A novel stating the obvious;

The words "Sri Lanka Cricket" brings about a lot of different memories. Specially the 1996 surprise world cup win, Sanath and Kalu's explosive heroics, Murali's Doosra, Arjuna's aggressive captaincy and Sanga's graceful strokes with both bat and words. Sri Lanka Cricket is all that. It is what Sri Lanka Cricket is made of. It is what Sri Lanka Cricket has popularized and is known for around the globe.

But literally, "Sri Lanka Cricket" stands for none of this. Sri Lanka Cricket stands for corruption, inefficient management of resources, bribery and day light robbery. Sri Lanka Cricket portrays neither the Sri Lankan culture and people nor the Sri Lankan brand of cricket. Sri Lanka Cricket is the name given to the pathetic and corrupt institution of organized theft which is otherwise known among the Sri Lankan people as the "Sri Lankan Cricket Board".

From ticket price hikes, to favoured team and squad selection to stealing money which belongs to the board, to taking personal commissions for national projects to even match fixing, the so called "Sri Lanka Cricket" has been accused and also well known for a wide array of corrupt behaviour. Their mistakes and short comings cannot be justified by any means and nor can they be tolerated by anyone who has a love for the game.

The Lion nor the Cricket stands for anything that this institution stands for.

Selection committees to inter-rim committees to the executive committees to the governing body, everything related to Sri Lanka Cricket is corrupted. Players have not been paid properly. Funds allocated to grounds have been pocketed by committee members. Match tickets, specially during the world cup, have been sold to the black market and been hiked for personal commissions. Conversations between captains and higher officials have been leaked to the media. Coaches have been sacked for no reason. And worst of all, the people who are guilty for these causes are freely roaming and going about their business as usual, as if to say "what ever I do, you can only stand and watch, for I am the law and I am the power". Or something along those lines.

And the more I feel angered and saddened by this whole issue, the more I feel sorry for the Sri Lankan cricketers, who actually work for this institution and are under the word of such corrupt people. How the Sri Lankan cricket team shows up day in and day out, dishing out unbelievable performances, despite all this garbage that they have on their plates, is simply amazing. If "Sri Lanka Cricket" repels me from Sri Lanka's cricket by 10 fold, then Sri Lanka's crickets attract me to Sri Lanka's cricket by about a 100 fold. The only thing that saddens me though, is that the name "Sri Lanka Cricket" has been sold out to an institution that barely has the right to use a single small proportion of the prestige that the name carries. Sri Lanka Cricket is Sri Lanka's cricket's cancer. If nothing is done soon enough, death to Sri Lanka's cricket, seems inevitable.

NOTE: The above piece of writing is a critically creative mash-up of ideas and opinions. The credibility of the facts and details cannot be relied up on, although who ever wants to believe in the above can find enough and more proof and evidence to do so.

Adios!

Blind faith and bright prospects

Australia vs Sri Lanka - 2nd Test - Melbourne Cricket Ground - 26th to 30th Dec.

So another test for Sri Lanka. Same team. Same captain. Same opposition. Same environment. Same odds. Sri Lanka stand against a falling giant. Yet again, they've allowed the giant to claw back in to all it's gigantism. It's sort of a deception though. Australia haven't really clawed back, Sri Lanka have just been average. As excepted. Melbourne offers the same expectations for both sides, Australia will go in for a win, be disappointed with a draw and will rue and regret a loss. Sri Lanka will go for a win too, wouldn't be too surprised with a loss, will be more than satisfied with a draw and will be ecstatic with a win. Nothing seems to have changed from Hobart.

Or has it? Sri Lankans have come to believe that the MCG is their home away from home, specially with the huge crowd support and also somewhat due to their past performances. If my memory serves me correctly, Sri Lanka have won the last 3 ODIs they played here. One in the 2006 CB series, then in the 2010 ODI series and again in the 2012 CB series, and all three have come against Australia. All three of them closely fought, specially with the one in 2010 now being dubbed the Melbourne Miracle amongst the Sri Lankan fans. Spirits seem to be high going in to Melbourne, and suggests that not all has stayed the same since Hobart.

The team though, should be. Unless Kula is injured, in which case I think Thisara Perera should replace him. Unfortunately for TP, he's stuck in Brisbane playing for the Heat instead of being in the national squad, thanks to a bit of brilliant selection by SLC. So if Kula is actually injured, Prasad would be the man to get the nod, and it really disappoints me. Watching Prasad bowl is like watching a Sri Lankan Traffic Policeman standing in the middle of the road during a rainy day directing traffic. You know he is trying hard, doing his level best, giving his heart out but you also know he is only making things worse. So you are stuck between feeling sorry for him and being annoyed by him. Yet you have no choice but to sit and stare at him carry out his business for you're stuck in the traffic he has sort of created.

We can see that you're trying Dhammika,
but what exactly are you trying to do?

Enough about Sri Lanka, let's talk about Australia. Have you not heard? About the bird? Well everybody knows about the bird, coz the Bird Bird Bird, the Bird is the Word! Clarke might not play, Starc got 5 in the 4th innings and is sitting out. And He Who Bowls to Left, and Bowls to the Right, is back in the team in place of Hilfenhaus. Sri Lankans couldn't have wished for anything more for Christmas, but knowing them, I wouldn't be surprised if they make a right mess out of this either.

Before the series started, I predicted 3-0 to Australia but hope for 2-1 for Sri Lanka. The fighting loss in Hobart has already happened, and it's now time for Sri Lanka to catch the Aussies off-guard on boxing day at the MCG, with the crowd behind them and tie this at 1-1. This is blind faith, yet seems so realistically possible that you often cannot draw the line between that and bright prospects in your head. When Mahela goes to toss at the MCG, he will not just be flipping a coin with the Queen's face on one side, he would be flipping stomachs of many many anxious Sri Lankan fans like me around the world. Such are the blind. Determined, admirable yet pathetic.

Adios!

The cricket writer's-block

It took me four days to decide what to write after Sri Lanka lost the first test in Hobart by a matter of minutes and some runs. It wasn't a devastating loss, nor was it a really close finish. But it had Sri Lankan fans like me hoping. And when hope comes in to play, it really takes a toll on you as a fan when that hope is destroyed. Emotional and unprofessional. Then again, that's exactly what fans are.

Sri Lanka fought. They were ruled out before the game. "Worst pace attack to land in our shores" and such. Australia 450/5 declared and SL 87/4 at the end of the 2nd day. Then Dilshan and Mathews revived hope. Put up a real street fight. Sri Lanka still conceded a lead of 121 and were behind the 8-ball again. Then after exchanging punches in the 2nd innings and keeping the target to 393, Sri Lanka set off a chase, for 4 sessions and 393 runs.

For 3 sessions, it seemed Sri Lanka would draw it. Aussies seemed diminished, the weather gods seemed to be on our side and the three musketeers; Sanga/Mahela/Samare seemed set in stone at the wicket. Then one by one fell. Tripped over the unevenness of the track, booby-trapped, tricked and deceived. It wasn't a mine field like a 5th day Galle pitch, but it wasn't a complete belter either. But all this was as expected.

Sri Lanka was expected to lose. Was expected to concede a 1st innings lead. Was expected to be behind the 8-ball in the 3rd innings and was expected to be bowled out before the end of days play on the 5th. It all happened. But it created doubt in the minds of the aussies. There were times they felt the match could not be won. Nathan Lyon seemed to only manage a whimper from an end where Herath took 5 on the 4th day. Starc seemed all over the place and with Hilfenhaus gone, Siddle was the only who looked like he could deliver a victory.

In the end he did. Starc found his length, Siddle found his rhythm and all was well for Australia. In the end, they had finally beaten Sri Lanka and put the predictions straight. But it was that VERY fact that excited me as a fan.

When Australia celebrate like this, for a test win against Sri Lanka at home,
you know that's something you can be happy about, as a Sri Lankan Fan.

Australia celebrated in the end with sighs of relief. The joy was as per to say, "Goddamnit son, imagine what we'd have to go through if we didn't win!". Hobart was supposed to be an easy win for Australia. Sri Lanka was supposed to be an easy side to beat. But they weren't. And come boxing-day, Sri Lanka might well be "an easy side to lose to".

Oh darn it, I am back to this hoping business again. We fans never learn, do we. No matter how many times hope come and bites us in the backside.

More on the Boxing-Day test on tomorrow's post. Until then;

Adios!

From strangled to stable to tatters to awkward

Sri Lanka vs Australia - 1st Test - Hobart - December 17th
Day 4 - Tea - Australia 450/5d & 278/9 dec.

Sri Lanka 336 all out. Need 392 to win.

Well well well. After I was denied on watching days two and three due to having to travel back and forth between Montreal and Toronto during the weekend, and finally I'm free on Sunday night to witness the game, Sri Lanka and Australia have decided to balance the match on a knife edge. It's balanced on a knife edge for now, because Sri Lankans haven't started batting yet, and haven't flopped on the chase already and we will have to wait another few minutes to find that out.

Day two was frustrating. Checking the score before I left, I was overjoyed by seeing Micheal Clarke out within the first 15 minutes of the day, but Hussey, Wade, Siddle and unfortunately also helped by Sanga and Samaraweera, pulled me back down to earth and probably stepped on me and trampled me a little as well. A cut on the last over of the day to an off spinner by Samare? What was he thinking? 3 down for 80 odd and a flashing cut to something he could have left alone? And who's idea was it to NOT send a nightwatchman after Mahela got out? There was only 3 overs to go. Very elementary tricks missed. And Hussey probably averages in kilo runs against Sri Lanka now. I'm sure his numbers against Sri Lanka will show something like 11.98k per innings. The man gets so much runs against Sri Lanka that Mohammed Azhrudeen and Virat Kohli might start feeling jealous about an Australian beating the Sri Lankans around the park, more than they have. Virat Kohli probably already is jealous, given that he was the first cricketer in recent history to average in kilo runs against Sri Lanka.

Mike Hussey has surpassed Virat Kohli in the
 "Most runs scored against Sri Lanka in a calendar year" award

Day three was for the most part, was one of the best returns for the Sri Lankan fans from the team, for being loyal. Dilshan and Mathews put their heads down and said "No, we aren't going to give up" and brilliantly held on for the most of the day, before Australia got back in to the act and bowled Sri Lanka out with a lead of 121 and didn't lose a wicket while batting. Dilshan's got his first 100 in Australia, and joined a list of an elite group of Sri Lankans, including Sanath, Aravinda, Gurusinghe, Hashan, Marvan, Mahela and Sanga. Come to think of it, since that first touring team in 89, Samaraweera is the only one who isn't in that list now. And Kapugedara. Kapugedara needs to be in every list. Just. Just to make those lists irrelevant and un-elite. 

On day four, Australia started by belting the Lankan attack to all corners. Memories of 2007/08 came to mind. And then Sri Lanka pegged them back. Got 5 wickets for 49 runs in the middle. Clarke got a quick 50 and left the field clutching his hamstring and Sri Lanka just rolled the tail out setting up the test perfectly. And after being strangled at 80/4 at the end of the 2nd day, then going to a stable position thanks to Dilshan and Mathews, and then thrown in to tatters by Warner and Cowan early on the 4th day, Sri lanka have now pushed Australia to an awkward corner where all three results are possible.

How much I'd give, to see a repeat of Sanga's 192 on this very ground, followed by Samare's inclusion to that list we were talking about before, I don't even know. Sounds like too much to ask, but after seeing Dilshan, Mathews then Herath and Welegadara script this comeback in true grit, I won't throw the possibility of a Sri Lankan win out of the window.

Argh! I hope I won't have to regret dreaming!

Adios.

The Australian art of deception

Sri Lanka vs Australia - 1st Test - Hobart - December 14th
Day 1 - Stumps - Australia 299/4 (90)

Australians haven't been known for their deceptive skills, over the years. They've always had more of a warrior-at-your-throat kind of approach than a tricky ambush sort of one. In the recent history, their players like McGrath wasn't known for a well hidden slower ball. Although Shane Warne hyped the press every summer with a "New Variation", there was never a sort of "mystery ball" that the batsmen couldn't pick. Ponting and Gilchrist never had a shot named after them. They were good solid cricketers, who knew what they were doing, and since they did it so well, didn't have anything to hide from the opposition.

This time around though, the Hobart curator has decided to mess with the heads a bit. A relayed pitch at the Belleriev meant that it had no green monsters on it, as the numerous articles had suggested in the build up, some even calling it "The Hulk". Flat as a Roti, it was, the pitch. Kulasekara might even have been tempted to get some Lunu-Miris and have a bite off it, specially after that dropped chance by Mathews in the first over the day. If it stays the same for 2 more days though, the Sri Lankans won't be complaining , Sangakkara and co will be licking their lips to dig their teeth in to this one. This is given that at the end of the next 2 days, Australia wont still be batting, at this rate, somewhere around 800/9.

On a pitch like that Sri Lanka will take the Aussie run rate of 3.2 any day, specially given the caliber of their bowling attack. This isn't half the quality of that of which Australia threaded to bits and pieces in Adelaide against South Africa. Yet, take nothing away from Hughes, Warner and Clarke. They played as well as they can play, frustrated the bowlers by playing and missing, but not edging it. I wonder if it's a little mind game, playing and missing deliberately, inviting the bowler to go fuller and wider, and crunching a cover drive to the fence. I've heard that the famous Ceylonese captain, F.C De Seram, of the early 1950s used to do it, back in the day. Sounds like a complete gamble only the bravest and the cleverest could pull off! Australia though, probably were just good. Simple and unrattled.

Phil Hughes played the kind of "frustrating-fresher" innings,
that Dimuth Karunaratne might want to replicate.

But, Sri Lanka will be happy. They didn't let Australia maul them over, like they did in their last tour back in 2007. Having sent back the top four for less than 200 on the board, they now have a chance of bowling out Australia for the first time since Cairns, 2004. And Rangana Herath hasn't even bowled a proper spell yet! Even Hussey and Clarke were tied down for the most part of their 100-run partnership, and even towards the end, neither looked rock solid at the crease, Eranga getting . With the new ball in hand, the Sri Lankan quicks, or should I say "the 1-half-quick-and-2-dibbly-dobblies", would back them selves to restrict Australia to under 800. Well, realistically to about under 500, but under 500 DOES technically mean its under 800, so we should be good either way.

At the end of the day, Sri Lanka haven't looked like they can beat Australia, as expected. But Australia haven't looked like they can beat Sri Lanka yet either, unlike the last time these teams met in this part of the world. And on that note, Mahela Jayawardane will be grinning in his sleep tonight.

Luck comes with persistance

Sri Lanka vs Australia - 1st Test - Hobart - December 14th
Day 1 - Tea - Australia 193/3 (57)

Welagedara to Hughes/Watson. Short. Wide. Out side off. RUNS to Australia.

Eranga to Hughes/Watson. Short. Wide. Out side off. RUNS to Australia.

Mathews to Hughes/Watson. Short. Wide. Out side off. RUNS to Australia.

Kulasekara to Hughes/Watson. On the stumps. Cramped for room. Defended. 

Herath to Hughes/Watson. Short. Wide. Out side off. RUNS to Australia.

You would have thought this was one of those "Immunity games" at the Biggest Loser TV show, considering how Short and Wide the Sri Lankans were, contrary to their slender-man-esque figures. And then out of the blue;

Welagedara to Hughes. Short. Wide. Out side off. EDGED. CAUGHT BEHIND! NO BALL!!!!!!!!

Could you believe that? Could you freaking believe that?? The Mayan calendar was more believable than that no-ball. Shame on you Welagedara, you have disgraced our ancestors.

Welagedara persisted with the short and wide rubbish-corridor to Hughes and Watson,
and thought it would be smart to bowl a no-ball every now and again, just in case he got an edge. 

And then, Wele got another one to move away from Watson, got the edge, Mahela took the catch of the year, all was well and the Sri Lankans trudged off to tea with wry smiles pretending that they still had control of this game.

More on the second and last sessions after the game.

Adios!

Like a bunch of freshers

Sri Lanka vs Australia - 1st Test - Hobart - December 14th

Day 1 - Lunch - Australia 97/2 (26.2)

Excited. Jumpy. Edgy. Thrilled and uneasy. That's how Sri Lanka has looked in the first session in Hobart. Like a bunch of 15 year olds playing in their first junior's league game. they've looked very promising and unsettled. Apart from probably Nuwan Kulasekara, who on the other hand could be the one you'd mistake for a 15 year old school boy cricketer if you met him on the street, everyone else has looked rather nervous. Well, who wouldn't be Australia are 2 down for 97! That's only 2 less that the total number of wickets they got in the whole match in the 1st test of their last series here!

Billy the Kid might think he is the one and only Baby-faced assasin,
but he is not.

But they'll need to settle down soon. A couple of half chances have gone down. Half chances, I've never really liked that word. Does it mean, if you take it, it's only half a wicket? Do you have to take two half chances to get one wicket? Does it have to be of the same batsman? How do you split the credit between the bowler? Rubbish. Tough chances. Missed though. Vaas would have caught the one Welegedera got, but Vaas wouldn't have been bowling to Warner. He'd have been bowling to Hayden instead. And Hayden's on drive lands 60m behind the bowler's arm, or goes carpet along the ground. Mathew's made a bump ball look like a dropped catch. Would have been a screamer if he'd caught it, but I guess slip catching is an art which needs to be perfected, and in conditions like Galle and P Sara back home, it is an art even Picasso would have had a hard time picking up.

As Australia were nicely ticking along, Kula decided to go round the wicket and bowl which Warner seemed to think were leg breaks, the way he was hesitant to leave them. Welegedara then produced the ugliest of bouncers of which the ugliness was equally matched by the horrid pullshot Ed Cowan presented it with, face pointed at the sun, toe pointed at Wele's face, as if to say "Hey, two can play the ugly game!". Obviously he was out caught and all was well.

Warner and Hughes then went on rampage on the offside, Eranga their primary target, and occasionally also Welegedara. At the stroke of lunch, Dilshan went out to bowl with his golden arm and got a wicket off a run out. Talk about luck! Herath must be ruing the fact that he is a left arm spinner rather than a righty given the number of left handers in this Aussie line up, but bank on him to make life much difficult for Watson when he comes out to bat after lunch.

Lets wait and see how things unroll at the Bellerive for the second session will begin in a matter of minutes.

Catch you for a quick paragraph after tea. Until then,

Adios!