Sports
KJP’s bargaining powers further diminish
by Rex Clementine
As Sri Lanka were crashing to another heavy defeat in Cardiff, former England coach David Lloyd reminded us some harsh truths. He said that Sri Lanka probably needed an Arjuna Ranatunga to get under the skin of England. Arjuna had many ways to skin a cat. He would walk those singles, arrive late for the toss, target opposition’s best bowler 24 hours before the contest by calling him overrated. Then he would purposely forget his opposite number’s name, calling Alec Stewart by the name of Michael Atherton, just to remind the England captain that he was there by default than merit.
Bumble saw it all during his tenure as England’s coach. Sri Lanka recorded their maiden Test win in British soil when he was the coach in 1988.
Sri Lanka under Kusal Janith Perera aren’t showing any such bold tactics. They are playing limited overs cricket like what England used to do in 1990s. On Thursday in Cardiff, Sri Lanka failed to score a boundary during the six overs of Power Play!
Cardiff is a beautify city. It’s a two and half hour train ride from London. There are busses from the station to the ground, but if you are ever going there walk from the station to the Sophia Gardens. It’s a ten minute walk passing the monstrous rugby stadium and the 11th century Cardiff Castle. Along the road you find many pubs and restaurants until you reach River Taff. Partying in Cardiff, the capital of Wales continues well beyond 2 am. Pity the Sri Lankan players, their bio-secure bubble life means that they can have no outside interaction as they are restricted to the hotel, team bus and ground.
There was a famous bread and breakfast place on Cathedral Road, right behind the ground that Sri Lankan reporters frequent. The first time we were there, the waiter asked us what we would like to eat. All of us were unanimous that we wanted ‘English breakfast’ and told the waiter so. His name was Gruffydd, he banged the table and told us that in Wales what you get is the ‘Welsh breakfast and not English breakfast.’ Welsh or English it is the same; bacon egg and sausages. But Welsh think they are being constantly undermined by the English. They are damn good at many things and Welsh – English rivalry in sports, particularly in rugby, is legendary.
Coming back to cricket, if you take the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, England was a team that failed to qualify for the quarter-finals. They had no clue how to play limited overs cricket. In that competition, in the clash against Sri Lanka, they set a target of 310, which Sri Lanka reached with nine wickets and several deliveries to spare. Yet, four years on, they are World Champions in the 50 over format and ranked number one in the T-20 segment.
While they have done something right in the shorter formats of the game, we Sri Lankans have gone on the reverse gear. The composition of England side in 2015 and now hasn’t changed much. Morgan was captain and Moeen, Root, Buttler and Woakes were all part of the side. England are at the moment playing an aggressive brand of cricket while Sri Lanka are struggling to hit find the ropes even during Power Play when fielding restrictions are on. That was the biggest insult to our cricket in a long time.
Captain Kusal Janith Perera cracked under pressure. He loves when width is on offer and when England rarely offered a chance for him to free his arms, he ran out of ideas. Had he only shown the aggression that he showed during the contracts negotiations, Sri Lanka could have bowed out with their heads held high. But this was such a one-sided affair in Cardiff and the series was handed to the hosts without a contest.
There’s a dead rubber on Saturday at Rose Bowl followed by three ODIs. Fans are burning the midnight oil with the hope that their team will turn things around but the ‘fearless cricket’ that KJP promised us is nowhere to be seen.
The players have made a hue and cry before going on the tour refusing to sign central contracts. Performances such as these are not giving them a voice to negotiate or bargain against the performance based contracts that have been offered.
KJP has been entrusted with a young team with the hope that he will be able to build up for the future after four years of struggle. He will have lot of backing if he helps the team win again and put them on the right track. His voices will be then heard but not when the team has been ridiculed for not being able to find the boundary during the Power Play.
(Cricbuzz)
By A Special Sports Correspondent
All eyes will be on new entrants to rugby ‘Sri Lions Sports Club’ when they debut in the 2024/25 Inter-club league rugby tournament in Kandy on Sunday (December 15). Sri Lions are slated to take on last season’s league tournament runners-up Kandy Sports Club at the Nittawela grounds. Despite Sri Lions SC being new to domestic rugby, a thriller is expected; as the team is packed with players who are well drilled at training and the other reason being all players possess an IRB Level 1 qualification.
Sri Lions SC’s entry into division 1 rugby was not smooth. Many clubs opposed their promotion to the top league in the domestic tournament. Rugby sources told ‘The Island’ that despite the opposition shown by some clubs, Sri Lanka Rugby and other prominent sports authorities in Sri Lanka had to grant the new entrants their due place in the top league. This was largely because Sri Lions SC had made progress through the proper channel by winning the B Division rugby tournament last season.
Dr. Kelum Sujith Perera, the founder chairman of Sri Lions SC, was quoted in the newspapers saying that the club’s priority was centred around professionalism and transparency and that the club was committed to contributing to rugby development in Sri Lanka.
The club boasts of having in their line up comprising 12 former national players and a horde of talented ex-schoolboy players who have recently finished their academic commitments on a high.
The other matches scheduled for the first week of club rugby are: Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club vs CH&FC at Ratmalana (December 13), Army Sports Club vs Police Sports Club at Panagoda, Navy Sport Club vs Havelocks SC at Welisara (Both matches on December 14).
CR&FC will be one of the teams to watch this season given that they are the reigning league rugby champions. The side is led by Gemunu Chethiya. The club upgrading their stadium to have floodlight facilities should elevate player thinking to another level. The other club to offer floodlight facilities for domestic rugby matches is Havelocks SC. However CR will not have a match in the opening week of the tournament.
Last season’s league runners-up Kandy SC are led this season by seasoned scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara who counts years of experience playing in domestic and overseas tournaments. The side is coached by Fazil Marija. Kandy SC’s dominance in domestic rugby was broken last season and much is expected of the side from Nittawela, which is going through a team building phase at present.
CH&FC is a dangerous side to play against when the team members are gelled and focused. Last season the side finished fourth. This season the Gymkhana Club is led by Janidu Dilshan.
Havelocks SC led by Abdullah Faiz is set to finish on a high this season. The Park Club finished third in the league rugby tournament last season. Police SC, which had to be satisfied winning the ‘Plate Championship’ in the league tournament last season, will be another strong contender vying for honours . The side is led for the second consecutive year by third row forward Mohan Wimalaratne.
The other sides in the tournament are Army SC, Air Force Sports Club and Navy Sport Club.
The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby, the governing body for the sport in the island. Rugby sources reveal that an SGM has been called on December 20 for clubs to attend with the motive of announcing the date for the much looked forward to Annual General Meeting of SLR. According to International Rugby regulations, SLR has to have it’s AGM before January 31 next year.
SLTA Hard Court Nationals
Revaan Amarasinghe and Shennon Senadheera reached the Under 12 boys singles final as they edged out their semi-final opponents at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association Hard Court Tennis Nationals at the SLTA courts on Thursday.
Amarasinghe of S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia beat Nuren Wevita 6-1, 6-1 in his semi-final.
In the other semi-final, Wesley’s Shannon Senadheera beat Yonal Dankumbura 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Results : Under 14 Boys quarter-final
Jayan Sebastian beat Buvidu Jayawardana 6-4, 6-3.
Damsath Peiris beat Thuvakar Sathiees 6-3, 6-4.
D. Wickramasinghe beat Umar Wayis 6-3, 6-1.
Under 18 Boys’ semi-final
Louis Knese beat Ganuka Fernando 6-4, 6-3
Women’s Singles quarter-final
Rukshika Wijesuriya beat Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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