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kumar-sangakkara
Sangakkara’s account of the attack
By Will last year, at the start of March, 3 Comments »
You really need to read this.
3 Comments »I was sitting next to Thilan Samaraweera and close to the young Tharanga Paranavitana. For some reason I moved my head to get a better view and a split second later I felt a bullet fizz past my ear into the vacant seat. Fortunately, as a team, we remained quite calm. No one panicked. After what must have been two minutes standing still, we urged the driver to make a run for the stadium just a few hundred metres away: “Go, go, go” we shouted.
The truth is we owe our lives to the courageous Mohammad Khalil, the driver. I will forever be grateful to him. The tyres of the bus had been shot out and he was in grave personal danger, exposed to gunfire at the front of the bus. But he was hell-bent on getting us to safety and, somehow, he got us moving again. Had Khalil not acted with such courage and presence of mind most of us would have been killed.
Standing still next to the roundabout we were sitting ducks for the 12 gunmen. We only found out afterwards that a rocket launcher just missed us as we began moving and turned for the stadium gates, the rocket blowing up an electricity pylon. Khalil saw a hand grenade tossed at us that failed to explode. Someone must have been looking over us because right now it seems a miracle we survived.
Pietersen c Sangakkara b Vaas 1
By Will 3 years ago, mid-December, 6 Comments »
Oh how simple it sounds.
Pietersen c Sangakkara b Vaas 1
Alas, it is anything but – and the media (yes, I know I’m part of it, but I can still comment) might be making a meal of it in the coming 24 hours. For those of you who didn’t see it, this is what happened:
| 60.3 | Vaas to Pietersen, OUT, and the plan has worked, it’s a brilliant piece of work at slip, but wait, there’s controversy. Pietersen went for a drive at a wide ball, nicked to the third slip, Silva, who dived to his left and grabbed the catch low to the turf, it bobbles up and Sangakkara comes from first slip to take the rebound. Pietersen waits as the umpires consult, Harper raises his finger, but TV replays show the ball appears to have brushed the ground before the initial take by Silva. Pietersen waits inside the boundary, as he did at Lord’s earlier this year against India, but there’s no overturning this decision and he’s off |
Clarification from Andrew Miller:
The difference between the two incidents is that at Lord’s there wasn’t an original agreement between the umpires on Dhoni’s catch, it was given immediately by Simon Taufel. However, in Colombo the umpires conferred before deciding Pietersen was out and the laws state that the third official can only be used if the view of the on-field umpires is obstructed.
This is clearly bullshit and the law needs amending immediately. Like many, I still hanker after the good old days when video replays were rare and pretty inconclusive, but cricket must move with the times and we can’t have this middle-ground where technology is used sparingly. It’s making the sport look pretty damn stupid.
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Loading ...Australia vs Sri Lanka
By Scott 3 years ago, at the start of November, 10 Comments »
Australia play Sri Lanka in an actual Test match on Thursday, and it is rumoured that the ICC have started an internal investigation to find out how such an anachronism got on the international fixtures list.
Australia haven’t played a Test since they farewelled their trio of stars in January; in that period they’ve played an abomination of ODI games and Twenty20 fixtures. These days, when the Australian players wish to get about town unrecognised, they wear their white Test outfits.
As to the actual game itself, the portents are not promising. Rain is forecast to play havoc for the first three days, no bad thing in itself, given the drought in Australia, but neither side comes into this game with much form. The Australian bowlers who played in four day cricket last weekend failed to impress, with the exception of Stuart Clark, and the Sri Lankans have likewise found the going hard, failing to beat a side comprising the best of Australia’s state Second XI’s, and then being defeated by Queensland. No doubt after so much ODI cricket, the disciplines of line and length, batting judgement and patience, have become a little rusty.
For all that, I’m looking forward to a good contest. Sri Lanka are, in my view, one of the stronger sides in world cricket, with a potent batting line up and a balanced bowling attack. It is a disgrace that Cricket Australia, for commercial reasons of course, has only invited the Sri Lankans to play two Tests. I do expect Australia to still win- even without McGrath and Warne they are a very powerful team, but it won’t be quite so easy as it used to be.
Australia give a first cap to Mitchell Johnson, and Phil Jacques and Stuart MacGill are recalled. Sri Lanka’s team is not quite settled, but they are hampered by the loss of Kumar Sangakarra with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, in a further outbreak of Test cricket, South Africa host New Zealand. The main talking point there is that South Africa are not playing their veteran Shaun Pollock, preferring the younger brigade. Daniel Vettori makes his debut as New Zealand captain.
Australia vs Sri Lanka preview.
South Africa vs New Zealand preview.
10 Comments »Kumar Sangakkara sledging Shaun Pollock
By Will 3 years ago, mid-March, 7 Comments »
Really mmmmarvellous piece of sledging there from Kumar.
7 Comments »It is all very curious
By Scott 4 years ago, mid-December, 13 Comments »
New Zealand wrapped up the First Test against New Zealand, winning by five wickets. The final day was not without controversy, after Muttiah Muralitharan was run out in strange circumstances.
Kumar Sangakkara had brought up his century with a neat flick down to third man. Murali finished the run, and without waiting for the ball to become dead, he motioned up the pitch to congratulate his team-mate. He had only advanced a few paces when the ball was returned from the deep and wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum promptly removed the bails, running him out.
It was a harsh act and Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene protested it was against the spirit of the game, but New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming pointed out that had the ball gone for overthrows, Sri Lanka would have gladly accepted them.
I can understand Sri Lankan fans being disappointed but it is the responsibility of the batsman to protect his wicket. Watching the Ashes, I have noticed that batsmen on both sides now refuse to pick up the ball in situations where they might do so in a club game, precisely to avoid the possibility of a controversial situation arising. To me, the bottom line is that Murali didn’t value his wicket highly enough, and he paid the price.
Your views?
13 Comments »