Thuppahi's Blog

Michael Roberts

Hiran Hewavisenti’s reading of the short-form cricket squads chosen for the impending September tour of England provides the context for my reflections on the performances of Sri Lankan players during the recent two Test series vs a powerful Indian side at home in Lanka last month. I do not have Hiran’s intimate local knowledge and my thoughts, therefore, must be assessed with a measure of scepticism.

While India were meeting Sri Lanka, several SL cricketers were playing short/form matches in the Caribbean, presumably with the consent of the SLC Board.: Theekshana, Shanaka, Hasaranga for instance. All three are now part of the touring squad for the UK.

 Kusal Mendis was a notable absence in the Test matches vs India and the keeper was Dickwella – presumably because Mendis was incapacitated. He now returns to the side for the UK matches. As skipper, yes …. as captain; while Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva drops out altogether. **

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Hiran Hewavisenti, in Facebook

Team Sri Lanka will take flight to Blighty on Saturday to play three T20s (starting on 15/9) and three ODIs (from 22/9) in what will be unfamiliar territory for two largely inexperienced – albeit strong – squads that could give the Brits a run for their money. Two stand-out selections for both formats come in the form of Charith Asalanka who travels as vice captain and the flamboyant Kamil Mishara,with many others picking themselves, so to speak.

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The Ceylon Society of Australia, Colombo Chapter, warmly invites you to an interesting lecture on “Reverse Emigration” by our guest speaker, Dr. Devika Gooneratne….

Date: Saturday, 5th September 2026
Time: 5.00 p.m.
Venue: Lighthouse Galley, Chaithya Road, Colombo 1

Guest Speaker:
Dr. Devika Gooneratne
Senior Content Editor, New Ceylon Writing Literary Journal
Executive Editor, Glitterati Quill Magazine
Reviews Editor, Verity La Journal

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Andrew McGlashan

Ben Stokes will be back in Australia later in 2026  •  Getty Images

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Richard Koenigsberg

 I’ve attended, lectured, and presented papers at more than seventy conferences during the last thirty years. During this period, I interacted with and eventually published papers from some of the greatest scholars in the world, including Michael Geyer, Walter Skya, Scott Atran, Omer Bartov, Kelly Denton-Borhaug, Michael Vlahos, Stephen Fritz, Roger Griffen, Jeffrey Herf, Nancy Kobrin, Mark Levene, Jordan Peterson, Robert Proctor and James Tyner.

You’ve read papers and articles by many of these great scholars on the Foundation for the Study of Political Pathology website. You may be familiar with many of the scholars mentioned above.

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Michael Roberts

 These comments are ‘buried’ within the several responses to an article I placed in my site in my site in 2021: viz, https://thuppahis.com/2021/11/19/anglo-ceylonese-a-missing-dimension-in-british-ceylon/#comment-152788

The comments are by friends: one who had identified himself as “Eurasian” when we met for the first time [a rare self-appellation];**  and a longstanding pal from Pera-Uni days, Earlson Forbes, who expressed shock more recently in Sydney when he learnt that I was not Burgher [assumed because of my name].***

** Referring here to Richard Simon …. *** Just prior to an Event in Sydney where I was billed as one speaker on a topic bearing on Ethnicity.

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SOME TALES

Mostafa Rachwani, Carla Jaeger and Christopher Harris:  ‘Blessed’ to be Australian: Survivor of Nepalese floods speaks out,” August 29, 2026 —

Australian consular officials have made contact with Cara Severino, previously listed as missing.Facebook

Cara Severino, an Australian thought to have been missing in the Nepalese floods, has spoken for the first time since her rescue, thanking embassy officials and the crew she had been hiking with when the disaster struck. The 26-year-old had been listed as missing prior to making contact with her parents on Friday morning. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong confirmed on Saturday night that Severino has since been located by consular officials in Nepal.

In a statement released alongside comments from Wong, Severino said she felt “blessed” to be Australian. “I’m so grateful for the crew we formed on that first day when we entered the national park on the tractor. Sudha, Lucas, Samir and Saugat. It’s thanks to these amazing people I got out safely,” she said. “I feel for the families of those still missing – I know how much my family and friends went through. Blessed to be from Australia and have the embassy and Australian government giving so much support.”

[Minister Penny] Wong said Australian consular officials maintained regular contact with Severino on Saturday and were able to eventually identify her location and drive out to meet her from Kathmandu. “They are now transporting her to a safe location and will continue to check on her welfare and provide assistance to her and her family as needed,” Wong said. “While this is a welcome development, there remain grave concerns for the other Australians who are still unaccounted for, given the tremendous scale of the flooding and its impact.”

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Prof. Chandre Dharmawardana,

The sixth volume of the Mahavamsa, covering the period 1978-2010 has been rendered into Tamil by N. Saravanan, a well-known Tamil journalist and activist based in Norway.   The first three volumes of the Mahavamsa (including the Culavamsa) are now a part of the UNESCO world heritage. They were the work of individual scholar monks, whereas the modern volumes (V to VI) were produced through state-sponsored collective efforts [1].

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Michael Roberts

I have limited knowledge about the administrative forces upholding SL crccket today and do not even know WHO constitute the Selection Committee. From my distant post in Adelaide  Australia I have watched some of the Test cricket . It has been a pleasure to see the manner in which Sonal Dinusha batted against a formidable Indian bowling attack. He is, clearly, a sturdy force and it remains to be seen how he fares on foreign pitches.

    Sonal Dinusha

  Dhananjaya de Silva

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David Matthews

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