Dilshan Thilakarathne is the New Cricket Captain for Sri Lanka

Dilshan Thilakarathne is the New Cricket Captain for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's cricket authorities yesterday named all-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan as captain for the upcoming tour of England, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.

“Dilshan will lead the side in all three formats of the game -- Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20s -- on the tour,” SLC said.

The 34-year-old Dilshan, replaces Kumar Sangakkara, who stepped down after Sri Lanka lost the World Cup final to India earlier this month.

Fitness worries meant the five-member national selection panel headed by Duleep Mendis, a former Sri Lanka skipper, did not name a vice-captain.

“The prospective candidates are nursing injuries, and their availability for the forthcoming tour is still in question,” the statement said.

Dilshan to be next captain

Island.lk

by Rex Clementine

Explosive opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan is set to succeed Kumar Sangakkara as the next Sri Lankan cricket captain, an authoritative source at Sri Lanka Cricket told Sunday Island yesterday. The 34-year-old right-handed batsman is currently playing in the Indian Premier League and is expected to come down to Colombo during the week to meet the selectors and pick the squad for Sri Lanka’s tour of England that gets underway on the 14th of May.

"Right now, Dilshan is the only eligible candidate," the source told Sunday Island. "If you take Kumar (Sangakkara), he has quit. Mahela (Jayawardene) doesn’t want to lead the side anymore. Thilan (Samaraweera) is not too sure of a place in all three forms of the game and so is Upul (Tharanga). So the only choice is Dilshan," the source said.

The source also said that Dilshan will be only a short term captain as there were concerns whether he would be at the peak of his form by the time the next World Cup comes in 2015.

He will become the 11th full time Sri Lanka Test captain following Bandula Warnapura (1982-1983), Duleep Mendis (1983-1987), Ranjan Madugalle (1987-1989), Arjuna Ranatunga (1989-1991 and 1992-1999), Aravinda de Silva (1991-1992), Sanath Jayasuriya (1999-2003), Hashan Tillakaratne (2003-2004, Marvan Atapattu (2004-2006), Mahela Jayawardene (2006-2009) and Kumar Sangakkara (2009-2011).

Dilshan, the son of a police officer, is a product of Kalutara Vidyalaya and caught the selectors’ eye during Sri Lanka ‘A’ tour of England in 1999. The mass sackings aftermath of the 1999 World Cup saw him being promoted to the national side the same year and he caught the attention of everyone with an unbeaten 163 in just his second Test Match in Harare against Zimbabwe.

He was in and out of the side earlier on in his career and was a surprise omission for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

In 2009, Dilshan volunteered to open in Pakistan and his career changed completely from thereon.

He hit a century in his third game as an opener and a few months later was asked to open batting in Test cricket as well and responded scoring 92 and an unbeaten 123 in his first Test against New Zealand in Galle.

That year (2009) turned out to be an excellent year for him as he hit five hundreds in ODIs and six hundreds in Tests. Into the bargain, he was named as the Player of the Tournament in the T-20 World Cup in England, where he finished as the highest run getter of the competition with 317 runs in seven games at 52.83.

He was named vice captain to Sangakkara in 2009, but was removed last year with Sri Lanka Cricket providing no reasons.

Dilshan also had an excellent tournament in the just concluded World Cup where he was the highest run getter with 500 runs.

Sunday Island also learns that whether Angelo Mathews will recover in time for the England series remains in doubt and, in that case, the vice captaincy for the Test series in England would go to Samaraweera.

Murali slams SLC for recalling players from IPL

New Delhi: Retired spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan slammed Sri Lankan Cricket Board for asking its players to return home midway through the Indian Premier League for a tour to England, saying the No Objection Certificate had permitted them to play till May 20.

Muttiah Muralitharan

"I think the Board (SLC) has given them permission till May 20. I don’t know what happened suddenly. The players were told to come on May 5. It is the fault of SLC because they signed the NOC till May 20 so if they change it to May 5 it is something wrong," Muralitharan, who quit international cricket after Sri Lanka’s defeat to India in the World Cup final early this month, said.

"Players will get demoralised because if they go back on May 5 they play half of the IPL and they are going to miss a lot. SLC should have informed the players earlier, then the IPL franchises would understand and everyone would understand," he said.Muralitharan said that the incident could spark "friction" between cricket boards of the two countries and SLC would lose a lot financially if it antagonises the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI).

"There’ll be a little bit of friction between the board (SLC) and the players and even the Indian Cricket Board. If the SLC is not going to support they are going to miss a lot from India, because when India tours Sri Lanka it is very important and if we are not playing in the Champions League Twenty20 we are going to lose some money. Friendship between India and Sri Lanka will be negative," he said.

"We have 25 million dollars of debt after World Cup. You don’t have to antagonise India because when India comes only we make money and survive, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.

"It might get sorted. These things happen between countries but in the end financially we depend on India, whatever said and done. SLC will have to be careful," said Muralitharan. Courtesy PTI

IPL taking over the world of cricket

The cricket World Cup or the spectacle of cricket is now done and dusted. The world watched with great interest and expectation the unfolding of events and held their breath when the Indians were crowned the Champions of the world, which mantle they will hold for another four years.

With this title India which is cricket crazy, has already witnessed that frenzy reaching an unprecedented stage with every street, nook and corner having the cutout or the image of a Dhoni, Yuvraj or a Tendulkar if not some Indian star. It has also prompted them to claim that “Cricket was first invented in India and then exported under cover to the UK”.

I am sure most people felt that the IPL which kicked off on the 8th April wasn’t going to draw such large crowds or great interest levels but watching from the side lines one cannot digest the hunger the Indian crowds have for cricket in the country. Though whilst the fans seem to be keen and very animated, watching the game on Television I got the feeling that the Indian players in particular despite their efforts to conjure some interest appear to be tired and struggling to carry on. Considering the terrific returns the players are assured of and judging by the levels the brand IPL has achieved making it absolutely attractive to sponsors, the players who are the main actors of the show have to go on and got to stay loyal to it. looking back in history I wonder whether the former England captain and now the renown commentator Tony Greig gets enough credit for his role in the revolutionizing of the game in 1977.

Suraj Randiv and M.S. Dhoni in IPL action.

Readers old enough will recall the Kerry Packer circus which endured numerous court cases and other obstacles which became a reality creating the new evolution of cricket. It was the Packer Circus as it was called which introduced coloured clothing, night cricket, drop in pitches, the increased frequency of the usage of helmets and more importantly the enhancement of the player’s wage! The epoch where television played a huge role, and with it the money the game needed making the players more protected and established and transforming cricket in to a meaningful career began then. We could term it the first revolution of cricket!Also as the power wielded by the BCCI in global cricketing matters is high, I wonder despite the temptation of other boards notably England and Australia to emulate the IPL, whether there will ever be another league of that magnitude else where. In fact I can’t see the BCCI ever tolerating another competitive league! In the event such league is born the only action required will be to prevent the leading stars of Indian cricket participating and with it the mega bucks is bound to dry with the interest levels being low.

The fact of cricket today is, there is no money if there is no India. I mean the real India and the top players. It may come to a stage that with the high demand for finances to sustain the game most cricket boards are bound to play ball with the Indians to ensure visits to their countries to guarantee the cash flows are maintained and the finances are balanced. That is how powerful India is and the impact it has created in the game both on and off the field. I won’t be surprised if the cricket world sees an invasion of Indian cricket such as coaches, trainers, physio’s in other countries on the lines of Australia where every country wanted an Australian somewhere in their DMU’s. This is the reality of today and a fact one has to live with.

In that context the IPL becomes both important and critical to all cricket nations and we in Sri Lanka have already started to feel the heat with the call for the cricketers selected to tour England to return by the 5th May. I am a firm believer that the country is always first and can not be compromised and money is never an issue. There is no question about it. But having said that it is also important to be aware of the pros and cons and the long term repercussions when making important decisions and also how the decisions should be made and most importantly conveyed.

It is imperative to be able to achieve middle ground and come to a working arrangement and arrive at a compromise that is acceptable to all and close to the best rather than standing one’s ground! Definitely the tour of England by Sri Lanka is the priority and nothing can come close to that and that has to be remembered. However unless this seemingly volatile situation is handled carefully the winner will not be Sri Lanka or Sri Lanka cricket. I am sure about it!

Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator

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