Sports

When 35,000 Asians stormed Long Island

Published

2 years ago

2024/06/14

Rex Clementine in Miami

Sri Lanka’s chances to qualify for the second round of the T-20 World Cup faded away when they suffered a second loss in the Group D fixture against Bangladesh in Dallas. They flew into Miami for their next encounter. Between those games is the epic India – Pakistan clash in New York that one wouldn’t want to miss out.

Everything in US is money. You can buy an air ticket, but that doesn’t include your checked-in luggage. For that you have to pay separately at the check-in counters. It costs you a cool 40 USD.

Near gate number D25 in Dallas airport is a restaurant. You walk in to have some food and notice something different. Several people who serve food in the restaurant are those who are down with autism. Ben is a tall lad working in the restaurant and he does a fine job and obliges your request for a selfie. US is not discriminating anyone. Perhaps, it’s time that back home too we treat people with autism with more understanding.

The cricket ground in New York is at a place called Long Island. It’s a 40-minute drive from John F. Kennedy airport.

Rooms in Long Island have gone up in prices because of high demands. Some 35,000 fans have bought tickets. For police, it’s a logistics nightmare. They need to make sure the game goes on without any incident.

Although the match starts only at 10:30 am New York time, it makes sense to leave the hotel early. So, booked an Uber. The driver arrives. But there’s a problem. He only speaks Chinese. So, we drive towards the ground and the traffic is building up. You tell the driver to just keep going straight because media has been issued car passes for the game and it’s in the phone. It will be scanned and your vehicle will be allowed in. But the Chinese speaking driver doesn’t get what you are trying to say. He tries to avoid the traffic and speeds away on another lane. And he drops you off at the other end of the ground. That means a 30-minute walk to the press box from the opposite end of the ground.

How can someone live in America leave alone work here without knowing English? When your plight is told to a local journalist he explains that America has in fact no official language. It’s the free world.

You enter the press box just on time for the toss. It’s a wise decision to have left early.

It’s a cracking game. A full house witness India beating Pakistan in a last over thriller. Pakistan are facing elimination after losing to USA and then to India. Someone put it sarcastically; ‘Last week Pakistan were beaten by Green Card Indians. This week Pakistan were beaten by Adhar Card Indians.’

After the game, you visit a convenient store to pick up some food. The owner of the place is a Pakistani. We chat about cricket for about five minutes and as you are about to leave he asks you, ‘So, where are you from? Guyana or Jamaica?’

That’s something that’s frequently asked. West Indies were playing a Test match in Kandy a few years ago. As you entered the press box, a cop gets up from his seat and says, ‘good morning, sir.’ The next day too we exchange pleasantries. On day three, Lakruwan Wanniarachci and yours truly go to the press box chatting in Sinhala. The cop gives a weird look and says, ‘thamusay Lanakweda. Mama hithuwe West Indies kiyala.’

Florida is where Sri Lanka’s next game is. Actually, Florida is the state. It’s twice as big as Sri Lanka. Florida is 170,000 Square Kilometers. Sri Lanka meanwhile is only 65,000 Square Kilometers. The state has several prominent cities with Orlando, Miami and Tampa being the major ones. The game is actually played at Fort Lauderdale. There’s an airport there. It’s no tiny airport as it handles over 700 flights daily. That’s far more than what Katunayake operates daily. Miami of course handles over 1000 flights daily. It’s a 90-minute drive from Miami International to the cricket ground.

The flight from New York to Miami takes three and half hours. The New York airport is named after President John F. Kennedy and fondly called as JFK. It is highly hyped up but it’s nowhere near to Changi Airport in Singapore or Bangalore Airport. JFK has eight terminals and handles over 2500 flights daily.

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Latest News

SCG curator ‘really happy’ with pitch for final Ashes Test

Published

11 hours ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

The pitch at the SCG has been the centre of much attention [Cricinfo]

Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.

With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.

But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.

“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.

“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”

Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.

It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.

Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.

One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.

Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.

“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”

CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.

“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”

All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.

Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.

With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.

England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.

“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.

That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”

The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Pramod hits 42 runs in an over

Published

22 hours ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

Pramod Madushan hit 42 runs in an over.

Young Pramod Madushan has become the talk in cricket circles after he scored 42 runs in an over for Mercantile Services Cricket Academy against Sigi Cricket Academy at Ambalangoda recently.

In an over that contained nine deliveries, including two no-balls and a wide, Madushan cut loose hitting three fours and five sixes. In all, the over bowled by Bihandu Sandiv went for 45 runs.

The young cricketer from D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo shares the same name as Sri Lanka fast bowler Pramod Madushan. However, the 19-year-old is a wicketkeeper batter.

His knock of 103 came in just 38 deliveries and contained eight fours and ten sixes.

Latest News

Usman Khawaja to retire after fifth Ashes Test

Published

22 hours ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

Usman Khawaja has played 22 Ashes Tests [BBC]

Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.

The 39-year-old will play his 88th and final Test on the ground where he made his debut against the same opponents in January 2011.

Khawaja was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to play for Australia when he took the place of Ricky Ponting at the end of England’s 3-1 series win 15 years ago.

The left-hander has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.

He has played in six Ashes series – winning two, losing two and drawing two.

He was also part of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship in 2023.

The final Test at the SCG starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).

Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their most recent series win in this country in 2010-11.

He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey and into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.

Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.

Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.

Often in and out of the Australia team during his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.

However, his place has come under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.

Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.

Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.

He made 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place for the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-1.

After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.

[BBC]