Sri Lanka's top four...Cause for concern

The Sri Lankans nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat against the South Africans, with Malinga proving that he is a freak of a bowler who'll tear you apart when you least expect it. He and his fellow bowlers would have sunk the South Africans easily had our batsmen put something decent on the board.

Our batting woes have shifted from the middle order to the top order. In the last four games against a quality opposition, none of our top four batsmen have scored more than 50 runs apart from the 60 odd scored by Tharanga against India at Trinidad.

Putting a finger on the problem is difficult. Mahela is having a horrendous run and probably should consider dropping down the order. If he wasn't the captain his batting slot could actually have been taken by Atapattu. The rest of the middle order is doing too well to knock them out for Attapattu.

Our next game against the Windies will be a test and a must win in the context of the oppositions to come.

Our bowlers have done very well in the recent past, washing away many of our batsmens sins. The pitches to come don't promise to be as good for our kind of play as it was in Guyanna.

Well done Malinga, Murali and Vaas!!

Sana, Upul, Mahela and Sanga...you guys need to rise to the occassion put something on the board for our craftsmen and devil to bowl at.

What SL had in ’96 that they don’t have now…

The upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 will be the spotlight in coming months and hearts of all Sri Lankans will be stuck on happenings in the Caribbean. All of us believe that Sri Lanka goes in as a strong contender for this tournament with an experienced and well rounded outfit. Our hopes cling to a repeat of 1996.

Yes, presently we do have a strong side but in 1996 we had something that we do not have now – The Element of Surprise. In the Wills World Cup 1996 we came out of nowhere all guns blazing and took the world by storm. To play one day cricket in Super Attacking mode from the start was something we invented and it stunned the rest of the world. Jayasuriya who was almost unknown along with Kalu, the little master or Mad Max – Aravinda, the sedate guiding lights of Gura, Arjuna, Mahanama and Hashan were not expected to knock out the big guns. Even more underrated was the left arm metronome Vaas, the vicious spin of Murali, the gentle floating off breaks of Dharmasena, and the wiles of the part time spinning duo – Aravinda and Sanath. Facing these guys on a sub continent wicket was a challenge that was never taken seriously by the other contenders for the cup.

Back then the world didn’t see us coming. This time round it’s a different story. From Sanath’s blitzkriegs, to Mahela’s and Sanga’s sublime stroke play, to Murali and Vaas’ cunning – the world has seen it all. Plans have been set up. Traps have been laid. Every move and every stroke will be watched and schemed against by other oppositions.

It will be a tough battle out there and our lions will have to fight hard. Sanath will be a big factor, Mahela’s struggle to get into double figures isn’t very encouraging, Sanga will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility. The young guns – Tharanga and Chamara Silva will have to fire.

Our guys will always have to be thinking out there. Sticking to old plans and strategies may cause their downfall. They will have to innovate and look for new things to do as and when they’re challenged by other teams.

Focus should be on each stage, no opposition should be taken lightly – not Bangladesh, not even Bermuda. Complete focus is crucial at all times.

So here’s hoping our guys play great cricket in the Caribbean. Here’s hoping they deal with every opposition they are faced with, positively – in true Sri Lankan style. Our broken land will shed their differences for once and join hands as one to hold up our team. For the seven weeks ahead – health, strength, courage, good luck and God-speed.

Sri Lanka vs India - Head to Head

The 23rd of March will mark Sri Lanka’s first major World Cup challenge as they take on India. It’ll be interesting to take a look at how the teams look head to head. Instead of their past won/lost ratio here’s a comparison of the players. Both teams batting order could change, but this gives a general view of how well the batsmen from both teams have performed. Pay particular attention to the averages away from home.

Batting Averages

It looks like India has the clear upper hand with the bat. Chamara Silva’s average overseas will be slightly blown out with his unbeaten century in India. The following is a head to head with the ball.

Bowling Averages

This is where Sri Lanka has some advantage. Though we are weaker with the bat we are a much better rounded side considering our batting and bowling strength as a whole. India’s weak link is their 5th bowler (this is probably something our batsmen need to make use of). Tendulkar has been names here as the 5th bowler, but it’ll probably include Virandar Sehwag and Yuvraj as well. Both these guys bowling average is nothing much to talk about, so Jayasuriya clearly is a much more advantageous bowler to have. We have to take into account the possibility that Irfan Pathan might play at the expense of one of the fast men or probably of Dinesh Karthik. The latter option will probably beef up India’s bowling.

Summing things up, One Day cricket is all about who performs better on the given day, in which case these statistics will get thrown out the window. The stats however give us a clear view of how strong the teams and individuals themselves are. If our top order fires, we’re in with a good chance. If not we could be in for serious trouble.

The last World Cup encounter between these two teams was in 1999 in Taunton. We received a thorough pasting in that game at the hands of the Indians. They scored 370 odd runs with Ganguly and Dravid making big hundreds.

Sri Lanka need to take things step by step, beating Bangladesh and Bermuda will assure them of a place in the Super 8. So they need to make sure they do that. Beating the Indians would however will add some more confidence and boost our guys to take on the big guns to come.

Source of Statistics - Cricinfo Statsguru - www.cricinfo.com/guru

Aussies No Longer the favorites for the World Cup

Well, the mighty giant is now being conquered and it is with much gladness in my heart that I say that the Aussies are no longer the favorites for this World Cup in the Caribbean.

Following three successive defeats against …. ENGLAND of all teams and now crushing defeat against the Kiwis they are looking rather ordinary now. Losing 3 matches in succession to a team such as England who had earned the status of being the worst one day outfit ahead of only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will certainly be too much for Ponting and his men must be tearing their hair out.

After the exit of Warne and Gillespie their bowling attack looks very docile. It comes to a point that they at times actually consider Andrew Symonds and Michel Clark to be their top class spinners. So things are looking down for the Aussies right now and that is a good thing for cricket.

South Africa is looking like the team to beat at the moment. They possess probably the most lethal bowling attack combined with attacking batsmen. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and New Zealand are also looking good and getting into shape well in time for the World Cup. So this times Caribbean show down is going to be a competition to remember.

After the Mighty waves...Two years and counting...

Warm greetings for an active, energetic and joyous 2007.

On the 26th of December 2006, disaster struck our land causing destruction as never seen before. The extent of the destruction and the pain caused was there for all to see.

The emotional wounds caused will be very difficult to heal for years to come. The sad thing however is that the physical wounds still remain and the people continue to suffer the ignominy of being homeless, hungry and desperate.

To say nothing has been done will be wrong. Many organisations both local and foreign, the government, all religious establishments and many others all did do something to help and many communities who were affected have been able to get back on their feet.

However what was done was far from substantial. It is clear that while certain areas thanks to the weight of some of the politicians involved in those areas, other areas have been left to rot...

A decent portion of the south are getting close to being back on track. However many areas in the east (Ampara in particular) are still as desolate as could be.

It is indeed disappointing to note how politicians have maneuvered funds to their strongholds and left other areas to scrounge for scraps from the table. Absolutely no justice has been done for the amount of funds received for relief and reconstruction. It is no secret that a good portion of this money has ended up in the pockets of our country's leaders. Due to the misappropriation of funds some of the pledged sums of money have not been received.

It is also interesting to note how our great leaders have all the money in the world to spend on a massive number of billboards exalting themselves all over the country which are of no benefit to the nation, but people displaced by the tsunami are still in refugee camps.

What was amazing immediately after the Tsunami in 2004 was how the entire nation rallied round to give their support to those who were affected. The enthusiasm with which everybody pitched in to help slowly faded away with time. The media and other commercial organisations who made a tremendous effort soon after the Tsunami slowly lost the drive which they used to spur up the country to help their citizens.

Now there exist very small groups of people who still help those whose lives were torn apart by the waves. They too are frustrated by the lack of financial and material assistance available for them to help.

It is indeed upto each one of us to look to do our part to bring normalcy back into the lives of our fellow citizens. If those in authority aren't interested in the people, we in our small way will have to help in whatever way we can.

For those who lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihood after the 26th December 2004, days have turned to months, months to years and possibly years to a lifetime...

Murali, McCallum and Kiwi Sportsmanship...

The bizzare run out incident involving Murali and Brendon McCallum seems to be the talking point among cricketing circles these days. Well what’s the deal?

It was indeed quite silly of Murali, but it is well known that while his brain works overtime while bowling, he somehow manages to leave his brain in the dressing room when he comes out to bat.

Nonetheless Mahela shouldn't be grumbling about Murali's runout causing heartache and may be the loss of the game. He should be more worried about the performance of his top order batsmen including himself. Leaving aside Sangakkara and perhaps Jayasuriya who was unlucky to be run out, the rest of the batting was as dismal as it could possibly get. Given the situation of the match Murali being there perhaps would have added around 20 runs more which wouldn't have been enough to win the game.

Meanwhile it would have been great for cricket if Stephen Fleming could have ignored the runout and let Sri Lanka bat on. He however preferred to work according to the letter of the law. The New Zealanders are self proclaimed pundits of the spirit of the game as they so vocifourously cried out against the famous underarm over bowled against them - a product of the Chappell brothers brains trust, who were by the way working according to the letter of the law.

Alas, everybody embraces the spirit of the game or the rules of the game only when it is convenient to them...

Well one test match is gone, lost through a bad decision at the toss, bad batting and on the button bowling by the Kiwis. You cannot however ignore Sangakkara's innings which was a masterpiece. He has been a pillar of consistency for the SL side and his batting has been streets ahead of the rest in aelian conditions. He has batted well in all parts of the world - South Africa, Australia, England, West Indies, Pakistan. His technique and temperamant set him apart as the best Sri Lankan batsman in the current side. He could possibly be described as the best Sri Lankan batsman since Aravinda De Silva. Unfotunately some of his great innings have been when SL have been on the losing side. His maiden ODI century made against Australia, his gallant 138 not out against India, a fantastic 98 against South Africa at the Centurion are some of his monumental innings which have gone unrewarded.

Also to our boys credit, they bowled and fielded like demons. To have the Kiwi batsmen in tangles in their home conditions is no easy task, and our bowlers powered by the two experienced war horses Murali and Vaas, rose to the occassion. Murali was denied an easy chance of getting five consecutive ten fors by our batsmen. He proved that he is easily the best bowler the world has ever seen, by picking up 7 wickets without a fuss on a grassy Crist Church pitch.

Well Mahela has made a tough call by signalling intentions of vengeance for the Murali runout by beating the Kiwis in the second test. If he is to walk the talk, his batsmen will need bat like international test batsmen. Lets hope our boys play their hearts out in the next game. We all would love to have roasted Kiwi for dinner at the end of the next test...

Do the People matter?

Do you honestly know what it feels like to be treated like a terrorist? Well if you don't, look no further... the opportunity is not far away. Make your way to Galle Road in Colpity between the Colpity junction and Galle face, where ladies, gentlemen, fruits, flowers, the young, the old, cats and dogs are all alike treated like terrorists.

In order for your experience to be a truly complete one, come during the morning rush hour (around 9 - 10) or during the evening rush hour (around 5.30 - 6.30). You will experience the whole works which include verbal and physical abuse and much more...

I'm one of the unfortunate ones who's work place happens to be located between these said landmarks and thus suffer the torture everyday.

When his Excellency decides to make his way from his residence in Fort to his office at the Temple Trees, a bustling section of Colombo is brought to a complete hault. Traffic is stopped from both ends. No vehicles. No pedestrians. People and traffic have to stand still, on some occassions for even more than an hour... and when I stay stand still..I mean very still... If your behind a barricade, you cannot walk from one end of the barricade to the other. If you do you run the risk of receiving a tirade of insults or possibly even bullets from the nearest armed guard.

Those closer to Galle Face are the worst affected. Everyone is pushed inside the Galle Face Court, barricades thrown across all openings and an armed army officer will stand right in front of you. There have been occassions when people are all placed against the wall as well.
A girl working in an office adjoining ours had been walking through the Galle Face Court, when suddenly, His excellency had been passing by. The girl was physically handled by an army officer and pushed against the wall, much to her dismay. The girl ended up in tears and certainly took awhile to overcome the shock.

If His excellency's arrival is sudden, then all passing cars are hauled to a side, which is followed by police and army officers yanking open the vehicle doors and pulling out the occupents while offering a healthy dose of insults and foul language.

It is nauseating to see one man's pomp become such a curse to a people.

Will it end? I think not...