Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

Maybe only a few are aware that Asia is the only continent that has enough number of international cricket teams to consist a proper tournament. This factor was spotted by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) as far back as 27 years ago to promote the game and goodwill amongst Asian nations. Thus in 1984 the first edition of the Asia Cup took place in Sharjah with three countries India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing matches on a round robin league basis. Overall, India and Sri Lanka have won the Asia Cup on four occasions with Pakistan having won it only once. Sri Lanka is the only team to participate in every single Asia Cup tournament. The tenth edition of the Asia Cup begins at Dambulla on June 15 with the final scheduled for June 24. It will be a rather condensed version involving only the four Test-playing nations due to the time factor. Here is a brief resume of the past nine tournaments.

1984 (in Sharjah)Winner: India, Runner-up: Sri LankaSri Lanka still the minnows of international cricket having obtained Test status barely three years ago was off to a flyer when they beat one of the favourites for the tournament Pakistan by five wickets in the lung opener. Sri Lanka’s victory was fashioned out by a classic unbeaten half-century from Man-of-the-Match Roy Dias which enabled them to top Pakistan’s total of 187 with six and a half overs to spare. However against India in the next game Sri Lanka were shot out for 96 and lost by ten wickets. India went onto clinch the title when they defeated Pakistan by 54 runs in the final league game remaining unbeaten in the tournament. Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Surinder Khanna emerged as the unexpected star winning the Man-of-the-Series award by scoring back-to-back half-centuries against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

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Despite Trinity having mixed fortunes this rugby season under the leadership of Damith Dissanayake, the multi-purpose forward is going great guns in the final season for his school. Damith (18) who has been part of the Trinity senior rugby team for the past two seasons speaking on his achievements told The Nation that captaining one of the leading rugby playing teams was one of his childhood dreams. “Playing rugby for Trinity College is undoubtedly an honour and getting to captain the side gives me great pride. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime achievement and I think my commitment as a player helped me to get there,” Damith said.

The Trinity rugby team has many who contributed to its successes this season, and Damith has played a big part not only through his prowess as a player, along with the rest of his team-mates, but also through his good leadership qualities as the captain of the side. Leadership according to him is not a special privilege but a responsibility one is entrusted with to work with the team in harmony.

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Lanka lap of Queen’s Baton Relay from June 17 – 19

Sri Lanka will be the 68th destination for the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 which is on its way to New Delhi where the 2010 Commonwealth Games is scheduled to take place in October this year. A special welcome ceremony has been planned at the Bandaranaike International Airport on June 17 to officially mark the arrival of the baton in Sri Lanka. This was revealed at a press briefing held at the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka last Wednesday (June 9).

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A cricket loving Sri Lankan lawyer is challenging the International Cricket Council (ICC) to prove the authorship of the Umpires Decision Referral System (UDRS) and is prepared to take legal steps to show that he is the rightful author.

Senaka Weeraratne has for the past one year through Sri Lanka Cricket tried to establish with the ICC that the umpires review rule was originally his idea. He claims that it was first mooted by him in 1997 and that he has enough evidence on the subject published around the world to stake a claim as the rightful author.The file containing Weeraratne’s claims was handed to the ICC’s Head of Legal David Becker in March this year by Sri Lanka Cricket and after two months Becker’s response was to reject the assertions that ICC must recognize Weeraratne’s claims in law as the innovator of the Umpires Referral Rule.

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It takes a hard task- master to make bold decisions and former World Cup winning vice-captain Aravinda de Silva showed those capabilities in his first attempt as chief cricket selector by dropping veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya and spinner Ajantha Mendis from the Sri Lanka Asia Cup squad.

By making such a move De Silva showed that if he is allowed to work without any outside hindrance he is capable of delivering the goods. He showed his capable hands when he handled the Sri Lanka under 19 World Cup team as consultant coach. In the short space of time he had to work with De Silva managed to extract as much as he possibly could to take Sri Lanka upto the semi-final stage. Had he been given the position a few months earlier we could have seen a different result.

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LONDON: The inventors of cricket’s controversial Duckworth-Lewis method were among those included in the honours list marking the birthday of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II published on Saturday. Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, whose surnames have become part of the fabric of cricket, were both awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). The university statisticians’ formula is widely regarded as the fairest, if perhaps the most complicated, method yet devised of setting revised targets in one-day matches interrupted by bad weather. – [AFP]

PORT ELIZABETH: South Korea made an explosive start to their World Cup campaign with a fluent 2-0 win over Greece in their Group B opener on Saturday.Goals from Lee Jung-soo and captain Park-Ji-sung early in each half gave South Korea only their second World Cup win on foreign soil and left Greece with a massive task to advance from a group that includes Nigeria and Argentina. The Koreans defended solidly against the ariel threat of the taller Greek players, who bombarded their opponents with lofted passes that yielded few chances for a country that has lost every World Cup game they have played in. The 2004 European champions struggled against a torrent of South Korean attacks, with European-based duo Cha Du-ri and Park Chu-young proving a handful for the Greek defence. However, Greece started brightly and could have gone ahead in the third minute when Vassilis Torosidis steered Giorgos Karagounis’s corner past the post.South Korea, unbeaten in qualifying, always looked dangerous though and punished Greece with slick counter-attacking and neat passing play that left their opponents outnumbered at the back. They snatched the lead in the seventh minute when Lee Young-pyo’s corner drifted past four defenders into the path of Lee Jung-soo, who steered the ball into the net to spark frenzied celebrations from thousands of travelling Korean fans. Greece battled to get back into the game but were caught off guard as the three-times Asian champions piled on the pressure and had two penalty appeals turned down. – [Agencies]

Budding sportsmen are always blessed to have a supportive background in their sporting endeavours. The captain of the St. Anthony’s rugby team, Tharindu Chanaka, who plays an effective role for his team as a fullback, is one such privileged sportsman. Coming from a family which is renowned for rugby players. Chanaka who is 18-years of age has fulfilled his youthful dreams by becoming a valuable player for his school, St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota. With the maximum support from his father, Nihal Ananda who was a known figure in rugby during his heydays, and his elder brothers Prasad Chathuranga and Nuwan Chamara, Chanaka is blossoming to become a player for the future.

“Having a rich rugby environment in my home is a tremendous advantage for a young and upcoming player like me. I grew up watching my father and elder brothers flourish in rugby. With their motivation I’m moving forward in this sport which is also keenly followed by the other members of my family,” Chanaka said. Chanaka who has been a regular and key member of the St. Anthony’s senior rugby team for the past three seasons has been given the role of captaining the side during his final season this year. A multi-talented player who could fit into any position in the back division, Chanaka has always been the first choice for the fullback slot in the team from the day he was selected to the senior side.

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Aravinda

By Sa’adi ThawfeeqSri Lanka’s chairman of cricket selectors Aravinda de Silva said that the coaching staff must also be made accountable for the team’s performances rather than the players getting the blame all the time.”It is the players and the captain who have to take all the flak whenever the team performs poorly. The coaching staff is also responsible for it. They have a job to do and they must also pull up their socks,” De Silva told The Nation in an interview.

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Despite being one of the world’s better cricketing nations, football, or soccer, doesn’t appear to be a sport that Sri Lanka competes at with any great enthusiasm. This is at odds with the popularity of the game in Sri Lanka, though you can be sure that many a family will be sat around the television or standing at the bar watching the game on the big screen come June, when the world’s best teams compete in the most popular sporting event in the world. And what a competition it promises to be.Hosted by an African country for the first time, the South Africa 2010 World Cup will kick of on June 11 with the final planned for July 11.There will be several teams that the world of soccer will be most focused on, not to mention key players currently impressing for their club sides.

Players to watchArgentina and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the current European and FIFA World Player of the Year is the obvious man to watch, despite criticisms of the way Argentinean soccer legend and hero of the 1986 World Cup Diego Maradona’s management of the national side (including his deployment of Messi behind the main striker rather than in his preferred right winger position).England and Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney is expected to be a key man this year following a blistering season that saw him score 34 goals in all competitions for his club and his apparent transition from talented player to world-class footballer. Without doubt the key man for England.

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