’ve got to keep backing the players with right attitudes. Ramesh Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama both have bright futures.

by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka’s heart-wrenching four wicket loss in Galle on Thursday has highlighted some flaws in the team. Catching of the two teams made a huge difference in the end result. While Pakistan pulled off some stunners, Sri Lanka were sloppy dropping two catches off double centurion Saud Shakeel while a stumping chance of Naseem Shah during his 94-run stand with Shakeel for the ninth wicket went begging.

Another player who has come under the scanner is off-spinner Ramesh Mendis. While wicketkeeper Sadeera Samarawickrama is safe for the moment, Mendis is facing the axe with questions over his control. Will have to wait and see what the selectors do but from a distance it’s quite clear that both players need to be persevered with.

Sadeera replaced long standing wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who is quite popular among the team although he doesn’t seem to have many friends outside the team.

Several Sri Lankan players both current and recently retired have rated Dickwella to be the best wicketkeeper in the country. That may be true and it’s a pity that your best keeper can’t find a place in the team.

Let’s not deal with Dickwella’s off the field excesses but he cooked his goose with his callous attitude towards the game. Throwing away his wicket at crucial junctures of the game and not converting starts were his biggest flaws.

Dickwella was Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper for a good ten years and featured in 54 Test matches in that period but wasn’t able to convert any of his 22 half-centuries to a hundred. You look around the cricketing world and check the records of other keepers and you are convinced that he deserved the axe. Tom Blundell of New Zealand has four Test hundreds and so does Sarfraz Ahmed of Pakistan while India’s Rishab Pant has five hundreds and all three have featured in less Tests than Dickwella. Let’s not even talk about England’s Jonny Bairstow, who is a standout among his contemporaries.

The other disappointing factor about Dickwella is his arrogance. He cost the team dearly with his horrendous reviewing. There was this Test match against England in Galle where Sri Lanka had exhausted their reviews even before their best bowler Rangana Herath had come onto bowl.

Of course, all the blame can not be placed at Dickwella’s doorstep for the captain either should have asked the keeper to get his act together or stopped trusting him. It’s a tough one because the keeper has the best view in advising the captain on whether to make the ‘T’ sign or not. Dickwella was so impulsive and advices to the captain proved to be poor. But the manner in which he appealed and pleaded with the umpire convinced you otherwise. Had he joined the film industry instead of cricket, he could have given Gamini Fonseka a good run for his money.

As Michael Atherton said of Harry Brook, “Along the way players are going to make some errors, but you should make room for players to learn from those errors and bounce back.”

Sadly for Sri Lankan cricket, Dickwella did not learn. Had he got his act together; it is he who should be understudy to Dimuth Karunaratne and not Dhananjaya de Silva.

Sadeera, in the meanwhile, is no Mahela Jayawardene either when it comes to reviewing. He made several wrong calls during the first Test. MJ of course as captain had an unblemished record with his reviews when he was captain. Why he was so successful was he reviewed only when he suspected that the umpire may have made a mistake. Perhaps, Sadeera should have a chat to MJ and pick his brains on reviewing.

It’s early days for Sadeera. When he made a hundred against Ireland on his comeback Test, it looked all too easy. But Pakistan have proved to be tough opponents and in both innings he fell for superb catches.

As for Ramesh Mendis, despite him taking a five-wicket haul in Galle in the first innings, there are questions about his control. That question has been there for some time now and it remains to be seen whether he will be given the cold shoulder at SSC now that there’s already a backup off-spin option in the squad.

The sensible thing seemed to keep backing him. Like Sadeera, Ramesh is another player who has got a good head on his shoulders .You have invested on him heavily and it only makes sense to keep backing him for players with right attitudes are very much the need of the hour for Sri Lanka.

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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;