Cricket is a sport in which most followers expect their heroes to adhere to a higher standard of fair play and sportsmanship.
The recent incident of ‘Mankading’ (who on earth coined that phrase?) – when Sri Lanka’s Sachithra Senanayake ran out England’s Jos Buttler who had strayed out of his crease at the non-striker’s end at a key point in the final and deciding ODI in the series was disappointing to see and thankfully remains very rare.
The last incident I can remember is when Kapil Dev ran out South Africa’s Peter Kirsten, apparently without warning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzbFy_elb8k
Differing accounts of Tuesday’s shambles say Senanayake warned Buttler twice or just the once. Either way, it wasn’t cricket. The bowler shouldn’t have done it and the captain should have over-ruled the appeal. He didn’t, it happened so we are left to count the cost of a strain on the game.
What I don’t like, however, is England using this unsavoury controversy to shield yet another highly mixed performance during a ODI series.
Sri Lanka are a decent side – but without the wicket taking machine that was Muttiah Muralitharan in the line-up and home advantage you would have expected England to win the series.… Read Full Article
Posts Tagged: Sri Lanka
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0Australia Boxing Clever
English winters are a terrible thing. Cold and wet, the season also means no home cricket whatsoever.
Christmas is one shining light in the fog of the cold and to add to this the thought of an annual test match that starts on Boxing Day and usually held under blue skies and warm temperatures is one that stirs the imagination and one that I will raise a cold beer to.
Boxing Day tests have been held every year since 1980 (except 1989 when a one day match vs Sri Lanka was played instead (boo – ed) and at the Melbourne Cricket Club in Australia – aka the MCG). They have also been dominated by some massive crowds (which have approached six figures on occasion).… Read Full Article
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Cricket: A Testing Future?
The other day I had the brief pleasure of watching Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka on the goggle box. It only lasted about an hour as other family members succeeded in prising the remote away from me as soon as my back was turned.
But it was test cricket at its best. There wasn’t a flurry of wickets and only a few runs were scored but from the perspective of the game it couldn’t have been more vital.
The awesome and ever green middle order batsman Kumar Sangakkara had crafted yet another fine century as he looked to marshal the tail to get a meaningful first innings lead over the hosts. Sri Lanka had a lead of around 40 runs with only four wickets in hand. Gripping test match cricket as the game ebbed and flowed.
The sad thing was the crowd – or lack of. I wasn’t there I could only see what the TV beamed back. But from what I could see it was like watching a second XI match in terms of bums on seats. It was the proverbial ‘one man and his dog’ stuff.… Read Full Article
“The pink ball appears grey/blue in red/green deficient vision, depending on its severity. I did a simulation with colour blindness…”