| Malinga to finally get full contract TV blackout in the offing? |
| By S.R. Pathiravithana Sundaytimes.lk |
Lasith Malinga -- one of Sri Lanka’s genuine fast bowlers who had been out of cricket and out of peer favour is to finally get his lost contract for 2008. |
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Malinga to finally get full contract
Lankans ready to retain title
Lankans ready to retain title
A staggering amount of US dollars 300,000 will be on offer as prize money for this years annual Hong Kong six a side cricket tournament which will be worked off on November 8 and 9 at the Kowloon Cricket Club grounds in Hong Kong.
The tournament is organised and promoted by the Hong Kong Cricket Association’s commercial arm, China Cricket International Limited. First played in 1992, the tournament is fully sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and backed by the boards of the test playing nations.
England, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa - all have triumphed at the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes. In fact Sri Lanka will be hoping to retain the title for the second successive year after having defeated the All Stars team by 16 runs in last year’s final encounter.
Four of the players who helped Sri Lanka to their maiden Hong Kong Cricket Sixes triumph last year have been included in the team that will defend the title next week.
The three newcomers include talented all-rounder Gayan Wijekoon, who has played for his country at test level and in last year’s Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
Sri Lanka went on to win by 16 runs for their first Sixes success in 11 attempts. In fact Sri Lanka have been drawn in the Sobers Group together with the 2008 All-Stars, Australia and Hong Kong.
The tournament has been further boosted with the inclusion of living legend Sanath Jayasuriya who will showcase his devastating batting skills for the All Stars team.
The Sri Lankan ace - one of the most lethal hitters in the game will join an awesome All-Stars team that already contains test greats Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Justin Langer, Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hoggard.
The All-Stars have been pooled with defending champions Sri Lanka in the Sobers Group, meaning Jayasuriya will face a meeting with his countrymen on day one of the tournament.
The Bradman Group contains India, Pakistan, England and South Africa.
Hosts Hong Kong have included in their squad five of the players who helped them win the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur in August.
Hong Kong will once again be captained by Manoj Cheruparambil while the squad is rounded out by Phil Pemberton. Cheruparambil, Pemberton and Dar all played in last year’s Sixes.
The past winners of the Hong Kong Sixes: 1992 (Pakistan), 1993 (England), 1994 (England), 1995 (South Africa), 1996 (West Indies), 1997 (Pakistan), 1998, 1999, 2000 (not held) 2001 (Pakistan), 2002 (Pakistan), 2003 (England), 2004 (England), 2005 (India), 2006 (South Africa), 2007 (Sri Lanka).
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Tendulkar breaks Lara Test record
Tendulkar spoke to the media after play in Mohali
India's Sachin Tendulkar has set a new record for the most runs scored by a batsman in Test cricket, overtaking the mark set by West Indies' Brian Lara.
Tendulkar, 35, scored the 15 extra runs he needed to overtake Lara's aggregate of 11,953 on day one of the second Test against Australia in Mohali.
Already the holder of a record 39 centuries in 151 Tests, Tendulkar hit the landmark runs off Peter Siddle.
A rapturous but sparse crowd in the Punjabi city stood to applaud him.
Afterwards, having been dismissed for 88 - and becoming the first man to 12,000 runs - he said: "It's definitely the biggest milestone because it's taken me 19 years to get - it's not something that can happen overnight.
"The journey has been fantastic. There have been ups and downs. So many times there have been stones thrown and you have to turn them into milestones.
"I knew I was 14 runs short [when Friday's innings started]. I have just been trying to focus on the game but whoever I see in front of me they have an opportunity to remind me.
"I decided to keep it simple and keep watching the ball."
Tendulkar insisted he had no plans to end his career in the immediate future.
"As long as I'm enjoying it I will play. I don't need X, Y or Z to tell me when I should stop or continue. When I started playing nobody told me that. So nobody need to tell me now either," he added.
He spent the tea interval on 13 not out, just one run away from Lara's record. But after the 20-minute break he hit his first ball for three down to third man and saluted the crowd before the Australian fielders went to shake his hand.
Tendulkar celebrates record achievement
Fireworks were set off around the ground.
India's President Pratibha Patil later said Tendulkar had "given joy to millions of Indians", while the country's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, described the batsman as a genius.
"I congratulate Sachin Tendulkar on becoming the highest run-scorer in Test cricket," said Singh.
"Sachin is truly worthy of the mantle of the greatest run-scorer in Tests. I have been following his cricket and there is no doubt that he is a genius."
Former India captain Kapil Dev says his compatriot is a hero to a cricket-loving nation and admire the way he has dealt with the adoration.
"I think he is one of the finest batsmen the world has ever seen," said Dev, who was once the world's leading wicket-taker.
"Millions of people in this country love him. Every kid wants to be come Sachin Tendulkar.
"He has set a standard for those young people to follow him. The country needs heroes like him.
"It is not easy to play for 19 years with the pressure he has had throughout his career. People love him. He can't go out, do the things he wants to do.
 | LEADING TEST RUN-SCORERS SR Tendulkar (India): 12,027 BC Lara (ICC/W Indies): 11,953 AR Border (Aus): 11,174 SR Waugh (Aus): 10,927 R Dravid (ICC/India): 10,302 RT Ponting (Aus): 10,239 SM Gavaskar (India): 10,122 Names in bold current players |
"Every simple thing he does in his life, people notice. Hats off to him for still coming forward to play cricket."
It was fitting that Tendulkar established the new mark against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era - and a side against whom he has achieved distinguished success.
A prodigy as a youth, his century as a 19-year old on an ultra-fast wicket in Perth is often regarded one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia.
He was only 16 when he made his Test debut, in 1989 and scored his first Test hundred, a match-saving one against England at Old Trafford, a year later.
Tendulkar was regarded by the late Sir Don Bradman as the one batsman of the modern era who most reminded him of himself.
A tremendous performer in the one-day arena, Tendulkar is also the highest scorer and century-maker in that format.
Former England batsman Geoff Boycott, who became the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs, breaking West Indies all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers' batting record in the process, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tendulkar will hold the record for years to come.
But the 67-year-old still regards Bradman as the greatest batsman the game has seen, saying: "There's none of us who have come near him."
| 606: DEBATE |
"There'll always be people who break records because nowadays they play more Test matches than ever, more one-day internationals.
"It was inevitable that people like Lara and Tendulkar - two of the great players of the last few years - would break records of some distinction almost every other year or two.
"I broke Garry Sobers' record and I said at the time that if you play enough Test matches and you're pretty good at what you do then you'll break records.
"But it didn't make me a better player than Garry Sobers and it won't make Tendulkar a better player than Bradman, a genius - the best batsmen of the lot."
Former England batsman Allan Lamb paid tribute to Tendulkar's feat, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "He's very classical. He's a batter who keeps very still at the wicket. That's something that every youngster is told to do.
"He's got all the shots in the book. He can play all round the wicket and he's got a lot of time to play his shots, and that's what makes him such a great player.
"Lara got his runs in 131 Test matches, so you've got to say that's an incredible achievement.
"Tendulkar's probably not the player he was two or three years ago, so he will probably hang up his boots in a year or so. But then you've got Ricky Ponting steaming up from the back so I don't know how long the Indians will hold that record."Saturday, October 18, 2008
Third World Twenty20 set for 2010
Third World Twenty20 set for 2010
 India won the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in September 2007 |
The ICC multi-nation tournament scheduled for the West Indies in 2010 has been shortened from a Champions Trophy to be another World Twenty20.
It will be the third such tournament since the very successful first event in South Africa in September 2007.
The decision has been taken because this year's 50-over-a-side Champions Trophy has been postponed by 12 months due to security worries in Pakistan.
The second ICC World Twenty20 takes place in England next June.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "Although the World Twenty20 is to be held every second year, we decided to hold two on the trot to set the calendar right and ensure a better spread of tournaments."
| FUTURE ICC TOURNAMENTS June 2009: World Twenty20, England September-October 2009: Champions Trophy, Pakistan April-May 2010: World Twenty20, West Indies 2011: World Cup, South Asia |
The event, scheduled to be held from 23 April 23 to 9 May, will be staged at three venues to be chosen by the ICC in January 2009 following nominations from the West Indies Cricket Board.
"With the ICC Champions Trophy being the final major ICC event of 2009, and the ICC Cricket World Cup being the 50-over event in 2011, it makes perfect sense to have a tournament of a different format in between," Lorgat said.Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Ajantha Mendis , A Great Cricketer
The Un-Believable Action of hand of Ajantha Mendis ***
Sri Lanka WON > beat Pakistan in final
Sri Lanka WON > beat Pakistan in final
Sri Lanka 133-5 (19 overs) bt Pakistan 132-7 (20 overs) by 5 wickets
 Jayasuriya hit two sixes and three fours at the top of the order |
An opening stand of 66 set Sri Lanka on the way to victory as they beat Pakistan in the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament final in Canada.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis took 3-23 as Sri Lanka restricted Pakistan to 132-7 from their 20 overs after winning the toss.
Veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya (40) and Mahela Udawatte (25) then laid the platform for Sri Lanka's victory.
Despite a flurry of wickets, Chamara Kapugedera (17 not out) saw them home by five wickets with an over to spare.
After Pakistan were put in, opener Shoaib Khan junior - who made his international debut earlier in the four-team tournament - fell early for a duck when he gave a return catch to Dilhara Fernando.
His opening partner Salman Butt anchored the innings with 44 before becoming one of Mendis's three victims, but Misbah-ul-Haq (23 not out) was the only other Pakistan player to pass 20.
Mendis had been rested when the sides met at the round-robin stage on Saturday, when Pakistan won by three wickets - but the emerging spinner made the difference with three wickets in mid-innings, including the dangerous Butt and captain Shoaib Malik, and his 11 wickets from three games earned him the player of the series award.
Sri Lanka got off to a superb start, with man-of-the-match Jayasuriya smashing pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar for two consecutive sixes while Udawatte plundered 14 from an Umar Gul over.
The rapid scoring meant Pakistan were always up against it, and although Malik took a tidy 2-17 with his off-spin, the hapless Akhtar's three wicketless overs cost 40 runs.
Jayasuriya won the man-of-the-match award, while Mendis was named as player of the series for his 11 wickets in three matches.
Meanwhile, in the third-place play-off, Zimbabwe posted 184-5 against Canada before bowling the hosts out for 75 to claim a 109-run victory.
After Canada chose to field first, Zimbabwe opener Hamilton Masakadza's 79 off 52 balls was more than the hosts' entire team managed.
He added 89 for the second wicket with Justice Chibhabha (40), while Elton Chigumbura (25 off 10 balls) and Keith Dabengwa (16 off six balls) pitched in with some big hitting in the final stages.
Canada never really got going as skipper Prosper Utseya took 3-26, Tatenda Taibu picked up three stumpings and only Abdool Samad's 29 saved the hosts from total humiliation.Sunday, October 12, 2008
Pakistan recovery sinks Sri Lanka > Twenty20 tournament Canada
Pakistan recovery sinks Sri Lanka
 Alam's bold hitting in partnership with Malik inspired a superb Pakistan win |
An unbroken 50 partnership in four overs led Pakistan to a three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the quadrangular Twenty20 event in Canada's King City.
Jehan Mubarak hit six fours in 39 and Kaushalya Weeraratne added 20 from 13 balls as Sri Lanka posted 137-9.
Pakistan lost two wickets in the third over and were 92-7 after the 16th.
But Fawad Alam hit three sixes in his 23 off eight balls and successive fours from skipper Shoaib Malik, who made 42, sealed victory with one ball remaining.
Mubarak was at the crease in the first over of the match as Sanath Jayasuriya, after hitting Shoaib Akhtar for consecutive fours, top-edged to fine-leg.
His fellow left-hander Mubarak gave the Sri Lankans an excellent platform, striking three fours in one Shoaib over, and adding two more in the next from Sohail Tanvir.
Kaushalya Weeraratne hit a mammoth six onto the adjacent moto-cross track, but that proved to be the final boundary for Sri Lanka, as the final four overs produced only 18 runs.
After the two-wicket burst from Farveez Maharoof early in the Pakistan reply there was a brief flurry of runs, Misbah-ul-Haq hitting Dilhara Fernando for four and six in successive deliveries.
But a promising stand of 48 was ended by Weeraratne, who dismissed both Misbah and Younus Khan in the space of three balls.
In his next over Weeraratne had dangerman Shahid Afridi caught on the boundary second ball.
Alam swiped his third ball over the VIP stand at mid-wicket and when he just cleared long-on for six more in the next over from Fernando it left 13 needed from the final six balls.
They were bowled by Nuwan Kulasekara, who was also deposited into the VIP stand by Alam, and then it was left to the captain to hit the winning runs with his fifth boundary.
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Twenty20 Cricket In Canada 2008 , Matches Schedule
* October 10th: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Canada v Pakistan
* October 11th: Canada v Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka v Pakistan
*October 12th: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Canada v Sri Lanka
*October 13th: Final & 3rd/4th Place Play-Off
Canada Coach Looking For A Win In T20 Quadrangular
Canada Coach Looking For A Win In T20 Quadrangular
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On the eve of the quadrangular Twenty20 series involving Canada, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and
Sri Lanka, Aaron Kumar spoke to the Canadian national coach, Pubudu Dassanayake.
Dassanayake talks to Cricket World® about Canada’s good performance in the recently concluded triangular tournament, their prospects in the quadrangular series, his hopes for the future and his thoughts on club cricket in Canada.
Canada recently reached the finals of the triangular series, involving Bermuda and the
West Indies, what impressed you the most about your teams performance in that competition and what can you take from that tournament?
At the beginning of the year, we had a few problems, as there were too many injuries and then some people were not available for different tournaments, too many players went in and out. But in the tri-nations series we had our best combination. The main reason that we did well in that tournament was that the team was together and they gelled, and they played as a good team.
I would like to give a special mention to Rizwan Cheema, he was playing international cricket for the first time in the tri-nation series and he performed really well, he scored two quick 50s and when an opener scores a quick 50 it gives a real boost to the whole team.
What are your thoughts ahead of the forthcoming quadrangular series at the weekend?
Since the start of the year, our main target was to play Twenty20 cricket because of the Twenty20 World Cup qualifier. We are really ready because we know the areas where we went wrong in the World Cup Qualifier. The preparation for this tournament has been very good, we are really playing together, tomorrow we play Pakistan. We are just going to play to our strengths, and hopefully we can pull of an upset in this tournament.
You mention pulling off an upset, what would you consider to be a good performance for Canada in this tournament in terms of results?
We want to beat Zimbabwe, to win one game in this series for sure, and then against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, if everything goes according to plan then we might be able to beat one of those teams. If not we want to pull off a good score and play a good game.
In Twenty20 cricket one or two overs is enough to change the whole game. At the same time if you make one big mistake then it is not easy to recover so it is anybody’s game and we are the host team we know how the wicket is behaving, we know the King City Cricket ground, the weather is a bit cold and our players are used to it, so there is a slight advantage to our side but it just a matter of us being able to do things right.
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| © REUTERS/Andy Clark (TRINIDAD &TOBAGO). Picture Supplied by Action Images |
What are your long term goals for this Canadian team?
The main aim is that we need to prepare the team for the World Cup Qualifier next April - we want to play in the World Cup, that is the main goal for us.
Right now our team's average age is around 30, I am planning to bring that down slightly to 27 and we have a few plans to get a few players contracted to play full time.
But we are not looking at big changes until April. We want to go with the same team, keep that team together and do well in the qualifier, once we qualify for the World Cup we plan to build a young team for the 2011 World Cup.
What do you think of club cricket in Canada but in particular the Toronto and District league?
The Toronto District league is the best league in Canada, it is the only league that has turf - the other leagues play on a matting.
It is a really tough tournament, when I came over for the first time in 2000 I was thinking ‘this league is going to be easy’ but when you play, it is very competitive. All the teams are playing really hard and it is not easy to win a championship in that league, it is a real high standard tournament. 90% of the Canadian team play in the league.
Cricket World recently did a feature on club cricket in Canada where we focused on Civics CC. What is your take on this club?
They really work hard at their training. I know this because the team that I used to play for, we all practised at the same place. They were always reaching the play offs, every year , they have a good bunch of players. They are very unfortunate, they have just missed out a few times on winning the championship, they reached the finals and they have reached finals and semi -finals many times.
Civics is one of the teams that practises really well, and practice is well organised. They have lots of youngsters coming in and they are one of the clubs that are not scared to put youngsters into the team. They are a club that help the system a lot.
Al Barakh Twenty20 Quadrangular
October 10th: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Canada v Pakistan
October 11th: Canada v Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka v Pakistan
October 12th: Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Canada v Sri Lanka
October 13th: Final & 3rd/4th Place Play-Off
Sri Lanka's England tour at risk
Sri Lanka's England tour at risk
 Muralitharan (centre) will not feature in the Test series in England |
The decision to let Sri Lanka players compete in the Indian Premier League may threaten the 2009 tour to England, says the country's sports minister.
The Test series in May clashes with the IPL campaign, which will feature key players Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan.
"Any problems should be discussed and sorted," minister Gamini Lokuge said.
"I told the board to talk to England to find a way out early if they find it difficult to play the team we send."
A total of 13 Sri Lanka players are contracted to the IPL.
The sports minister told Sri Lanka Cricket that the players involved should be allowed to miss the Tests in England to compete in India.
"I told Sri Lanka Cricket to release the IPL-contracted Sri Lanka players to play the IPL tournament and select a team with the remaining group of players, who are also equally talented, for the England tour.
"But I understand that (the England and Wales Cricket Board's) television rights and income for the proposed tournament could be jeopardised if you do not send the star players."
The one-day international series between England and Sri Lanka may not be affected, as it begins on 27 May, two days after the six-week IPL finishes.
