Second Test starts at SSC today

Second Test starts at SSC today

Mahela ready for English backlash

http://www.lakbimanews.lk/

Jason Perera

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene buoyant following a 88 run win over England in the first Test against Michael Vaughan’s men in Kandy last week is under no illusions of the challenge facing his charges in the second Investec Test commencing at SSC today, and says ‘they (England) are going to throw the kitchen sink at us’.
“They are a very good side,” he told reporters after a net session with his players at the SSC grounds last morning.
“Losing that Test and now looking back, they might as well be feeling they could have saved it in the end given the situation they were in after the first couple of days.
“In that regard we are very happy with the outcome in Kandy, and I am expecting them to bounce back pretty strongly here.
“We just need to make sure we concentrate and look out for those moments to put them under the cosh quite early and make them chase the game.”
England came unstuck late in the final session of the fifth day in Kandy in spite of gaining a 93 run lead in the first innings and had they held out for another half-hour they could have drawn it.
Asked for his views on the composition of his outfit, Jayawardene noted it was difficult to look beyond the inclusion of recalled left-handed opener Upul Tharanga for the now retired southpaw Sanath Jayasuriya, meaning the hosts will opt for three quick bowlers supported by the wizardry of Muralitharan on a placid track expected to deteriorate towards the latter part of the Test.
Upul Tharanga, 22, who played the last of his 13 Tests against Bangladesh in July, hit 112 and 86 in two practice matches against the visitors leading to the three-match Investec Test series here.

Faith Placed on Mubarak

The home skipper though expressed his concern with the inconsistency of the lower-middle order batsmen with lanky left-hander Jehan Mubarak in particular fortunate to have retained his spot despite a string of recent flops.
But he quickly leapt to the defence of the former Royal skipper saying the coaching management was prepared to show faith with the player concerned.
The home side also could take heart from the overall track record at the SSC a point not lost on media savvy captain Jayawardena.
“This venue holds pleasant memories for Sri Lanka and I am sure we can draw inspiration from it,” he added.
“But then again this is a fresh game and what has happened in the past is history.
“We need to start anew, play to our potential and allow the result to take care of it self.”
Sri Lanka have triumphed in 10 of their last 12 Tests here since losing to Nasser Hussain’s English side in 2001, while the last time the two countries locked horns at the headquarters of local cricket, in 2003, Michael Vaughan’s men crashed to an innings and 215 run defeat with Muralitharan being their nemesis with a seven wicket haul.

England Not Downhearted

Meanwhile, England skipper Michael Vaughan is eager to fight back after his team’s survival bid on a wearing deck at Asgiriya went awry and says they are ‘far from being down and out’.
The English class of 2007 will no doubt be inspired by the deeds of their 2001 predecessors when Hussain’s side hit back hard after dropping the first Test to win the next two and clinch the series.
Vaughan though could not be drawn on the final make-up of his team saying gangling and experienced fast bowler Steve Harmison, Test rookie Stuart Broad and off-spinner Graeme Swann are all in contention for injured swing bowler Matthew Hoggard’s position.
“We are close to finalising the Test eleven,” he told reporters following his team’s net session at the SSC yesterday.
“It’s all about taking 20 wickets to win a Test, and we’ve had a long chat after the Kandy Test and we have to come up with the suitable combinations to take those 20 wickets.
“We know the mistakes we made up in Kandy and having learned from it I am confident the boys are raring to go hard at them to make it one all before going to Galle next week.” Vaughan maintained that had his team taken all chances that came their way in the first Test the final result could have been different, and emphasised that with the exception of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan, the rest in the opposition can be exposed.
However, the English captain reiterated the importance of seeing the back of Sri Lanka’s number three early as he put it ‘he (Kumar) is in the form of his life as Kumar has said so it goes without saying the advantage can swing dramatically in favour of us if we could get him cheaply’.

Teams:

England (from): Michael Vaughan (Capt.), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Matthew Prior (wicket-keeper), James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar, Steve Harmison, Stuart Broad.

Sri Lanka (likely): Mahela Jayawardene (Capt.), Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene (wicket-keeper), Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Daryl Harper (AUS)
TV umpire: Gamini Silva (SRI)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Jayasuriya cold-shouldered - Still Sanath can change the decision ! Do It Sana ........

Jayasuriya cold-shouldered

Sri Lanka’s recently retired Test great Sanath Jayasuriya was snubbed by Sri Lanka Cricket officials when he was not invited to attend the function held at Temple Trees to felicitate spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and a few other cricketers by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The members of the national cricket team were invited to grace the occasion by the Sri Lanka Cricket through its team manager. However, Jayasuriya attended the function through an invitation he received from the Presidential Secretariat.
It is learnt that President Rajapaksa has asked the veteran cricketer of his decision to retire before the series is over. Meanwhile it is reported that cricket interim committee chief, Jayantha Dharmadasa is yet to speak to the veteran opener following his retirement from Test cricket.
Jayasuriya is set to make his debut in international commentary today in the second Test match between Sri Lanka and England.

Sri Lanka beat England; SLC officials beat everyone at Asgiriya

Sri Lanka beat England; SLC officials beat everyone at Asgiriya

LakbimaNews

Ranjan Paranavithana

Sri Lanka cricketers led by Mahela Jayawardene weathered a valiant rearguard action by England to seal victory in last week’s Test match in Kandy. But from some bizarre happenings at the Asgiriya Stadium, the venue for the match, it was clear that who scored the most were Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials.
A roof of a temporary stand at the stadium came down during the match injuring three Englishmen. A close inspection revealed that those stands were not properly installed as a breeze was enough to bring them down causing injury and fear to spectators, a good number of foreigners among them.
Each member of the Barmy Army – English cricket’s cheer squad – had paid Rs. 1500 each to find shelter under those roofs. And they were in for a mighty shock thanks to Sri Lanka cricket authorities. Later it was learnt that those stands had been transported to the venue from Colombo. The tour organising committee of Sri Lanka Cricket was of the opinion that taking them from Colombo was less expensive than finding them from Kandy. But the insiders say that an official pocketed a huge amount as commission from the whole business.
Meanwhile, security officials at the venue arrested a person who was trying to sell cricket balls with counterfeit signatures of record breaking spinner Muttiah Muralitharan at 20 pounds each. But later they released the culprit without handing him to the police. The balls bore SLC logo and it is said the clandestine ball business had been carried out with the blessings of a SLC official.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation officials refused to climb a ladder to the stand that had been erected for their duty saying it was a threat to their life. The ladder was clearly shorter than the stand and no SLBC official took the risk of climbing it and breaking their limbs attempting to reach the stand. During the match, that stand was not occupied by anyone although a good amount of money must have gone into it. The SLBC officials who challenged a SLC official to climb the ladder first did not forget to give a mouthful to SLC’s media official.
Mahela and his boys will do their best to beat England in Colombo and build country’s image but the politically appointed Cricket Interim Committee is not helping their cause.

Through the looking glass

By S.R.Pathiravithana

--The Sunday times

One good ball a match? Does that mean you merit a place in a Test team?

Back to square one. Today starts the second Test in a different surface than the one at Asgiriya, but, there are a lot of factors that must be ascertained for the good of the game in Sri Lanka.

Yes, Sri Lanka won a memorable Test match which almost went to the wire, but finally by a margin of eighty eight runs. But, how they achieved it is the most intriguing aspect of it.

We here in this column think that it was the game that really brought out the best in skipper Mahela Jayawardena and showed the cricketing world he is a captain who reads the run of play and then makes the decisions. On the fourth day when Sri Lanka had got their lead close to a three hundred runs with Sangakkara back in the pavilion many a pundit was questioning the prudence of delaying the declaration. Many were under the impression that the lead at that time was sufficient and almost a session of play remaining and with Murali on a fifth day wicket in the sub-continent it would be a slap-bang victory for Sri Lanka. At one time the TV camera projected on Mahela giving the hold on mark with his palm upright signalling to proceed with the status quo.

However only later on that I learned that he had really fathomed the situation. It was a Test match that Sri Lanka had managed to salvage from almost a hopeless situation. Then came the Murali affair, the Sanath retirement along with the Sangakkara contribution which enabled him to contemplate.

It was a wicket that Sri Lanka was batting on the third innings with a score of four hundred runs and going back in the game bowlers on both sides at some stage or the other had suffered heavily, bowling on that unresponsive slow wicket especially while operating with the older ball. This was a game that he could not afford to lose, so purposely he delayed the declaration. He finally made the declaration giving the visitors a fighting chance of making it to a win if they so desired.

Then proving the pundits correct English wickets kept on falling like nine pins until Bell tolled for England along with Bopara and Prior. The ball was old the wicket was unresponsive and the English batting was coasting on now with a hint of an English win in the air.

Mahela’s answer was to quicken the pace of the overs through Muralitharan and Jaysuriya until the new ball was due to wrest the initiative once again. I feel it was a superb piece of captaincy by a man who had read the game better than the others.

However the alarming factor in this whole episode was how much Mahela had to depend upon his senior citizens to deliver the goods. The Murali factor goes without saying. But, Vaas was put on the field by the M&J Corporation with the noose hanging over his head. Sanath already had been shot in the back and he only had to fall flat at the end of the match.

In the spinning department still it is Muralitharan who is the match winning bowler without a proper replacement in sight as now the Lankan team management prefers to go in with a three-one combination. That is because they had Sanath Jayasuriya if the need arose, but, from this point onwards it is nice to fathom who it’s going to be! However by the time you read this may be the answer is on the green in flesh and blood.

Ironically besides Vandort, no other young member of the playing eleven came up with a compelling performance. Vandort batted resolutely and gave all the support to Jayasuriya to cause upset with the initial onslaught on the English attack that had them dumb stuck for the rest of the innings. However the same can not be said about Chamara Silva who got in and out when he had the chance to prove his worth. It is sad to note that most of the younger entrants show brilliance at the very early stages and once in with a semi-permanent place in the side they begin to relax. The first few innings may contain a few centuries and then the next in line may be a long way off. That is exactly what happened to young Upul Tharanga. He was lucky that Sanath was ready to step down when he showed that he had learned from his mistakes with a century against the visitors in their tour opener. Under a different scenario Tharanga may have had a long and futile wait until Vandort or Jayasuriya began to fail.

Does one good ball in a match warrant a place in a Test team? That is a question we pose to M&J Corporation. Lasith Malinga may be having a very deceptive slingy action and also may be very fast. But, if he is going to be erratic like in his present form, he may feel cozier on the reserves bench rather than sweating it out in the middle. He is a bowler who must be
disciplined.

The wasted space in the eleven is occupied by mediocre Jehan Mubarak. He has been given the opportunities that no other cricketer has been afforded in the recent past. Yet he has failed to come up with a noteworthy contribution that would go down the memory lane of a cricket follower.

Some say they genuinely feel that he would be better off as an academic than an international cricketer because he is occupying a berth that should go to a more deserving player.

Thank You Sanath,……..For.. What've you done ....

Thank You Sanath,……..

By Shahzad A Chaudhry, The Sunday times

Sanath Jayasuriya decided to hang his gloves after a period of some fascinating pleasure that he gave to the Cricket lovers all over the world. I am not great at statistics, but possibly it was seventeen years of pure Cricketing genius and thus the pleasure for all that long. He has done it however on an occasion when Murali broke the world record, when Sangakarra won his team a test, and when Vaas played his 100th match.

All great occasions, but none as great as the passing way, metaphorically of course, of a genius. If that gives you an indication that other than being a diplomat and a great enthusiast for the sport, I somehow relish getting my turn with the bat, whenever there’s an opportunity, you are not too far from truth. But more importantly, I admit to being a passionate, a very passionate, follower and a lover of the game. In my days of school and club Cricket, coaches and manuals mostly explained the front-foot straight bat drive as the most fundamental Cricketing shot; always preferring the V, and more so because I took to open the innings because the ball still came pretty straight, and was hard, and my lean figure need not contrive shots; a poor over-pitched ball would generally offer one. Usually, the shots were few, since the bat was mostly kept and played straight. But I was adventurous too, and despite being aware of my limited genius with the bat, I would indulge in an odd square-cut: a shot that I simple love to this day. Any one who has ever held the bat and has not ever felt the greatest of worldly, or even heavenly pleasures, of a sweetly timed drive or a square-cut, has never known happiness.

Sanath did it all the time, and that is what left many of us awe struck. Being a left-hander, I can only feel his glee, when he saw one pitched slightly short with sufficient width on it, and a smart clack, and the ball was hitting the ropes. Most left- handers enjoy that and will do it for you for free, and as many times as you may like. And in fact most fall to the temptation as well; opposing skippers even buy their wickets by using the ploy. But man, you could not take the chance with Sanath. The Gulliies and the Cover always had to be packed, because he would contrive one, where no one thought one existed. In fact you had to somehow stop him from playing that shot, because speed was his strength and momentum his game-plan. When he got them going, the game or the moment was already lost to the opposing team. Would a more committed enthusiast ever sit down to determine who has been the fastest builder of his innings in the history of Cricket. I am certain Jayasuriya will be up there with the top ones.

Shahzad A Chaudhry

I have known a few others too; I remember in a test against Australia, in Australia, as Majid Khan came into bat, I walked in to the bath room along with my transistor for my usual morning chores and to simply get ready for moving on with the day, and as I completed the usual routine, and was walking out, Majid was nearing his hundred. He was on fire, and that is when Lillee and he developed a personal battle of theirs. Majid went on to score his hundred soon after; I remember it was unique because it had rarely been done before lunch in a single session, and also for its intensity and since Majid was majestic, and spoke only with his bat. But then in the third test, Lillee promised to knock away Majid’s hat with the bouncer. Of course they didn’t use helmets then, and neither did we, but these were the then two gods of the game, meeting at the same level, and talking the language that only the two understood. While Majid was still majestic, Lillee was great too. And he bowled one that actually knocked Majid’s hat. For Majid, there was no ducking, just a stately presence, a shift of weight to execute the hook, but he missed. The ball being too good, and bowled by perhaps one of the greatest classical fast bowlers that history would have known. The hat fell away being neatly taken off by the ball; Lillee just followed through as fast bowlers do, in his momentum, picked up the hat and most respectfully handed it with a slight bow to Majid, as gentlemen are wont to do, Majid accepted it gracefully, put it on, settled it on his head, and was ready to face the next Lillee delivery. Even Stevens. No hassle, no fuss, just another afternoon at the park. Both exchanged their hats at the end of the day – a great souvenir from a gentleman’s game. Thank you Sanath for reminding us of this story. Without you, I wouldn’t have recollected this. Usually gentlemen remind of their ilk.

Sanath doesn’t know what he has given to the game; of course I assume, since he is only a practitioner, not an arm-chair connoisseur. The game of Cricket actually has been through a few revolutions as important as any other revolution in history, and I say this not out of passion but with a steadied seriousness. While W G Grace and his ilk may have given us the game, it was Bradman, who is seen as the biggest milestone in the history of the game. But that was then, and the game has moved on. There have been a few in the recent past that may not yet be revolutions per se, but seem to be some structural innovations meant to give a greater relevance to the games in the modern times; whether these are revolutions, only time will tell. But what Sanath brought to the game of Cricket has been a true and an established revolution. Cricket changed the day since Sanath played it his way. The effect has been universal. He brought in greater relevance to the game of modern Cricket. In fact he heralded modern Cricket. I hope humanity will understand that and remember that and record it as such. He will be and should be seen as the next major milestone in Cricket after Grace and Bradman.

Most left-handers do not bother much with their foot movement, somehow, and are mostly born with some god-gifted hand –eye coordination. This is so stark natural that any attempt to clad them with some studious and arduous coaching to a copy-book standard is actually taking the great pleasure out of their game. We need to stop judging them on those archival standards. You see, even the bowling has changed.

There isn’t the importance any longer of the great length delivery. Yes, Asif still bowls it, and to good effect with the new one, but essentially, these are the days of hitting the track hard; a slightly short of length, hitting the deck hard, bringing it up to the shoulder and letting the batsman do the rest. Bowlers don’t take wickets any longer, they make batsmen make mistakes. That takes away the need for any foot movement in the classical way. Sobers would be a sorry man today. What class and grace with those feet, but then they bowled differently then.

Now all Jayasuriya needed to do was to judge the length, and the height, cater to the swing or the movement if any, and voila. His attributes were just those, judging the length, the pace and the height earlier than any one else; the greatest hand-eye coordination in the history of the game; the force of his bat drawn from the strength of his forearms, and the results were most magnificent, most artistic, and most destructive softening of the leather. He earned the pleasure of those square cuts more than any other in the modern day history of cricket. Clean fine hitting became an art form. I know a purist might wince at that, but like I said, the game has changed, and we all need to accept that. Jayasuriya has been able to keep it fascinating despite the changes. And that is his credit. To illustrate my point, these days, Tests, yes Tests, could be lost for not playing fast enough in a couple of sessions; Mohammad Yousaf, still very much is a player that carries the conventional style, but I dare say he seems lost to me in the modern game, or must play out of his skin to play a more relevant game; ask Yunus, and probably he will also confirm a similar dilemma of style – he only manages the change a bit better. But Sanath never, never had this problem. He in fact is the architect of today’s game; the father if you like; and permit me to say the WG of the modern cricket. Yes Ponting and Clarke are two other exponents, and fine ones at that; but may I say the more refined, polished and coached species rather than the natural, endowed and gifted exponents of God,s selective wonders. Well I could be wrong, but the other lot will only continue to play on the game, albeit beautifully, as it exists. Never really change the game.

Thank you Sanath, for the pleasure.

The writer is the High Commissioner for Pakistan in Sri Lanka

So Long Sanath - Can't leave you !

Lakbima News Online

A memorable test at Asgiriya

The Sunday Times

Sangakkara was poetry on that day

Some games of cricket stick in memory forever. The first test match between Sri Lanka and England, played in Asgiriya will be one such game. Over four and a half days the advantage swung from side to side.

The early anticipation was for Muttiah Muralitharan to go past Shane Warne’s test bowling record. It happened on the third day and the wait was well worth. The Sri Lankan batsmen still had not got over the shell shock of Australia, on day one. Winning the toss and batting first was the correct decision taken by Mahela Jayawardena. On most test pitches the ball does seam around. At least for a session because there will be some moisture. Batsmen have to remember that there is a period that must be given to the quick bowlers and during that period risks must be eliminated.

Give full credit to Mathew Hoggard who in a superb first spell of swing bowling reduced Sri Lanka to 42 for 5 wickets. They fought back through Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardena to reach eighty six by lunch. That partnership of 106 runs was the significant factor in a mini comeback. England also lost a wicket before the close. So, the opening day belonged to the bowlers.

Rain curtailed play on day two. The players could not get onto the grounds after half past two. During this time Sri Lanka had picked up six wickets and England had got within two runs of the home team’s total. Meanwhile Muralitharan had equalled the record.

Day three began with all eyes on the spinner. He was made to wait for more than an hour and a half. The second new ball helped, as one delivery did not spin much and went past the outside edge of Paul Collingwood’s bat to knock back the off stump. It was an extra special moment in Sri Lanka’s cricket history – the second time Muttiah Muralitharan had broken this record. This time it will be his for good. There is no bowler within sight who can now even get close to this number of wickets and he still has much left in his spinning fingers.

After all the celebrations were done with, it was time to concentrate on the game and focus on its progress. The English tail offered some resistance and that helped them reach 281 and a valuable lead of 93 runs.

That was as far as they could go in the game. From that point onwards the Sri Lankans took command. It was the 113 run opening stand between Jayasuriya (78) and Vandort (49) that set the pace. The pitch was now east to bat on and England relied on their left arm spinner Monty Panesar to deliver. Clearly short of experience and know how, made it not possible for Panesar to get the needed breakthrough’s and partnerships were established by the Sri Lankan batsmen. Later that evening Sanath Jayasuriya announced his retirement from test cricket. No more to be seen in whites, playing for his country --another incident of significance in this game.

The fourth day was simply a Kumar Sangakkara show. He played with great authority. Glorious stroke play both off the front and back foot and all around the wicket. He was not troubled by any of the English bowlers nor the deteriorating pitch. He conquered them both admirably and went on to make 152 magnificent runs. He became the first player ever to score over 150 runs in four consecutive test matches. His innings also took him to the number one position in test batting rankings. Both memorable and special moments in Sri Lanka’s cricket history.

With the home team declaring at 442 for 8 wickets, the target for the visitors was an uphill 350. They did not get the start they would have liked to, with Alastair Cook being dismissed by Vaas again in the first over.

The last day was a matter of survival in England. The reliable left arm of Chaminda Vaas shattered their hopes. In little more than an hour he dismissed Captain Vaughn and night watchmen Anderson. Then Dilhara Fernando joined the party to dismiss Pieterson and Collingwood, making England totter with half the side out with 90 runs. Then England fought back through Bell (74) Bhopara (36) and Prior (63). Yet it was not sufficient to stop Sri Lanka from winning. As the evening shadows lengthened at Asgiriya Lasith Malinga delivered a deadly ‘Yorker’ to shatter Mathew Hoggard’s stumps and brought to an end a memorable victory for Sri Lanka and indeed a memorable test match.

Ranjan Madugalle - hundred Tests and more

Madugalle - hundred Tests and more

--- Lakbimanews

Ranjan Madugalle made history in the third and final cricket Test between India and Pakistan which started in Bangalore yesterday when he became ICC’s first match referee to complete a century of Tests.
With this, the 48-year-old became only the second match official, after umpire Steve Bucknor, to reach three figures in both forms on the game. Besides 100 Tests, Madugalle has also officiated in 209 ODIs thus completing a rare double.
Madugalle represented Sri Lanka in 21 Test matches and 65 ODIs between 1979 and 1989. He was captain from 1987 to 1989 and served two spells as a Sri Lanka cricket selector.
He was appointed to the ICC match referees’ panel in 1994 and became the first person to hold the position of chief match referee in 2001, a post he still occupies. He has taken charge of two ICC Cricket World Cup finals, in 1999 and 2003, and is one of the most experienced and highly respected officials in the game.

Happy and privileged

“I feel happy and privileged that I have been able to officiate in 100 Tests,” he said. “I am also happy that I have been able to discharge my duties in a professional way for the past few years.
“The only goal I have always set for myself is to work and perform to the best of my ability and to keep enjoying what I do.
“It has been a fascinating experience graduating from being a player to being a match official and it has been great to work with different umpires, top captains and everyone involved with this great game,” he said.
A modest Madugalle said he prepared for the Bangalore Test as it was just another match. “Records don’t mean much to me. It is just another match for me and I prepared myself to carry out the role as it was my first Test,” he said.
Reflecting on the evolution of the referee’s role, Madugalle said: “When I started refereeing, it was on an ad-hoc basis and I used to referee by taking leave from my employers. The role and the concept have changed significantly since then and it has now become a career.
“The pace of cricket has improved tremendously and so have the skill levels. Fitness and fielding are the two main aspects that have improved significantly over the last 20 years or so.
“It has been interesting and rewarding to see some of the best cricketers in action during the last decade in different conditions and also witness some excellent cricket.
“Even in my role as a referee, I watch it as a cricketer trying to learn as much as I can, marvel the skills of the players and see the plots and sub-plots develop in the game. And the best part is that I don’t have to pay anything for it.”

expects England to come back hard - Mahela

Jayawardene expects England to come back hard

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is presented with his special leather bound copy of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2007 by the editor Scyld Berry at the Asgiriya Stadium. Jayawardene was chosen as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year for his performance in England in 2006. Special leather bound editions are presented to each of the five cricketers yearly by the Wisden editor (Pic by Ishara S. Kodikara)

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka has the rare honour of going into a Test match with the world’s best batsman and best bowler in their ranks as they take on England in the second cricket Test at the SSC grounds today.

With Kumar Sangakkara going to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings to join Muttiah Muralitharan who is similarly placed in the Test bowling rankings, Sri Lanka has everything going before them to seal the three-Test series at Sri Lanka Cricket’s headquarters over the next five days.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene said: “It’s to do with the brand of cricket that we play. We are not afraid to express ourselves out there whether it is in a Test or ODI. We just go out there and enjoy ourselves and play the brand of cricket we are quite used to playing. That has helped us to be the best that we can be.”

“We have lots of records in world cricket and hopefully we want to push ourselves a bit more every day. That’s the attitude we are trying to develop in our younger generation. Not just be complacent with the talent you have but still work hard so that they can be better players 5-6 years down the line.”

Jayawardene stated that over the last couple of decades Sri Lanka had played really good cricket and it all started with the 1996 group that won the country the World Cup.

“They showed that if we believe in ourselves we can definitely be one of the best teams in the world and be very consistent at that. The great efforts the present team put in is through the example set by that group of players who with limited facilities proved beyond anybody’s dreams what Sri Lanka can achieve. We do owe them a lot of gratitude for that. Our self belief, our motivation is because of them. We know we can be the best in the world if we work really hard,” he said.

Having won a Test of fluctuating fortunes in Kandy, Jayawardene is quite aware that England would come hard at them.
“England is a very good side. The first Test is a match they probably should have done much better, given the situation they were in after the first couple of days. In that regard we are very happy with the result. They’ll come back really hard at us and we just need to make sure we concentrate and look out for those moments and make sure we put them under pressure early in the Test and keep them down as much as possible,” Jayawardene said.

Veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya’s exit from Test cricket after the Kandy Test has allowed Upul Tharanga to return to open the batting with Michael Vandort. That’s about the only change Sri Lanka are likely to make from their winning side. Tharanga who had a great 2006 season lost his form and was eventually dropped from the team. He has since fought his way back with a century and an eighty against England in the warm-up games and with Jayasuriya’s retirement was the most likely candidate for the opener’s berth. With Marvan Atapattu who was Jayasuriya’s long standing opening partner also quitting international cricket, Jayawardene said that Sri Lanka cricket was currently going through a different phase.

“We just need to make sure we keep the focus going and help the youngsters to get through this period and guide them through because these are the guys who are going to take Sri Lanka cricket in the next decade or so,” said Jayawardene.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. It is easier for them to play in home conditions. For them to take that kind of responsibility on their own turf it will be a much easier job for them. They can move forward after that. We played guys like Chamara (Silva), Mubarak, Vandort and Upul when the opportunities came. These are not pretty new guys they’ve had some experience.

“Its tough both Marvan and Sanath leaving at the same time but we knew it was going to happen. Both of them were in the same age group and we felt they probably would make that call at the same time which happened. We were prepared for it and these are the young guys who can take that responsibility and we wish them the very best,” he said.

With their most destructive bowler Matthew Hoggard out of the Test with a back injury, England captain Michael Vaughan said: “It is going to be a tough decision having to work out the best combination which is going to get us 20 wickets.”

“If we bowled a little bit cleverly in the second innings and had taken our chances we could have won the game. That’s how close we were to getting a victory. It wasn’t just a draw that we were after. Three and a half days into the Test I expected us to win the game. The reasons why we didn’t are because we didn’t get them out quickly enough in their second innings. They declared leaving us a tough four sessions to bat out. That’s an area which is of slight concern. We have to look to get 20 wickets. This ground has always been pretty good for the batters so it’s not going to be easy,” Vaughan said.

“Coming back from being 1-0 down it’s been done before but it’s a really hard ask. The result suggests that we could have been home. We got ourselves in great positions even on the last day. With Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Vaas and Murali out there they are a very experienced team. We must try and get the senior players out and play Murali and Vaas well,” he said.
Steve Harmison looks the likely replacement for Hoggard. “Today he looked to bowl with rhythm in the nets. When I’ve seen him like that before, he has tended to bowl pretty well in the Test match,” said Vaughan.

****The Nation****

First Asean film festival in Myanmar next week

First Asean film festival in Myanmar next week

By IANS
Sunday December 2, 10:20 AM

Yangon, Dec 2 (Xinhua) A first ever film festival of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will be held in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon next week to mark the association's 40th anniversary, media reports said Sunday.

Except Brunei, Laos and Cambodia, all other member countries are to take part in the film festival to be held at the Tamada Cinema from Dec 6-9, according to the report.

Films such as 'Mystery of Snow' (Myanmar), 'The Tin Mine' (Thailand), 'Cinta' (Malaysia), 'Magnifico' (Philippines), 'Denias' (Indonesia) and 'The Story of Pao' (Vietnam) will be screened during the four-day festival.

The Asean comprise Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, a five-day South Korean film festival is already in progress at the same cinema here since Nov 30 and will last till Dec 4, in which four Korean films - 'Taegukgi', 'Welcome to Donfmakgol', 'The Host' and 'The Way Home' are being screened.

Earlier in June this year, a European film festival was organised in Yangon to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the EU. Films from Italy, England, Germany and France were screened.

In recent years, the domestic audiences in Myanmar have been getting the opportunity to enjoy foreign films through these festivals.

Countries such as China, Japan and South Korea have already organised film festivals in Myanmar in the recent past, through their cultural exchange programmes.


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