Thursday 26th February, 2009 15

ome say this and some say Though it has not been satis- tion government led by Premier Mahela and Commercialism Letter that. factorily substantiated through Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sanyway announced his research, became a Mahela Jayawardene was After opting to give preference Mahela or Aravinda retirement from the captaincy on vastly different country even at a born in 1977. to the IPL, which some now call The day Dilshan erred February 11, following a bad patch practical level, both economically The generation which was “Illamak Peduna Lamayo” [Boy, a The first ever international Twenty/20 on with the bat. That was after being and culturally, after the then Prime born in and around this time (valuable) mine was discovered!] Now there is also a debate Sri Lanka soil, at the R. Premadasa Stadium the National for Minister J. R. Jayewardene (before belongs to a different world alto- over a Test series in England, whether Mahela was the best bat- Colombo, had a full house, with the crowds three years since taking it over becoming the first Executive gether. Though it has not been Mahela’s true nature became evi- man of the post-Test era of Sri anticipating an absorbing contest. from in February President of Sri Lanka under a formally elaborated, most are dent. It was also apparent that the Lankan cricket. The Indians, fresh after their 4-1 triumph 2006. constitution which he himself familiar with this fact. 31-year-old at some stages of the In the post-independence peri- in the five match ODIs series, were the obvi- Does his departure mark an drew up), introduced the open There is a stark difference in controversy was unaware of any od, the renowned Mahadevan ous favourites. end of an era? Or else, could it economy in 1977, in place of a terms of tastes, ambitions, wrongdoing: A clear indication of Sathasivam used to thrash any T. M. Dilshan, in his new role as captain, instead be called the beginning of closed, national economic system lifestyle, morals and values the ways of his generation. They bowling attack, at the Oval, won the vital toss and opted to bat first. The a new era? that prevailed then under a coali- between the generations that don’t see anything wrong with Colombo; that too had often been Lankans got off to a flying start, with the skip- An undisputed master with after a heavy booze! per leading from the front, with an aggressive the willow in the middle, Mahela being rated by some in 61 while veteran bright- Jayawardene, though, will not Adios Mahela! this best batsmen’s list in the ened proceedings with yet another cameo of leave all that a great mark as he country, which has over a century 33, which set the stage for a match winning relinquishes his leadership role. old cricket history, will surely total. Why? What follows is an anger the staunch Aravinda de But the surprise decision to send in argument on this vague yet per- Silva fans. Jehan Mubarak, at the fall of the first tinent point. How can two batsmen from stifled the momentum set by the openers, as Jayawardene and two different eras be compared to he hung around for 13 runs from 19 balls. each other? Any cricket pundit, Jayewardene Chamara Kapugedara did better, scoring though, in this assessment, would 16 runs in nine balls, while Chamara Silva agree that Duleep Mendis and Roy made 21 runs in 18 balls, which gave Sri Dias, de Silva and Ranatunga had Lanka a fighting total of 171 runs for the to play cricket in a world dominat- Indians to chase. ed by a fierce battalion of fast Considering their powerful batting line bowlers like Andy Roberts, Joel up, the target appeared within their reach, as Garner, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev to they had quality batsmen such as Gautham Dennis Lillie and sir Richard Gambir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, limitless selling. Hadlee. Asian countries had top Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Standing for moral spinners of the calibre of The Lankan spinners Malinga Bandara, values over com- Prasanna, Bedi, Venkataraghavan Sanath Jayasuriya together with Jehan mercialism is an and Abdul Qadir. It was an age Mubarak did not permit the Indians to have unknown factor for where bowlers held sway over the things their own way. these ‘new kids’. batsmen in contrast to what’s hap- This left the Indians at a precarious 115 ‘…During his pening today. for seven. It was against this backdrop, that three-year tenure, he led Sri In hindsight, de Silva had to the Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, turned lived before and after 1977 Lanka in 26 Tests (excluding play in a side considered under- the game around in their favour, with an and the advent of the Open the Karachi Test against dogs during most parts of his unbroken partnership of 59 runs to snatch vic- Economy when the island was Pakistan) and 97 ODIs. He had career. De Silva, in the meantime, tory from the jaws of defeat, with four balls to exposed to the global commer- a win/loss ratio in Tests of had to carry the burden of batting cial and capitalist economic 62.50%, the highest by any Sri of the entire side, like what hap- spare. forces sans any barriers. Lanka captain and a win ratio pened in the 1996 World Cup final. If you focus on what caused this deba- Before Jayawardene, of 57% in ODIs. As captain, he Therefore, in this case, purely sta- cle, one may point the finger at the captain, Warnapura, Mendis, D. S., averaged 64.70 in Tests, scor- tistical matching between for his poor judgment for failing to pick the Madugalle, Arjuna, Aravinda, ing 11 centuries in the last Aravinda and Mahela will not pro- right bowler that the situation demanded. His Hashan, Sanath and Marvan, three years. He averaged 34.22 vide a true picture. handing over the cherry to , every single National skipper as ODI captain.’ In spite of his flair for compact who has been the bane of Sri Lanka, proved belonged, both chronologically – Media release that batsmanship and his many impec- to be disastrous. and ideologically, to the pre-Open announced Jayawardene’s cable innings, Jayawardene leaves True to form, his first two deliveries were Economy period. stepping down from the cap- an indelible mark in Sri Lanka wides. To make matters worse, he sent down Marvan Atapattu of course taincy on Feb. 11. cricket history. a ball wide off the leg side, which raced to the was born in 1970 and all the oth- But nearly 10 days after he He is the one who led in crick- ropes, in an over that produced 16 valuable ers were before him. announced his intention to et here the uncontrolled desire for runs. They belonged to a serene, resign, Jayawardene’s leader- money, for ads and endorsements. To add insult to injury, in the penultimate slow-phase and relatively tradi- ship credentials were put under The run for filthy lucre — shedding over Dilshan appeared to have lost his sense tional age. The strokes they scrutiny by none other than all valid norms set forth by the of reasoning, when he called upon Dilhara to played were classical and so Australian skipper Ricky predecessors — was many times bowl. That over went for 13 runs. were the songs they heard. The Ponting, who said he would multiplied under his leadership. The sensible thing would have been to society surrounding them was always put his country first and Now the stage is set for an call on Sanath to bowl in such a crisis situa- Mahela Jayawardene was the first not as hubbub and commer- was ready to skip the IPL ‘ideal’ successor to Jayawardene. tion. He has been successful in the past bowl- SL captain to emerge after the cialised as it became after because some vital tours were Enter Sangakkara, the most ing under tense conditions, and maybe Sri introduction of the Open Economy Jayewardene’s constitutional rev- ahead in their international cal- demanding figure amongst sport- Lanka would have triumphed at the end. in Sri Lanka. (Files) olution. endar. ing models now! Hail the sons of Rex Wijewardene, the Open Economy! Dehiwela. East-West thrash Ceylinco SC ‘A’ In Cricket’s Matrix… League winners, East West (Match reduced to 47 overs a side due to Marketing ‘A’ were home for lunch, as wet wicket) Sri Rahula make do with they whipped wooden spoonists, Scores: F&G Fingara invited to Ceylinco SC ‘A’by six in the 16th bat 173 in 38.5 overs (D. Mapa 20, I. de Singer-MCA Premier League, knock-out Saram 25, N. Randika 56, A. minimal resources segment, first quarter final at the Rideegammanagedera 31, Upul Colombo Oval, on Tuesday. Chandana 20, T. Kottahewa 4/30, H. Scores: Vithana 2/30, D. Indika 2/30) Ceylinco SC ‘A’ 99 in 31.5 overs (P. Seyan Bank ‘A’ 109 in 32 overs. (K. Pallewela 37, Amil Prasad 2/20, Dinuk Gunawardena 35, A. Ganegama 2/17, S. Hettiarachchi 3/13, Sachitra Serasinghe Senanayake 3/25, 4/30) 2/22) At Colts Grounds QF4: EWM A 102 for 4 in 15.4 overs Sampath Bank ‘A’ beat John Keells ‘A’ by (Sachitra Serasinghe 31, Rashan Peiris 37 runs. 27 n.o., 25, Madhava Scores: Sampath Bank ‘A’ sent Perera 2/40) into bat 209 for 9 in 50 overs (S. At Katunayake QF2: HNB ‘A’ Kalavitigoda 21, Hasantha Fernando 35, beat Janashakthi Group ‘A’ by five wick- Thilina Kandamby 81, Roy de Silva 2/20, ets M. Lakmal 3/45, M. Siriwardena 2/23) Scores: Janashakthi ‘A”’ won the J. Keells ‘A’ 172 in 43.5 overs toss and chose to bat 178 in 49.1 overs (S. (Dilshan Vitharana 30, Janaka Pathirana 65, I. Udana 22, Ranil Gunaratne 55 , D. Lokuhettige Dhammika 4/35, S. Weerakoon 3/24) 2/33, 3/24, Jeevan HNB ‘A’ 179 for 5 in 35.5 overs Mendis 2/23) (Saman Jayantha 70, D. Hunukumbura Semi-finals: Tuesday, March 3 45 n.o., Chinthaka Jayasinghe 41 n.o., At NCC: East West Marketing ‘A’ Ranga Dias 2/20) vs HNB ‘A’ At BRC Grounds QF3: F&G At P. Sara: F&G Fingara vs by Rukshan Razak Skipper Dikkumbura, an aggressive Aruna Sampath too have opened the Fingara beat Seylan Bank A by 64 runs. Sampath Bank ‘A’ bat is the top scorer in the team. He has innings on occasion. Sri Rahula College, Katugastota, a scored close to 500 runs this season, with Chethiya Amarasooriya, Aruna team that has reached reasonable heights his highest being 120 against Moratu Sampatha or Sandun Dilhan open the over the years with minimal resources, Vidyalaya. He is also a good fielder and a bowling while Sujith Hemantha, Srimal has had a successful season, recording useful off spinner. Madushnka and Prasanna Mawalagedra first innings victories in all but one out- His deputy, Amith Thilakratne a top are the support pacies. ing. order batsman with an aggregate of The spin quartet of Sri Rahula com- They have three more matches to go nearly 400 runs made a worthy 68 against prises Chathuranga Dikkumbura, before their ‘Big Match’ against Sri Karandeniya Central College to strength- Sunimal Dissanayake, Roshan Sumangala College, Kandy. en the Sri Rahula innings. Subasinghe and Asitha Undoubtedly, credit should go to veter- He also captured 6 for 54 in that game Warnakulasooriya. an coach Aubrey Kuruppu, for all the hard and has taken close to 50 wickets. They have too outing before the ‘Big work that he has put forth in order to Overall, he has been quite an asset to the Match’. They are against Kingswood mould the youngsters into a team to be team. College and Carey College. reckoned with. Led by fourth year colours- Right had top order batsman Gihan man Chathuranga Dikkumbura, the side Viduranga, all-rounder Sunimal Sri Rahula College Cricket Squad: includes a number of new faces in addi- Dissanayake and stumper, Nimesha Chaturanga Dikkumbura (Captain), tion to the lively presence of deputy skip- Wanasundra too have made their pres- Amith Tillekeratne (Vice Captain), per and all rounder Amith Thilakaratne. ence felt. Gihan Viduranga, Sunimal Dissanaike, The lads from Sri Rahula have been Viduranga top score so far is 55, while Nimesha Wanasundara, Ruwan quite successful in registering first Dissanyake made his highest of 83 Rathnayake, Sandun Dilhan, Aruna innings wins against St. Thomas’ College, against Moratu Vidyalaya. He has taken Sampath, Srimal Madusanka, Hasitha Matale, Ananda Sasthralya, Kotte, Tissa 22 wickets, with best figures of 4 for 5. Madusanka, Roshan Subasinghe, Sujith The Annual Inter-House sports Meet of St. Sebastian’s College, Kandana, was MV,Kalutara, Gurukula MV,Kelaniya, Wanasundra, with two half tons Hemantha, Viraj Maduranga, Chetiya held under the patronage of the Sri Lanka Elle Association, Chairman, Nihal Karandeniya Central College, Moratu against Gurukula Vidyalya and Amarasuriya, Rajitha Ranatunga, Jayawardene. At the meet, U. L. M. Prasad, who won a silver and a bronze medal Vidyalaya, before their solitary defeat at Karandeniya Central has played a Thusitha Kumara, Dinuka Jayatunga, dynamic role in their success story. Jayantha de Silva, Ishara Tennekoon, at the World Junior Wushu Championship held in Indonesia, was presented with the hands of Asoka Vidyalaya, Maradana. Their high point this season was when It is Sandun Dilhan together with Akalanka Bandara, Aubrey Kuruppu an award by Nihal Jayawardene. Also in the picture is the school Principal, W. Lal they recorded an outright win against Hasitha Madushanka who open the (Coach) and Sanath Seneviratne (Master- Kumara. (Pic by A. J. A. Abeynayake) Galagedara Vidyalaya by 10 wickets. innings, while Viraj Maduranga and in-Charge).