The first ever Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand ended on a sad but predictable note as the game was called off without a ball being bowled. It was only the eighth such instance  in the Test history and the first since 1998.

There was an air of inevitability around the call after there was no play in the first four days and heavy rains ended the last two as early as 9.15am. The rain returned on the fifth morning, prompting the umpires to pull the plug at 8.45am.

The clouds hung low and the covers were drenched yet again at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground. A pool of water had formed near one of the boundaries and a few puddles were scattered across the uncovered grass in the outfield.

Rex Clementine
in London

Cricket is a game that provides you a lot of entertainment and even if your team loses, there are moments which brings you joy like for example Asitha Fernando’s five wicket haul at Lord’s, Kamindu Mendis’ century at Old Trafford and Dinesh Chandimal coming out to bat with a heavily strapped thumb and posting an entertaining 79 in the first Test.

The captain on a cricket field has to take spur of the moment decisions while selectors and team management have a longer time to ponder and take some unpopular decisions.

One such was taken at The Oval last week. Dropping of Prabath Jayasuriya didn’t get the approval of everyone. Jayasuriya has been the fastest Sri Lankan to 50 wickets and The Oval has a history for assisting spin bowlers which is why some of Surrey’s finest overseas signings have been spin bowlers – Inthikab Alam, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed. Plus, Kumara, Vishwa, Asitha and Milan were no Roberts, Holding, Marshall and Garner.

You need a spin bowler to contain the free flowing England batsmen, many thought. But that was defensive thinking. The positive thinking was let’s go out there and test England with pace although our resources are limited. Pace was the only way Sri Lanka was going to win this Test because conditions were so overcast, damp and with the sun not coming out, spin was redundant.

To their credit, the quartet of seamers that Sri Lanka picked bowled superbly and tested England’s skills. The four of them are four different types. Asitha is someone who always tries to make something happen. He hits the deck hard, unsettles the batsmen, reverse swings the ball and has a large heart.

Kumara meanwhile is the quickest of them all with an ability to bowl above 140 kmph regularly. The extra pace he generates is quite handy against batters who play a lot of premeditated shots. He bowled Ollie Pope in the second innings off an inside edge and may have ended Dan Lawrence’s England career with a peach. The send off that he gave Lawrence was something. Less than 24 hours later, England named their squad for three Test tour of Pakistan and Lawrence was axed. Kumara is quite a character and his vow to go after England batters after being peppered by short balls made him an instant hero among the fans.

Much was expected from Vishwa Fernando, who had a season with Yorkshire this year. Although he was below par, Vishwa did the job for the team executing the plan to Joe Root so well. That yorker that swung back in late had Root plumb in front. It was such a vital breakthrough for the former England captain had been a thorn in the flesh of Sri Lankans.

Milan Ratnayake was the find of the tour. The all-rounder finished with 151 runs and ten wickets. While he may not get many opportunities while playing at home, when travelling overseas, to places like England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, he could be handy. Sri Lanka have been searching for a seam bowling all-rounder for decades now with little success and the team management will be desperate to have him around.

One of the things that Sri Lanka have struggled really in recent years is injuries to fast bowlers. It was so good to see the set of quicks going through a tour without any injury and managing their niggles. The strength and conditioning coaches and physiotherapists need to be commended for their work.

Sri Lanka’s Fast Bowling Coach Aaqib Javed during one of the media interactions suggested that Sri Lanka should have stuck to four seamers from the first Test onwards. With conditions too much to the liking of the quicks, yes, probably they should have gone on that direction.

How often a Sri Lankan seamer comes to England and outperforms the locals. That’s exactly what Asita Fernando did finishing with 17 wickets. He was the highest wicket taker in the series. Kamindu Mendis, yes, everyone would appreciate him winning Player of the Series, but no one would have faulted if Asitha had been chosen for that award. It’s after all a batsman’s game mind you.

Lyceum International Wattala athlete Sandun Kosala  won the gold medal of the boys 110 metres hurdles on Thursday to continue the good start given by his teammates at the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Chennai.

Kosala clocked 14.06 seconds to win gold while Vishwa Tharuka settled for bronze.

Meanwhile, Thevindu Sandil (long jump), Mayuni Gunathilaka (100m hurdles) and Savindya Jayamaha (discus throw) won bronze medals in their respective events on day two of the event on Thursday.

On Wednesday Merone Wijesinghe, Tharushi Abisheka and Savindu Avishka gave Sri Lanka a robust start to the championship as they won gold medals in their respective events.

Savindu Avishka produced a remarkable performance to beat hosts’ Vinod Kumar and Bopanna Kalappa to clinch gold in the 800 metres. He returned a time of 1:49.89 seconds to shock the hosts.

Wijesinghe clocked 10.41 seconds to win the boys 100 metres. Dineth Weeraratne won the silver with a time of 10.49 seconds.

Tharushi Abisheka returned a time of 2:10.17 seconds to win the girls 800 metres, while Sansala Himashani settled for bronze behind India’s Laxmi Priya Kisan.

Thimeshi Jayaratne (1.65m) and Nethra Samadi (1.65 m) bagged the silver and bronze medals in the girls’ high jump won by India’s Pooja (1.80m)

Jayavi Ranhinda threw a distance of 15.62 metres to win the bronze medal of the shot put.

Shanella Wijetunga (12.04 secs) won a bronze in the girls 100 metres. (RF)