CWC 2015 is fixed! WhatsApp reveals...

In what may serve as a big blow to cricket enthusiasts, a message on #WhatsApp that has gone viral claims that the ongoing ICC World Cup 2015 is fixed.

The shocking fact about this message is that all the results of the World Cup 2015 matches so far have come true and have matched what the message states.

According to the message, India will not be able defend their World Cup title and will also go on to lose against South Africa and Zimbabwe.

According to the message, India will beat New Zealand in the first quarterfinal, but will go down to Australia in the semifinal.

The message states that the second quarterfinal will be between Australia and Zimbabwe, in which Australia will be the winners, South Africa will beat England in the third quarterfinal and Sri Lanka will register their first World Cup victory against Pakistan by beating the 1992 champions in the fourth quarterfinal.



The message shows that South Africa will defeat hosts Australia in the final for their maiden World Cup title victory.

But Asian giants India and Sri Lanka won't progress beyond the semifinals as they will be beaten by arguably the two best teams in the competition - Australia and South Africa respectively, the message claims.

The message shows that South Africa will defeat hosts Australia in the final on March 29 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for their maiden World Cup title victory.

If this message is true indeed, then all the work done by the International Cricket Council against the fixers will clearly come to naught.

TOI Sports

Mendis and Dilshan tormented the Australians ............

Sri Lanka's captain Tillakaratne Dilshan struck a compelling century then marshalled his team neatly in the field to secure a 35-run victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 international in Kandy.

Sent in to bat at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, the hosts were headed for a total of about 150 before Dilshan (104, 57 balls, 12 fours, five sixes) and the allrounder Jeevan Mendis (29, 19 balls) combined for a stand of 104 runs in a mere 45 balls to lift the hosts to 198 for 3. Dilshan hammered 67 from his final 23 deliveries, a sequence that effectively decided the match.

The Australians' chase was undone by the flat offspin of the debutant Dilruwan Perera (3-26), who provided a reminder there is plenty of slow bowling depth for the Sri Lankans to utilise across the limited overs and Test series to take place through August and September. Rangana Herath (1-11) also posed plenty of problems, much as he had done on his debut against the Australians on their 1999 visit to the island.

Dilshan's was exactly the kind of opening statement a captain desires to make, providing plenty of evidence the Australians will be up against a feisty opponent on this tour. They will also need to sharpen their fielding, as fumbles were a recurring theme of the team's first international since a limited overs series in Bangladesh in April.

Mitchell Johnson, John Hastings and Shane Watson were all taken for more than 11 runs per over, while curiously the spin of Steve O'Keefe and Steve Smith was not fully utilised despite offering a greater level of economy than any of the faster men.

By contrast the Sri Lankans employed three spin bowlers in their defence of the target, and in truth no-one other than the belligerent David Warner (53) ever looked comfortable enough to impose serious pressure on the home attack.

Needing 10 runs an over virtually from the start, Australia's reply was inconvenienced by the early swing of Nuwan Kulasekara (2-39), who found a way through Watson in the third over. Warner was soon finding the boundary, and on one occasion cleared it with a line drive over the bowler's head.

Shaun Marsh was less settled, and misread the first over from the debutant Perera to be lbw for four. David Hussey appeared fortunate that no-one on the field was fully alert to an apparent thin edge behind off the bowling of Dhammika Prasad, but next over he was nowhere near a sharp off break from Perera that tilted middle stump.

Cameron White managed only one boundary before he too was defeated by a Perera offbreak that straightened from around the wicket, and at 63 for 4 Australia's chase was looking decidedly sick. It deteriorated further when Steven Smith was utterly confused by Herath and stumped, while Dilshan had the luxury of dropping Warner then being able to accept another chance. O'Keefe and Johnson provided nuisance value, but by then the equation would have been too steep even for Dilshan.

Brett Lee had shared the new ball with the left-arm spinner O'Keefe in a nod to a surface that offered some bounce but also turn. Mahela Jayawardene managed a pair of crisp boundaries to long-on and backward point, but in the third over squirted a Lee yorker into his stumps.

Dilshan immediately took the attack to Lee, following a top-edged hook for six with an artful glide through gully for four, meaning the over reaped 14 runs as well as a wicket. He then sought to unsettle Johnson with a series of impudent gestures. Dinesh Chandimal also made a bright start, but on 11 was hurried onto the back foot by Johnson's pace and slid ungracefully into his wicket - only the fifth such dismissal in T20 internationals, its rarity underlined by the bowler's miffed reaction.

Tensions were evident between Dilshan and Watson, the Australian firing a return throw towards the batsman, who fended it away with a glove. A curious appeal by the Australians posed the question about obstruction, as the game's laws have been changed to disallow any by a batsman out of his crease, but the umpires waved it away.

Kumar Sangakkara cracked boundaries over mid-off and square leg to raise a 50 stand with Dilshan, but the next over he flicked ineffectually at a Watson slower ball and handed a simple catch to Cameron White. Mendis announced himself with a reverse-swept boundary from the bowling of Smith, then gave a passing impression of no less a left-hander than Sangakkara himself with a pull shot of some flourish when Watson dropped fractionally short.

John Hastings' slower balls were losing their novelty, and Dilshan took a heavy toll by swinging thrice to the legside for boundaries either side of an exceptionally cheeky reverse-dab past short third man - the over was worth 20.

Mendis and Dilshan tormented the Australians in the closing overs, piling up 67 runs from overs 15-18 to turn a middling total into an intimidating one. Too often the touring bowlers missed the yorker length, and when they did strike it Dilshan's wrists were supple enough to send the ball skidding through gully to the rope.

On 84 when the final over began, Dilshan cracked a pair of sixes then mis-scooped a boundary to go to three figures, before adding another to take the Sri Lankans to the cusp of 200 - a total they would not have contemplated at 94-3. Australia's bowlers, and batsmen, have the task ahead of them.

SOURCE  : ESPNCRICINFO

No ‘band-choon’ at WC grounds...

The Sri Lanka Police today announced that banners, placards, musical instruments, glass bottles, fire crackers, laser lights, sharp instruments, knives, professional cameras and alcohol are prohibited in World Cup venues.

Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya announced this at a press conference held in Colombo today. He also said that a special traffic plan will be implemented during the tournament, but said that the police will close roads leading to the World Cup playing venues from time to time.


- Source : Dailymirror.lk

Suriyawewa International Cricket Stadium

Construction of the Suriyawewa International Cricket Stadium has now been completed is now ready for hosting International Matches.  Work on the construction of the 7 storied Pavilion building has also been completed.  The Stadium has a 32,000 spectator capacity.

The first 2011 Cricket World Cup match in Sri Lanka between Sri Lanka and Canada will also be played at this venue.  This is the largest cricket stadium in Sri Lanka measuring 200 meters by 200 meters.  There are 10 Turf Wickets in the ground which has been built on a  47 acre plot of land and an access road with 6 lanes have been built.

'Hard decision to omit Jayasuriya, Vaas' - De Silva

 Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, has said the exclusion of veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas from the final squad was taken after looking at all options to select the best possible 15 for the World Cup.

"We were not going to waver from that and looking at individuals as such because we wanted the best team to ultimately go out there and represent the 20 million people in Sri Lanka," De Silva said yesterday. "That was the only reason why they were left out. Unfortunately not only them but it was a very hard decision and emotional thing for the four selectors also to leave out two great cricketers like that as they would have been looking forward to saying goodbye after a World Cup. But that's how life is. To be fair by everyone, those two cricketers have done so much for Sri Lanka cricket and we can never forget that."

De Silva said that it was entirely up to the two players to decide whether they wanted to continue playing. "I guess they have got a great future ahead to contribute towards Sri Lanka cricket and I hope they will do so. Through their experiences I am sure they will come back and help Sri Lanka cricket in the future. But if they want to continue playing they are most welcome to do so. I am not the one to decide when they are going to finish their careers."

"At the same time, Suraj Randiv has not done anything wrong to be out of the squad but it was unfortunate because he didn't fit into the combinations which we needed in the 15. Those are the three guys whom I really feel for at this moment."

Vaas however has a thin chance of playing in the World Cup if there happens to be an injury to Nuwan Kulasekera. "We consider Vaas as a new ball bowler but with Lasith Malinga and Kulasekera there he can only come as first change. When he does that he doesn't have the same effect as when he bowls with the new ball. Vaas had direct competition with Kulasekera. If Kulasekera gets injured we will have to consider someone like Vaas because he is the next best new-ball bowler in Sri Lanka. If we are playing Vaas we must have the maximum advantage of using him as a new ball bowler. The way Kulasekera has performed in the past one to one-and-a-half years, it is difficult to keep him out."

Dilhara Fernando was selected as a back-up bowler for Lasith Malinga, De Silva said. "What we have to understand is why we pick certain players and what we expect of them. Dilhara is a guy whom everyone might feel goes for runs on most occasions and sometimes bowls no-balls when he loses rhythm. But ultimately what we expect of him is to be a strike bowler and to replace someone like Lasith. In case of an emergency we need someone in the squad if Lasith doesn't play. Dilhara has got that extra bit of pace to hurry a batsman and with a bit of life and bounce on a wicket we would opt for him in the final XI."

On left-arm spinner Rangana Herath's inclusion, De Silva said, "We got two offspinners (Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis) and with Randiv we would have had three. The combination we were looking at was three spinners and we wanted some variation in the spin attack. We thought the best left-arm spinner in the country is Rangana so we had to opt for him. He's played only nine ODIs but we felt he is the best left-armer we got so we had to go with a bowler whom we can depend on."

Mahela Jayawardene, who has fared well as an opener whenever he has been given the opportunity, would be the third opener in the side after the regular pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga.

"We decided to go with Mahela in case we required a third opener because we are playing only eight games and we don't want to bring in an extra player and upset the combination of the squad," said De Silva. "If it comes to a real push we will have to look at someone like Mahela at that stage or maybe someone else who is batting way down the order as an experiment."

De Silva said that they picked the squad very early (the ICC deadline is January 19) in order to give the selected players the opportunity of playing in the inter-provincial limited-overs tournament which starts on January 11. "That's a tournament which I want the players to be relaxed and enjoy playing some cricket with free minds."

De Silva also stated that he hopes to give maximum exposure to the selected World Cup squad of 15 during the upcoming three-match one-day series against West Indies. The matches are due to be played on January 31, February 4 and 6 at venues yet to be finalized. 

Source - Cricinfo

World Cup 2011 - SL Squad

World Cup 2011 SL Squad 

• 1. Kumar Sangakkara ( Captain )
• 2. Mahela Jayawardena ( V. Captain)
• 3. Upul Tharanga
• 4. T.M Dilshan
• 5. Thilan Samaraweera
• 6. Chamara Silva
• 7. Chamara Kapugedara
• 8. Angelo Mathews
• 9. Tissara Perera
• 10. Nuwan Kulasekera
• 11. Lasith Malinga
• 12. Dilhara Fernando
• 13. Muttiah Muralitharan
• 14. Ajantha Mendis
• 15. Rangana Hearth

Captain's Knock Carried SSC To Finals..

Sri Lankan Premier Limited Over Tournament Tier A 
1st Semi Final won by Sinhalese Sports Club who successfully beats Nondescripts Cricket Club at Colombo RPS today (6th Jan) .
   NCC skipper Upul Tharanga won the Toss and elected to Bat 1st. And Scored 220/9 in their 50 Overs.
Both The NCC openers (Tharanga and Chandimal) push back to the Hut without Scoring... by Fernando and Zoysa early..
After that Sanga (26) and Kapu(37) built a small Partnership and Maharoof(59) with Kulasekara(21) gave some Hope for The NCC Inning.. and Later Peris and Angelo Perera put some odd Runs for  Scoreboard to Raise the Total of 220 in their 50 overs...
Dilhara Fernando 3/47 and Nuwan Zoysa 2/33 stars in SSC bowling attack...


Mahela Jayawardane the 1st man to go with score of 5 for SSC Inn. c Sanga b Malinga  followed by Dimuth Karunarathne for 3 c Peris b Malinga
Then Skipper Kaushal and Paranavitana puts the foundation  for SSC but unfortunately Paranavitana marked as a LBW by Umpire Ranmore Martinesz of Maharoof.
Then Samaraweera(53) and Kaushal (65) built the SSC Inning strongly.....
Lasith Malinga(9-1-38-2) the Only bowler who control the SSC Batsmen. 
SSC beat NCC with 8 balls remaining.

Sri Lanka ready for ICC World Cup

The entire nation will be thrilled with the ICC World Cup by next April, said ICC Tournament Director Suraj Dandeniya. All the grounds are being prepared and each and every one are working with dedication to make the event a great success.



This was revealed at a media briefing regarding the 2011 mega event.
The finale of the Mini Cricket World Cup, a six-a-side softball cricket tournament will be held at The Sports Ministry Grounds on January 8. The tourney was organized in parallel with the 2011 ICC world cup.
Teams from Hambantota, Kandy and Colombo will compete to grab the title. The winning team of the Mini Cricket World Cup will have the opportunity to play against a six a side team made of the original 1996 World Cup Winning Sri Lankan Dream Team.
At the end of the event on eighth Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will flag off the ICC World Cup Glory Express. The 45-day islandwide promotional tour aims at mobilizing fan support for the big event.
During the journey cricket fans will get an opportunity to sign a life size cricket ball to pledge their support to the World Cup.
A series of mega musical concerts will take place in Colombo, Kandy and Hambantota to make the atmosphere more lively starting the first at the Galle Face Green next eighth.
The musical extravaganza will feature a host of musical stars. The other two are scheduled in Kandy on January 29 and the last at Hambantota on February 19. Suraj Dandeniya stated that Sri Lanka is preparing to re-live every moment of the 1996 World Cup and requested every individual to support the event.
Cricket Board Chairman D S De Silva said that the Sri Lankan team was in good form and hoped the players would continue the same until they win the title. A large number of well known artistes were also present at the occasion as a sign of support given by artists in the event.

- From Daily News

All eyes on the big one

They didn't have many opportunities in Test cricket but in 2010 Sri Lanka shaped up nicely for the World Cup 

For a year that included three tri-series titles, a first-ever one-day series victory in Australia, and a respectable showing in the World Twenty20, there was a strangely flat feeling about Sri Lanka's performances in 2010. The main reason is the lopsided FTP, which hasn't provided enough Test cricket - there were no away Tests this year for Kumar Sangakkara's men. Of their two home series, one was a result of the BCCI's new-found love of the long form, and the other was the rain-ravaged contest against West Indies, during which more time was spent watching the weather forecast than the cricket. 

In the Test cricket that was on offer, they were patchy. Their first five-day game came as late as July and was dominated by the retirement of their talisman, Muttiah Muralitharan. Fittingly Sri Lanka's greatest match-winner won them one last game before bowing out. It turned out to be their only Test victory of the year. That series against India ended in a draw as Sri Lanka lost the P Sara Test despite Thilan Samaraweera's best efforts. The matches against West Indies could have been a good indicator of how Sri Lanka will fare in the absence of Murali, but torrential rain through the series frustrated fans. 

The supporters won't be complaining about Sri Lanka's one-day form, though. Winning every series they played in 2010, barring the Asia Cup, where they dominated the league stage before faltering in the final, Sri Lanka enter the World Cup year as a formidable outfit. Their tri-series triumphs may be quickly forgotten but what will remain in the memory is the back-from-the-dead victory against Australia in Melbourne, where Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga produced a world-record 132-run ninth-wicket stand to deliver an improbable win. 

What has made Sri Lanka so dangerous is that they aren't over-reliant on one or two stars; match-winning performances have come from a number of players. Few people will be able to guess who their highest wicket-taker of the year is - 21-year-old allrounder Thisara Perera. Another young allrounder, Mathews, continued to show he has the talent and temperament for a long international career at the top, while offspinner Suraj Randiv has also made a bright start. 

The new talent supports the big names who were part of Sri Lanka's run to the 2007 World Cup final. Tillakaratne Dilshan didn't quite hit the heights of 2009 but made match-winning centuries in the finals of two tri-series, Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara remain prolific, Malinga continues to befuddle batsmen, and Murali is still around for a final tilt. 

In the only global tournament of the year, the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, Sri Lanka again made it to the knockout stages before losing to the eventual champions. This time Sangakkara's side ran into England, who turned in a supremely composed performance to knock Sri Lanka out in the semi-finals.

Fading star

Perhaps the most pathetic sight of the World Twenty20 was that of 40-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya, once an unstoppable marauder, scratching around for 15 runs in six innings. He hasn't played international cricket since, but remains hopeful of making next year's World Cup after finding a place in the 30-man provisional squad. 

New kid on the block

With Murali's career nearly over, and Mendis' star still struggling to reclaim the lustre of 2008, Sri Lanka slow-bowling options were looking thin. Suraj Randiv stepped up. He lacks extravagant turn but his extra bounce and discipline soon made him the first-choice spinner across all formats. In an eventful year, he was at the forefront of Sri Lanka's push for a series win over India at the P Sara Oval, involved in a controversy over a deliberate no-ball, and was electric throughout in the field. 

High point

There was a maiden one-day series win in Australia, but the uplifting farewell to Murali in Galle was a heart-warmer in a year in which the game was awash with dispiriting headlines. It was sweetened by the win set up by Murali's eight wickets, the last of which carried him to the milestone of 800. 

Low point

Surrendering to a weakened India in a deciding Test will hurt, though losing to the world's top side isn't as disappointing as having virtually the entire series against West Indies washed out - in a year when Sri Lanka were starved of Test cricket. Sangakkara called it the "worst series of his life". 

What 2011 holds

Sri Lanka have two big-ticket events in the first half of the year: first, the World Cup at home, for which they among the favourites, and then the challenge of a full tour of England, which will test how far Sri Lanka have progressed as a Test side. 

Source - Cricinfo

Club Premier L/O matches begin tomorrow

By M Naushad Amit

The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Inter-Club Premier Limited Over (L/O)) cricket tournament, which had to be postponed twice due to the unexpected heavy rains during the last couple of months, will begin tomorrow (December 27).

However after three weeks of sunshine, Colombo and the suburbs are experiencing overcast conditions again just days away from the commencement of the Premier L/O cricket season. Ravi de Silva, the Chairman, Tournament Committee of SLC expressing his views on the twice postponed domestic cricket tournament told The Nation that the organisers are keen to proceed with the competition despite the unpredictable weather.

“The Premier L/O tournament was expected to begin in the first week of December but the weather conditions then prevented the commencement of the competition. We were compelled to postpone the tournament by two weeks but the ground conditions of few venues were not up to the standards we expected. The weather looked fine for the next few weeks but during the past few days the rains came down again to hamper the proceedings”.

“As at present the weather is not really supportive for cricket but we are really keen to go ahead with the tournament. We have no intention to postpone or delay the tournament for any reason now as we find it difficult to adjust with the timing left for the ICC Cricket World Cup which is also to be held in Sri Lanka as a co-host nation,” de Silva said.

With the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka cut short soon after a washed out 3-match Test series and a re-scheduled five-match One Day International series for January 2011 the much anticipated tournament which is the top in the club cricket calendar of SLC is expected to serve as a platform for Sri Lanka’s national cricketers’ preparations prior to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup in February 2011 as well.

This year’s Premier L/O tournament will proceed at a rapid pace in order to give room for the all important Inter-Provincial L/O tournament and the re-scheduled ODI series of the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka which will be played during the fourth week of January. The domestic tournament which begins tomorrow will end by January 9 with the finals of Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ at unconfirmed venues in Colombo. The matches of Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ are planned to a tight schedule with players finding hardly a space to breathe in-between.

“Before planning the L/O and League tournaments for the 2010/11 season we coordinated with the local Meteorology Department and studied its reports of the past five years. According to the survey never in history has Sri Lanka experienced a rainy season during this time of the year namely the first half of December. The tournaments were planned after carefully studying the weather patterns as it had to be completed before the ICC Cricket World Cup deadline. As at now it will be difficult to re-schedule the whole tournament again because of the current weather scenario. The competition has to go on despite whatever Mother Nature has in store for us,” de Silva added.

This year’s Premier L/O tournament will consist of 51 matches in two segments. The tournament will kick off with defending Premier L/O champions Tamil Union taking on the League champs and last season’s L/O runners-up Chilaw Marians at P Sara Oval with four other matches in Tier ‘A’ to be played in Colombo. Four Tier ‘B’ matches will also be played tomorrow.

Premier Tier A

Group A: Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians, CCC, NCC, Badureliya CC, Lankan CC
Group B: SSC, Colts, Bloomfield, Ragama CC, Saracens

Schedule:

Date	Match	Venue
Dec 27	Tamil Union v Chilaw Marians	P Sara Oval
	NCC v CCC	NCC
	Lankan CC v Badureliya CC	Moratuwa
	Colts v SSC	Colts
	Ragama CC v Bloomfield	Thurstan Complex
Dec 30	CCC v Tamil Union	CCC
	Chilaw Marians v Lankan CC	Katunayake
	Badureliya CC v NCC	NCC
	Bloomfield v SSC	SSC
	Saracens v Colts	Colts
Dec 31	NCC v Tamil Union	NCC
	Badureliya CC v Chilaw Marians	Panadura
	CCC v Lankan CC	CCC
	SSC v Ragama CC	SSC
	Saracens v Bloomfield	Reid Avenue
JAN 02	Tamil Union v Lankan CC	P Sara Oval
	CCC v Badureliya CC	CCC
	NCC v Chilaw Marians	NCC
	SSC v Saracens	SSC
	Colts v Ragama CC	Colts
JAN 04	Tamil Union v Badureliya CC	P Sara Oval
	Chilaw Marians v CCC	Katunayake
	Lankan CC v NCC	NCC
	Bloomfield v Colts	Reid Avenue
	Ragama CC v Saracens	Thurstan Complex

Semi-finals:

Jan 6: Winner of Group A v Runner-up of Group B

Jan 7: Winner of Group B v Runner-up of Group A

Final: Jan 9

Premier Tier B

Group A: Panadura SC, Police SC, Air Force SC, Navy SC, Moors SC
Group B: Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC, BRC, Singha SC, Antonian SC, Army SC

Schedule:

Date	Match	Venue
Dec 27	Police SC v Panadura SC	Police Park
	Navy SC v Air Force SC	Welisara
	BRC v Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC	BRC
	Antonian SC v Singha SC	Kadirana
Dec 30	Panadura SC v Air Force SC	Panadura
	Moors SC v Police SC	Braybrooke Place
	Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC v Singha SC	Thurstan Complex
	BRC v Army SC	BRC
Dec 31	Singha SC v Army SC	Panagoda
	Panadura SC v Navy SC	Welisara
	Air Force SC v Moors SC	Braybrooke Place
	Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC v Antonian SC	Thurstan Complex
JAN 02	Moors SC v Panadura SC	Braybrooke Place
	Police SC v Navy SC	Police Park
	Army SC v Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC	Panagoda
	Antonian SC v BRC	BRC
JAN 04	Air Force SC v Police SC	Rifle Green
	Navy SC v Moors SC	Welisara
	Singha SC v BRC	BRC
	Army SC v Antonian SC	Panagoda

Semi-finals:

Jan 6: Winner of Group A v Runner-up of Group B

Jan 7: Winner of Group B v Runner-up of Group A

Final: Jan 9

Source - Click Here

Sri Lanka ready for any opposition - Law

Sri Lanka Assistant Coach Stuart Law says that despite the postponement of the five-match ODI series against the West Indies last month due to adverse weather conditions, Kumar Sangakkara’s team is on course to make a serious statement at next year’s World Cup. In an interview with Jatila Karawita, Queenslander, Law, 42, who still has a year to go on his two-year contract with the SLC, said that the current Sri Lanka team was equipped to face any strong opposition. He opined that taking over the post of assistant coach of Sri Lanka in November 2009 was a turning point in his professional career, and was optimistic of his charges making their presence felt being one of the co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup.

Excerpts:
 
You were a member of the 1996 Australian World Cup losing team to Sri Lanka in the final. Now, you have assumed the post of assistant coach of Sri Lanka. How do you look at this transformation in your career?
 

Actually this was something that I really knew nothing about until it was thrust upon me. I was still playing county cricket a year-and-a-half ago and it was cut short unexpectedly and basically I was hovering around not really doing too much trying to find out what I wanted to do. All that time I was concentrating on trying to play, and when this opportunity arose my management team rang me and told that there was a vacancy in Sri Lanka and what I thought. And I also had enjoyed watching Sri Lanka playing over the years and saw this as an opportunity to explore a career in coaching and when it was laid out on the table it was too tempting to resist.

How do you compare the class of 1996 with the class of 2010?

You could compare eras all you like. And that is the way it is done. To me one day cricket has changed since 96, it is all about fitness and power game now. The all around ability of most players in the current squad is something which Sri Lanka did not have back in 96, but then that team had a batting line up that was a class act. You can’t say anything about that team because they lifted the World Cup. Let’s just see how these guys perform. Let’s not always look back. What happened in 96 was brilliant. But, since then we’ve made a final, but we haven’t quite got across the line through one reason or another. But, this next tournament, we are backing our players to go out there, perform on the big stage, not fear any opposition and make sure we come out of it with some silverware. Don’t always want to be looking back and saying yes they were the great team of 96. That’s brilliant what they achieved back then and hats off to them. But, let’s look at these young kids, let’s make them the next great warriors of Sri Lankan cricket to go out there and win the World Cup. And then you could probably compare the eras and whatever.

What sort of an effect would the postponement of the five-match ODI series against the West Indies last November would have on Sri Lanka’s chances at the World Cup?

It would have been nice to play and it would have given the selectors more clarity in choosing their combinations. If you talk to Trevor Bayliss or me we are pretty settled, in which we could pick a team of 15 that we think could win the World Cup, if not come close to it. The final 15 that is going to be picked, there are going to be some players who will be unfortunate to miss out, but because it is played at home we are picking the combinations that we think will do the job against the best teams in the world. It wasn’t great when the series got disrupted, but, they are due to come back in end of January and early February for a revised short series and that should enhance our preparations. Furthermore the players also have some domestic club and provincial limited overs cricket lined up and cricket wise I don’t think boys will have anything to complain about between now and the start of the World Cup.

What is your take on the new venues for the 2011 World Cup in Sri Lanka?

When these stadiums are built they will actually be magnificent stadiums for international cricket.
Pallekele Stadium in Kandy looks like a quite a picturesque venue... having being there for the third Test-match against the West Indies early this month.
So are the Kettarama Stadium in Colombo and the Sooriyaweva Stadium in Hambantota. Yes we are still unsure how the floodlights or the dew will affect those batting second in day night games. But, we are hoping that between now and the start of the World Cup by playing some domestic cricket we should be able to get some kind of indication as to how those pitches will behave and prepare accordingly. So fingers crossed we hope for the best.

In other words you are confident Sri Lanka will be equipped to face up to any eventuality at the three venues come the World Cup?

It is not so much the surface it is more the atmospheric conditions. The three venues are situated at some of the most humid and arid zones of Sri Lanka. And those coming from places like England and South Africa will find it difficult to cope with the conditions. But, wickets in general in the sub continent are ideal for one day internationals especially for batting and I guess the grounds in Sri Lanka will not be an exception.

Who would be the favourites for the 2011 World Cup in your estimation?

India has become a true powerhouse in world cricket and as one of the major co-hosts will be there or thereabouts and Bangladesh cannot to be written off either as underdogs anymore, considering their giant-killing performances in the last World Cup in the West Indies. And you can’t underestimate Pakistan also because if you do that it will be at your peril. But, I believe that Sri Lanka is on course to make a serious impact at the upcoming World Cup. If we get through the initial rounds, we’ve got the quarter finals and semi finals here and if we get into the final it will be Wankade Stadium in Mumbai which will be another home away from home for us. It really turns there from my experience of having played in Mumbai a bit. I think any of the four sub-continent teams are quite capable of going all the way. Among the rest we need to watch out for South Africa and England as both have decent records in this part of the world.

What is really the reason for cotton wooling Lasith Malinga from Test cricket?

You could say that he has been put in cotton wool, but I think it is more injury management as far as Malinga is concerned. He did suffer a career-threatening injury a couple of years ago and every time he gets pain in that area he shows the tendency to break down during games. He wants to play for Sri Lanka there is no doubt about that as I know it for a fact, being the assistant coach. Whether Test cricket is the ideal format is for a bowler like him is the question considering because of the intensity and the wickets here are virtual graveyards for faster bowlers. To put his body through that much stress day in and day out and to then combine that with 50-over cricket and T-20 cricket it would be probably ridiculous for him to put himself through such a grindstone. He is one of our strike weapons and a national treasure and one of the most potent weapons very unorthodox and if we don’t look after him well we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves in the long term.

How do you look at the captaincy of Kumar Sangakkara?

He is a very intelligent man and he has his own thoughts and his own ideas as a captain has to. He seeks the advice of the coaches more often than not as any skipper would do but you’ve got to have your own ideas and go with your gut feeling. It is also a tough job especially here in Sri Lanka where you have to contend with the views of not only the cricket fraternity but the public fraternity as well. He is a great fellow he works extremely hard and is a true leader of men with his work ethic which is second to none.

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Bayliss has no complaints about Cup preparations

Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss says that the prevalent inclement weather in the country would not be an impediment as his charges prepare to make do with domestic cricket commencing from Dec 27 (Monday).
Speaking to LAKBIMAnEWS from his native Australia where he is holidaying due to the Christmas and New Year vacation Bayliss stated that he was content with the local tournaments lined up for the players ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“We can’t do much with the weather and make do with what’s available to us,”

he said.

“These boys are experienced enough to prepare as best as they could and I have no grouse even if the rains were to mar a few of the games here and there.”

The Australian added that there was no use in moaning the loss of international cricket despite the postponement of the five-match ODI series against the West Indies last November due to fickle weather.

“We have to look to the New Year and the World Cup approaching and the boys are currently doing gym work as well and I am satisfied with the programmes lined up for them.”

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Law ready to coach Sri Lanka

Assistant Coach of the Sri Lanka team, former Australia cap Stuart Law says that he is willing to step into the shoes of outgoing head coach and compatriot Trevor Bayliss, if Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) offers him the position, post 2011 World Cup.

“Yes, if an offer is made very definitely, I am willing to consider it. It would also be an opportunity that would be very hard to turn down, and there is no reason to ignore such a career-enhancing offer.”

Law, 42, who joined the Sri Lanka team as its assistant coach in November 2009, succeeding Englishman Paul Farbrace, said that Bayliss had already proved his credentials as a top notch coach in world cricket.

"Trevor (Bayliss) is one of the top rated coaches going in the world game, and what he has achieved during the past four years with Sri Lanka is testimony to his skills as an international coach."

“You take his stats with Sri Lanka since 2006, and you can see that Sri Lanka has won a lot of series against some of the top teams in world cricket be it in Tests or ODIs, and his record compared to some of the others who have coached Sri Lanka previously is tremendous.”

“I know that Trevor desperately wants to get back home to be with his son who is now of school going age and he too misses his family and therefore has made a decision to head to Australia.”

Law stated that there comes a time when a person would feel that enough is enough and that he would understand the stance taken by Bayliss to head Down Under, upon the completion of the 2011 World Cup in the sub continent.

“May be you can’t take it down too much further, and so he has made his decision known to SLC and for their part if Sri Lanka Cricket is willing to talk to me on taking over the post, I am more than willing to consider it.”

Asked whether he would be ready to be deputy to any other coach, the Sri Lanka assistant coach commented that he would have no grouse but throw in his lot with whomever SLC chooses to replace Bayliss with.

“If that is the way Sri Lanka Cricket is prepared to go, then I am not going to have my nose put out of joint,”

added the ex-Australian batsman who won a solitary Test cap against Sri Lanka at Perth in the 1995-96 season in addition to winning 54 ODI caps during a chequered career.

“I too like to have a crack at coaching a team myself one day, and from the modern game I am not too far removed as I only stopped playing cricket only a year and half ago, and if they choose to go with someone else I am comfortable with that too.”

Head coach Trevor Bayliss, 47, announced during Sri Lanka’s three-match ODI series against Australia in Australia last November that he would be quitting his post at the end of next year’s World Cup to be jointly organized by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

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Sri Lanka Cricket is keen on using the UDRS for WI series

 Sri Lanka Cricket is keen on using the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) for this month's series against West Indies.
SLC Interim Committee secretary Nishantha Ranatunga  said "We are keen to have the DRS system for the West Indies tour and we are working towards making it a reality,"  
Ranatunga said he has been made to understand by Ten Sports that the Hawk-eye technology, which is required to implement the DRS system, isn't freely available all the time. It has to be hired from an international company which owns it and there is also the cost factor to be considered in installing it.
"The ICC has said that it is prepared to bear part of the cost and we are hopeful that Ten Sports can have the system in place," Ranatunga said.Hawk-eye is a system which traces a ball's trajectory, with a claimed accuracy of 5 mm, and sends it to a virtual-reality machine.
It uses six or more computer-linked television cameras situated around the field. The computer reads the video in real time, and tracks the path of the ball on each camera. These six separate views are then combined together to produce an accurate 3D representation of the path of the ball.  Mean while British Eurosport has secured the UK rights to the Test series between Sri Lanka and West Indies which gets underway on Monday, November 15.

Sri Lanka Masters win CLOBI Cup

Sri Lanka Masters team led by Marvan Atapattu clinched the CLOBI Cup Masters Twenty20 Cricket Championships in front of the biggest crowd to come to Kensington Oval since the 2007 World Cup final – an estimated 10,000 – filed into ground on Tuesday night expecting the star-studded West Indies to lift the Cup and pocket prize money of US$50,000 after their impressive showing in the preliminaries.

Crowds came in their numbers in anticipation of reliving the euphoria provided by champion West Indiesteams of yesteryear, but left with the disappointment that is commonplace with West Indies teams of this era.

In the final, however, West Indies weer completely outclassed by a Sri Lanka team that included star international players of recent vintage and lost by 19 runs under the lights to bring a climax a successful tournament that featured Masters (Over-35s) from four countries – Sri Lanka, England, West Indies and India.

Sri Lanka team captained by Atapattu included Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Aravinda de Silva, Russell Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Chaminda Vaas, Chandika Haturusinghe, Hemantha Wickremaratne, Eric Upashantha and Piyal Wijetunga.

For the fourth successive match, West Indies opted to field first on winning the toss, but after Sri Lanka posted 175 for eight from their 20 overs, it was always going to be a tough ask to score at close to nine runs an over and Courtney Walsh’s men were restricted to 156 for eight.

Even before a ball was bowled, there was disappointment for hometown fans with the news that crowd favourite Carl Hooper was unable to take his place in the West Indies team because of a shoulder injury he sustained in the last preliminary match on Sunday night when West Indies lost to the same opponents by two runs.

Hooper’s absence left the batting a trifle short and Sri Lanka, backed up by one or two pieces of brilliance in the field, defended their total with intensity.

West Indies’ problems were also compounded by an injury Floyd Reifer picked up when trying to complete a tight second run early in his innings.

Reifer required the services of a runner but in spite of his limited mobility, he was able to lash a few telling blows in the topscore of 54 off 45 balls.

West Indies would have been hoping that Reifer and Sherwin Campbell could have duplicated their century partnership of the last match but it never materialised. It was worth 20 when Campbell was prised out by an outstanding one-handed return catch by Aravinda deSilva.

Reifer would  have then needed the support of Courtney Browne but he was run out by a direct throw from deep mid-on that left the hosts under pressure.

As the scoring rate increased, batsmen were forced to take more chances, but nothing worked.

When the last five overs started, 61 runs were required but many of those in the stands were still confident that they could repeat the heroics of their victory against England in the opening match when they blasted 65 from the last five overs to chase down a target of 176.

Vasbert Drakes lashed 28 from 20 balls at the end, but with 42 needed from three overs and the cream of the batting gone, the result looked obvious.

For the second successive match, Sri Lanka had to thank Russell Arnold, one of four members of their 2007 World Cup squad that lost to Australia in the final at the same venue.

At 38 for three, Sri Lanka were in need of a recovery and Arnold rescued them again by scoring 58 from 38 balls in an innings in which he exuded confidence from the beginning.

Arnold, later named Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the-Tournament , joined captain Marvan Atapattu, another member of the 2007 World Cup party in adding 81 for the fourth wicket in a partnership in which the visitors benefitted from a few slices of luck.

Curtly Ambrose was unable to make the impact he did in previous matches although he was the only West Indian to concede less than eight runs an over.

At the start, Sanath Jayasuriya, a known power hitter and another 2007 World Cup returnee, was threatening to make light work of West Indies’ attack by rushing to 28 off 17 balls and it would have been a relief to West Indians when he hoisted a catch to deep mid-off from left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell’s first ball.

West Indies also brought off one or two fine pieces of fielding – none better than when Courtney Walsh ran out Aravinda deSilva with a throw from square-leg to the bowler’s end – but in the end, they could not deny Sri Lanka on the night.

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