Category Archives: Australian culture

January 27, 2023 · 12:32 am

Fashioning the Book “CROSSCURRENTS: Sri Lanka & Australia at Cricket”

 Michael Roberts

This book, with its pot pourri of cricketing items and photographs, was published in 1998 by the Walla Walla Press in Sydney. It was enabled by (A) the cooperation of two authors who never met each other: one Michael Roberts …. a Sri Lankan Australian in Adelaide and one Alfred James, an Aussie in Sydney who had a unique collection of cricketing statistics on Australian tours abroad which provided the pertinent data on their whistle-stop matches in Colombo on the trips to Britain and back – rare data that.

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January 26, 2023 · 2:52 pm

AUSTRALIA DAY …. “Advance Austaralia Fare” Renderings

ONE: Set in Sydney 2022 = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UiXiKhqj7c

 

29,595 views Feb 6, 2022 AUSTRALIA

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January 23, 2023 · 8:09 pm

Engaging CROSSCURRENTS: Young James Sansoni’s Selections from the Book on Sri Lanka and Australia at Cricket

Engaging CROSSCURRENTS: Young James Sansoni’s Selections from the book Crosscurrents: Sri Lanka and Australia at Cricket (1998, Sydney, Walla Walla Press)

James Clifton Tilden Sansoni of Sydney has dipped a selective hand into the pages of Crosscurrents —  thereby rendering a service. It prompts me to tell the world about the contributions of Alfred James, an Australian whom I never met, and the supporting hands of both Richard Cashman of the Walla Walla Press in Sydney and Cathy Ashton of Mobitel in Colombo, without whom this book would never have seen daylight. THAT will be in separate tales in Thuppahi. Let Clifton’s input take centre-stage here.

Note that behind an enterprising young one, there is a grandpa: one David Sansoni of Colombo and Sydney.

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January 16, 2023 · 5:09 pm

Volaare! Road Trains across Storm Waters in the Kimberley, West Australia

Paul Garvey, in The Australian Newpaper, 11 January 2023, where the title is “Road trains navigate inland sea to deliver vital supplies”

Extraordinary steps are being taken to ensure food and medical supplies make it into the communities cut off by floodwaters across Western Australia’s Kimberley region. Road trains have been photographed seemingly being driven over water as they made their way towards Broome with crucial food supplies.

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January 13, 2023 · 11:19 pm

Murali’s Ordeal in Pictures, 1995-2005

Michael Roberts

Looking back in retrospect, my respect for the resilence and strength of character shown by Muttiah Muralitharan has expanded by ‘metres’ these last few days. The story –involving numerous episodes — has been set out in my old essay “Saving Murali: Action On-Field and Off-Field, 1995-2005″ which has been presented as Chapter 5  in the book Incursions & Excursions in and Aound Sri Lankan Cricket, printed by Vijitha Yapa Publications in 2011 (ISBN 978-955-53198-0-5).

 

 

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January 13, 2023 · 12:26 pm

Murali’s Epic History: Facing Many Powers …. A Bibliography

Compiled by Michael Roberts  …

  Murali is ’embraced’ by Tamil fans in Jaffna in 2004

 

Dr. Barclay “Buddy” Reid 2022 “Muralitharan: the arm that did not chuck,” 21 December 2021, https://thuppahis.com/2022/12/21/muralitharan-the-arm-that-did-not-chuck/

School of Human Movement, UWA 2004 “The Murali Report,” 15 May 2004, https://www.rediff.com/cricket/2004/may/15murali.htm …. signed by Daryl Foster

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January 12, 2023 · 11:06 pm

Hiring Murali for Australia! …. An Aussie Diehard in His Dungeon

Malcolm Conn in/for NewsCorp Australia, 22 December 2022, where the title reads “Hiring suspect spin king Muttiah Muralitharan a huge philosophy shift for Australian cricket”

THE appointment of Muttiah Muralitharan as a spin bowling consultant by the Australian cricket team shows a huge philosophical shift in Australian cricket and the ruthless pragmatism of Darren Lehmann.

Previous Australian spin bowling coaches such as Terry Jenner and Ashley Mallett have refused to teach the doosra to their understudies in the belief it cannot be bowled legally.

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January 10, 2023 · 12:11 am

Experiencing Piercing Tennis at Memorial Drive Adelaide

Shona and I were enlivened and pleased to witness  Belinda Bencic beating Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-3 …. and then to see Thanasi Kokkanakis defeat fellow Australian Alexai Popyrin in tight two sets after an easy first set: 6-o, 6-7 and 7-5.

 

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January 6, 2023 · 12:26 pm

Striking Win by the Adelaide Strikers

Michael Roberts

I was privileged to witness a striking win by the ADELAIDE STRIKERS at Adelaide Oval on the 5th of January 2023, where the Australian world witnessed the highest ever run chase in its BBL history. The Hobart Hurricanes had batted first and muscled a massive total: all of 229 runs. When the 19th over commenced with Nathan Ellis given the ball, The Strikers needed 25 more runs then and at the 20th with Faheem Ashraf given the ball they needed 11 runs to tie and 12 to win.   

 

 

Matthew Short Celebrates winning hit

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December 28, 2022 · 11:43 am

Sri Lankans in The Australian Foreign Service

Victor Melder, in Memo dated 28 December 2022, correcting a major error in the recent Daily News Item

The news item in the Daily News of yesterday (see below) is NOT correct, we have had two Sri Lankan born Australian Ambassador’s. There could even be more.

The first: David Ian WILLÉ:  born 1942, educated at Royal College, Colombo. Emigrated with his parents to Melbourne, Australia in 1957. Studied at Melbourne University, obtaining a BA and LLB. Appointed to the Australian Diplomatic Service and posted as Australian High Commissioner to the West Indies, on his return was appointed Head of the Russian desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Canberra. (see The Burghers of Ceylon Worldwide – Kelaart, 2007)

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