Errol Fernando in Email Note to Darragh O’Donovan, 14 December 2022
Yes, Darragh, I did turn up at last Saturday and watch Dilshan hit the ball all over Sydney Pargeter Reserve. At the ripe old age of 46 he can still get a game for Sri Lanka! Fours and sixes all over the place!
However, I had one extremely close call. I was busy chatting with Nuwan Ranasinghe, a Sri Lankan media man, and took my eye off the game for a moment. Suddenly Nuwan shouted at me to duck and I looked up to see the ball heading towards me and it crashed into the tree behind me. It is no exaggeration to say that the ball missed my head by no more than a couple of inches ! Nuwan was far more shattered than I was !
I thought of a possible headline in the local newspaper – “ Ancient spectator, born in Sri Lanka, killed by Tillakaratne Dilshan, also born in Sri Lanka”! The moral of the story is ‘Never take your eye off while Tillakaratne Dilshan is hitting fours and sixes all over the place. Make sure that you are wearing a helmet’!
Good luck with your umpiring, Darragh, and see you at your next match.
All the best, Errol
A NOTE by Michael Roberts, 15 December 2022
Dilshan and a Zimbabwean batsman (whose name I have forgotten) were the first to play the scoop shot over keeper and slips etc to send the ball over the batsman’s head to the boundary areas where, usualy, there waas no fileder on patrol. It was evencalled the “Dislscoop” at some point of time.
BUT that has been forgotten and fallen into disuse. He is from a ‘puny country;: so the great minds from GREAT Countries can dispalc his inventive role.
