Category Archives: Sri Lankan cricket

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 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 · 6:12 pm

Smashed to Smithereens! India Squash Sri Lanka

Hemant Brar, in ESPNcricinfo, January 2023

Around this time last year, India’s ineffectiveness with the new ball was haunting them in ODIs. Despite having Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in their line-up, they were by far the worst bowling side in the world in the first ten overs.  Mohammed Siraj has put his hand up to rectify that.

1:18 ….Siraj: ‘I don’t think about wickets if my line and length is fine’

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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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December 30, 2022 · 1:21 pm

The DRS Technology as Idea: Senaka Weeraratna’s Inventive Mind

Senaka Weeraratna 

Both the DRS in Cricket and Goal Line Technology in Soccer have a common origin in the ‘Player Referral’ concept conceived by Senaka Weeraratna in 1997.

This was the first occasion in world history that a case was made (in 1997), using the analogy of the apellate function of the legal system, to press home the point that we needed to adopt it on the playing field in a modified form in combination with modern technology, i.e. video play back in the hands of Third Umpire, to determine the accuracy of a decision made by an on field or ground umpire by way of a Review System.

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December 24, 2022 · 10:46 pm

Chatting with Clive Inman on His Cricketing Past for the Quadrangle’s “Scoop”

Sujith Silva in an exclusive Interview with Clive Inman for  Quadrangle  ….. The Scoop

 Clive Clay Inman (born 29 January 1936 in Colombo died 07th December 2022 in England) former Ceylon Cricketer, represented N.C.C in domestic Club Cricket and later played in English Country Cricket representing turned out for Leicestershire & Derbyshire. He captained his alma mater St Peter’s College, Colombo 04 in 1954 and 1955 and won the Battle of the Saints Big match against St. Joseph’s College Colombo in 1955. He comes from a family of cricketers. His father Harry Inman played for Ceylon teams as an all rounder. Clive had four brothers all cricketers of which Roger played and captained S. Thomas’ College in 1952 (Clive played against him for St. Peter’s College). Clive was a prolific Left-hand batsman and also a right arm off break bowler who excelled during his school career, later on, built a name for himself as an outstanding batsman for Ceylon and English Country Leicestershire during the 60’s.

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December 23, 2022 · 8:16 pm

In Memory of Clive Inman: Manifold “Voices”

Desmond Kelly in Vale in e-Lanka: https://www.elanka.com.au/vale-clive-inman-by-des-kelly/

VALE, CLIVE INMAN: yet another ‘Legend’ from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka, and someone who was both a friend and College-mate of mine, back in the “fab-fifties”, as I remember them. As everyone knew, this guy was a top Cricketer, we were all very proud to have him at St. Peter’s College, by far the best College in Colombo at the time, as well. Clive was in the same ‘form’ & I was proud & privileged to keep his company & boast about his superb prowess on the field to all & sundry.

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December 22, 2022 · 6:51 pm

Five Sturdy Men Who Saved Murali’s Doosra Innovation

Michael Roberts

Dr Barclay Reid, “Buddy Reid” in most minds, has this week related his role in medically examining Muralitharan’s peculiar physiognomy and clarifying the  process of mystification that led some Australian umpires to no-ball him in late 1995 as part of a process  — as they thought — of cleansing the cricket field of “throwers” (see https://thuppahis.com/2022/12/21/muralitharan-the-arm-that-did-not-chuck/).

Jacqueline Alderson of UWA’s Technology team preparing Murali for a test as part of Foster’s team …

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