June 28, 2023 · 1:16 am

Sexism & Male Chauvinism in English Cricket

Rob Harris & Tyrone Francis, in  SkyNews  27 June 2023, where the title reads “English cricket condemned as racist, sexist and classist in damning new report“

A Report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket says racism is “entrenched” in English cricket; women are marginalised and there is no focus on addressing class barriers; more than 4,000 provided evidence.

The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket chair Cindy Butts says English cricket needs to ‘accept the stark realities’ revealed in her report. English cricket is deep-rooted with widespread institutional racism, sexism and class-based discrimination, a report has found.

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June 26, 2023 · 6:33 pm

Sri Lankan Cricket’s 75 Years of Milestones: 1948-to-2023

Rex Clementine, in The Island,  25 June 2023, where the title reads “Celebrating 75 years of cricketing excellence,” … with his four pictorial illustrations augmented by other PIX in sep with his words

A new controlling body for cricket in Ceylon was formed on the 25th of June 1948 and was named Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon. Today marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the cricket board. At a meeting held at the Malay Cricket Club at Rifle Green, P. Saravanamuttu was elected as President of the board. The entity has over the years gone through name changes such as Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka and its present name Sri Lanka Cricket.

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June 26, 2023 · 2:07 am

Kochi: A Jewish Town without Jews

Christabel Lobo, in  Times of Israel,  20 December 2020 ,where the title reads thus: “India’s Jew Town only has a few Jews left, but traditions and landmarks remain”A sign denotes Kochi's 'Jew street,' as it is known locally, which once was a hub of Indian Jewish life. (Christabel Lobo/ via JTA)

  • A sign denotes Kochi’s ‘Jew street,’ as it is known locally, which once was a hub of Indian Jewish life. (Christabel Lobo/ via JTA)

KOCHI, India (JTA) …………Take a walk down this coastal city’s “Jew street” today and you’ll find bustling Kasmiri storefronts selling Persian antiques, pashmina shawls and traditional Islamic handicrafts — a stark contrast to the neighborhood’s heyday when every household was Jewish.

“There are only two people left in Jew Town. One very old, who spends most of her time in Los Angeles, and one other,” said Shalva Weil, a senior researcher at the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a leading figure on the Jewish communities of India.

Once a vibrant community of approximately 3,000 at its peak in the 1950s, only a handful of elderly Jews now remain in a city of some 677,000. According to Weil, there really is no community in Kochi anymore

“You won’t find more than five or 10 Jews,” she said.

Unlike other dwindling Jewish communities around the world, the Jews of Kochi did not leave their country due to persecution or hardship. Rather, it was the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 that attracted many from the mostly Orthodox community to emigrate and start a new life in the Jewish homeland.

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June 25, 2023 · 7:26 pm

Windies ODI Cricket on the Downslide?

Wisden Staff, 24 June 2023, with this title “West Indies in danger of not qualifying for World Cup for first time ever after defeat to Zimbabwe“wINDIES

ZIM v WI

Tendai Chatara took the final wicket in Harare to complete Zimbabwe’s 11th ODI victory over the West Indies, and second in three matches. Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl had shared an 87-run partnership in Zimbabwe’s innings to help them post a target of 268. Despite a fifty from Kyle Mayers early in the West Indies’ chase, they slipped to 180-6 and lost their final three wickets for 16 runs as they fell short.

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June 24, 2023 · 8:38 pm

Teenage Spinner Rehan Ahmed in England’s Test Squad

News Item in ABC Net, 24 June 2023, …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-24/rehan-ahmed-into-ashes-squad-as-moeen-ali-back-up/102519630

England’s daring call-up for teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed would have brought a ‘told you so’ smile to the face of the late, great Shane Warne.

 

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June 23, 2023 · 8:29 pm

Errol’s Sarcastic Condemnation of Abusive Send-Offs on the Cricket Field

Errol Fernando in Email Commentary to Amba Yahalaluvo aka Pals, 22 June 2023

Let me give you the cricinfo report on the ‘Robinson incident’, L….. After dismissing Khawaja for 141 Robinson’s send-off was,’ F…off you  f…ing prick’. When he was interviewed later Robinson stated that he had absolutely no need to apologise.  His justification was,  ‘We’ve all seen Ricky Ponting and other Aussies do the same to us’.

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June 21, 2023 · 7:31 pm

Edgbaston. What A Match! Errol’s Armchair Pleasures

Email Commendation from Errol Fernando in Melbourne, 21 June 2023

Bravo, Captain Pat Cummins!

No words of praise are adequate to describe  how Captain Pat, in that final hour, turned certain defeat into victory. And he did it with lots and lots of smiles!  It was good to hear Cummins, in his post-match interview,  acknowledge the crucial support of warrior Nathan Lyon. He also stated that the most important contribution in the  match was made by Usman Khawaja. Best of all, he was gracious and modest in victory.

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June 19, 2023 · 3:01 am

Apoyi! Apoyi! Sri Lanka’s Present Debt Burden

Thambu Kanagasabai, in Countercurrents, 15 June 2023, where the title reads “A debt ridden Sri Lanka and a desperate President seeking debt relief” .… with highlights here imposed by The eDitor Thuppahi

President Ranil is expected to visit India from July 20 to 30 and a meeting with Prime Minister Modi is scheduled for on the 21st July 2023. So far neither the agenda nor the issues to be discussed between them has been made public. It is highly likely that focus will be mainly on financial assistance for the desperate Sri Lanka. It is to be noted that the external debt of Sri Lanka now stands at more than $5 billion. Ranil’s statement while serving as a Prime Minister expressed his appreciation of India’s role when he acknowledged on June 19, 2022 that “India has really helped Sri Lanka in its reforms to cope with the Island’s economic crash” and added that “aid coming from different sources has put Sri Lanka in the middle of geopolitics” and further said on June 06, 2022 that “no country except India is providing money to the crisis hit nation for fuel”.

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June 19, 2023 · 2:44 am

The Travails of the Villagers of Musali on Film

Yomal Senerath-Yapa, in Sunday Times 18 June 2023, with this title “A humane look at the villagers of Palaikuli”

Sumathy Sivamohan’s maiden documentary film ‘Amid the Villus’ tells the story of a pastoral people for whom the land was simply home. This film, Sumathy Sivamohan’s latest documentary –  also her first (having so far done only feature films) — takes you to Palaikuli, the dry scrubland village in Musali South where for ages a pastoral people have tended to cattle and goats.

It is a poetic, humane, behind-the-headlines look at the ‘Musali land-grab’ where she documents the story of the community that was vilified in the news for infringing on the vintage ‘land of the leopard’ at Wilpattu.

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June 19, 2023 · 1:04 am

Amitav Ghosh: Straddling the Mediterranean & Indian Worlds

Dr. Shalva Weil, in https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/in-an-ancient-land-trade-and-synagogues-in-south-india/

The Calcutta-born novelist Amitav Ghosh tells the tale, in his novel In an Ancient Land, of a medieval traveler by the name of Abraham Ben Yiju who conducted an import/export business from Cairo through Aden to India. Ben Yiju was a member of the Synagogue of Ben Ezra, or the”Synagogue of the Palestinians”, as it used to be known while it was still standing, in Cairo, at the end of the nineteenth century. It was in that synagogue that congregation members used to accumulate and store their papers and manuscripts. The last In an Ancient Land Revisited Trade and Synagogues in South India document that is known to have been deposited in this Genizah was a get, a divorce settlement, authorized in Bombay (today Mumbai).

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