Rex Clementine in The Island, 4 July 2025, where the title runs thus:
If there was one glaring chink in Sri Lanka’s armour during their disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign, it was their fielding. Sloppy, uninspired and error-strewn, the islanders dropped more catches than any other team, earning the unenviable tag of the worst fielding side in the tournament.
Upul Chandana when he was Under 19
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Michael Roberts
In what seems to be a powerful and imperialistic act, that ominous agency, AI, has summarized and commented on an old article written by Arthur Saniotis and myself in 2006 and presented in SOCIAL ANALYSIS. I am afraid that I have lost touch with Arthur Saniotis. C’est la vie.
This Pix is from the bac cover of a notebook purchased by me in Kilinovhvhi in lat 2004. It displays Tamil heroes and heroins who have died in the SL Tamil cause:; ………………… Sivakkumaran, Shankar, Thilipan, Annai Pupathi, Miller and Malathi.
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Hiran Hewavisenti in FACEBOOK,, 3 July 2025
The skipper leads from the front, has a cool head and makes all the right moves with his timely bowling changes.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Date 28 June – 2 August 2025 …………..Coach … Andy Farrell ….. ……………. Tour captain(s) Maro Itoje
Rex Clementine in The Island, 1 July 2025, where the title reads “Sri Lanka’s white ball renaissance under Jayasuriya
Once giants of the white-ball game, Sri Lanka were dealt a harsh reality check when they failed to qualify for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy — a bitter pill to swallow for a nation that once redefined the one-day format with audacity and flair. Their ninth-place finish at the 2023 World Cup saw them miss the cut, triggering alarm bells across the island’s cricketing corridors.
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This A team had begun with a practice match in Perth but it appears that the principal matches will be in the Northern Territory, that is, at Darwin.
The News Item on Web
Australia A will play three one-dayers and two first-class matches in the Northern Territory in July First-class cricket will end a 19-year absence to make its return to the Top End next month with Australia A confirmed to play a series of matches against Sri Lanka A…. See Marrara Cricket Grounds below … it sits next door to the larger Marrara Cricket Stadium // Getty
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HOT NEWS = Australian teenager Maya Joint beat Alexandra Eala in a three-set epic in the Eastbourne Open final. Joint saved four match points in a gripping third set before winning the tiebreaker 1 day ago.
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Gamini Keerawella in The Island, 29 June 2025 where the title runs thus: “CBK at 80: A Trailblazer’s Legacy in Perspective”
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
As Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka’s first female Executive President, turns 80 on June 29, a timely question arises: how will history remember her legacy? Born into a political family as the daughter of two Prime Ministers, her path to leadership was steeped in legacy. But it was not lineage alone that defined her public life. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, commonly known as CBK, carved out a political identity marked by her bold decisions, reformist ambition, and resilience in the face of violence and controversy. Historians may debate the long-term impact of her policies, but they are unlikely to overlook her key milestones— first, most notably, her key role in ushering in two of the most consequential regime changes in modern Sri Lankan history: in 1994 and again in 2015.
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Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne, in The Island, June 2025
Farewell Mr. Devendra! Thank you for everything and for shaping the researcher in me.
LCdr (Rtd) Somasiri Devendra (1933-2025) passed away on 19th June 2025 having fulfilled a long and illustrious career under many hats. One that he is most remembered for, is being one of the founders of Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka. He was instrumental in initiating underwater cultural heritage projects in Sri Lanka starting with the ‘Sri Lanka-British Colombo Reefs Archaeological Survey’ in 1989 and through the ground-breaking maritime archaeology excavation ‘The Galle Harbour Project’ in the 1990s, where he trained the first generation of maritime archaeologists of Sri Lanka. He has organized and served under various local and international programmes for the management and protection of Sri Lanka’s Underwater Cultural Heritage. He was also awarded the Junior Research Fellowship of UNESCO and the Uruma Prasada Pranamaya for his services of towards the Protection and Development of National Heritage.
I came to know you almost ten years ago where you guided me in my initial research into the history of Colombo. I will forever cherish those memories of us discussing various topics in your home in Dehiwala. Even as your eyesight was failing at 92, the teacher within you never died away. It was a pleasure serving on a panel discussion with you in January, where despite the weather, you came and shared your knowledge with us.
You truly shaped me into the researcher I am today and I wish I could still call and visit you. May be one day…again…
**********
Recollections from Michael Roberts in Adelaide, 29 June 2025
My fading memory echoes Chryshane’s regard for the patriotic commitments and the skills displayed by SOMASIRI DEVENDRA. The reference to his home in Dehiwela has revived a memory of my visit and chat with him in the course of my research on the moment when Rajiv Gandhi was hammered by a naval rating in the front rank of an honour guard welcoming his arrival – an event that occurred on 30th July 1987 and marked the local hostility to the Indian government’s imperial imposition of a “Peacekeeping Force” in 1987.
That bold intervention was carried out by Rohana de Silva, a man from Ratgama (thus presumably of the Salagama caste). I interpreted that action as a guti dheema in the assailant’s mind (an interpretation Somasiri did NOT agree with). But it was Somasiri who put me in touch with Lt KH Perera, the officer in charge of the Honour Guard. When I interviewed De Silva, he told me that during the court-martial trial that eventuated Rohana de Silva indicated that “even if it was a broomstick he had in his hand, he would have hit him with the broomstick.”
Hence my conclusion that it was a GUTI DHEEMA.**
MOREOVER …..
Chryshane’s information on Somasiri’s role in promoting maritime archaeology has been news to me. It is a vital recording act to imprint knowledge of Somasiri Devendra’s impact on this branch of historical research. As a swimming and surfing person born near the sea and as one who has swum in Galle harbour, Chryshane’s details are like gold dust in the career of an explorer.
A Hail For You, SOMASIRI …. We treasure Your Life of Patriotic Fulfillment.
** ALSO SEE …. https://thuppahis.com/2019/08/08/clobbering-rajiv-gandhi-as-chastisement-in-1987-a-guti-dheema/
Re ROHANA in subsequent years
https://thuppahis.com/2022/11/17/punishing-rajiv-gandhi-two-moments/
https://thuppahis.com/2017/07/19/fire-storm-images-ii-the-indian-intervention-1987/
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Michael Roberts
A young South African has ‘konstanzed’ his entry into the cricketing arena by ‘assembling’ 153 runs in 160 balls in their match against Zimbabwe. His name underlines the difficulties faced by the Zimbabwean bowlers ….Lhuan-dre Gilbert Pretorius.
The Safs assembled 418 runs in 90 overs with Corbin Bosch also securing a century, albeit in 124 balls.
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thuppahi
