Mini Tennis in Batticaloa

The SLTA having made a major shift in its strategy to promote the development of tennis in Sri Lanka by introducing Mirinda Mini- Tennis to the outstations, has now decided to promote it to 4000 young children in Batticaloa. The SLTA in the past concentrated its resources and attention on promotion and development of tennis mainly in Colombo. But now after the somewhat disappointing results in international competitions over the last few years, the SLTA felt the need to reconsider its strategy and shift its main area of concentration to the outstations said Lalith Withana, President, SLTA.

The SLTA having started its outstation promotion during the latter part of last year through the Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme, will now introduce it to five schools in the Batticaloa district. The five Batticaloa schools are St Michael's College, Vincent Girls' High School, St. Cecila's Convent, Kottamunni Junior School and Kalady RKM School. This programme in Batticaloa will benefit around 4000 children between the ages of 5 to 10 years. The SLTA has donated 250 Mini-Tennis racquets and 375 sponge balls to the five schools and 375 tennis balls.

The Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme commenced in June 1997, and was first implemented in the Colombo schools. The introduction of Mirinda Mini-Tennis to the Colombo schools has been extremely successful. Thereafter the SLTA introduced Mirinda Mini-Tennis to Kandy and Negombo. A Mini-Tennis tournament was also conducted in Colombo in 1999. This tournament was definitely the largest tennis tournament attracting over 1200 entries, thereby confirming that the Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme is successful and popular among children.

The Batticaloa schools are very enthusiastic and are eagerly awaiting to start Mirinda Mini-Tennis, said J. S. Vasanthan, Regional Mirinda Mini-Tennis Co-ordinator. The Batticaloa Schools have provided 2 periods weekly per student instead of the once a week other schools have allocated and this will be beneficial to the Batticaloa students, he added. We will participate in next year's Inter Schools Mirinda Mini-Tennis Tournament and will do well, was his bold assertion. The number of students in grade 1 to 5 at St. Michael's is approximately 900, St. Cecila's Convent 750, St. Vincent Girls' High School 700, Kottamunnai Junior School a mixed school is 950 and Kallady RKM also a mixed school has 700 students within those grades. The schools are in close proximity to the Batticaloa town except Kottamunnai Junior School and Kallady RKM School which are about 3 to 4km away. He will be visiting those schools at least two times a week, and will ensure that proper practise sessions are carried out, he said.

The primary aim of this Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme is to increase the number of participants in Sri Lanka. By introducing tennis to children aged 5-10 years in schools through Mirinda Mini-Tennis, the SLTA hopes to create more awareness and interest in tennis.

The SLTA is aware that tennis is one of the many sports competing for the time and interest of children. Tennis now will have an advantage because a child could begin tennis and enjoy it at around 5 years. The SLTA expects that by broadening the base of tennis, the overall standard of tennis is likely to improve.

Mr. P.S. Rodrigo, Secretary, Coaching and Promotion, said that the SLTA would hold a inter-schools Mirinda Mini-Tennis tournament within a few months for the outstation schools. Just imagine the interest that would be generated when the children of Kandy, Negombo and Batticaloa which is in the range of about 10,000 practice for a tournament. The end result is that the overall standard of tennis would improve. We will also hold a open tournament in Colombo in September. He also said that historically tennis has been considered an elite sport. But in fact, many great champions in other countries started playing at public tennis courts. With this in mind the SLTA hopes that the outstation Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme will help tennis become more and more, a "sport for all". He also said that the SLTA has targeted 25,000 children by mid 2001. Plans are underway to introduce Mirinda Mini-Tennis to Panadura soon.

The SLTA wishes to express its gratitude to the ITF and Mr.Suresh Menon, ITF Development Officer, Asia for the support that has been extended and the equipment that has been donated to the SLTA for the outstation Mirinda Mini-Tennis programmes.

-Bruce Maurice

Forget the actions - Let's change the law

Has anyone cared to ascertain from the International Cricket Conference what was the Law that was applied in the recent determination that Australian speedster Brett Lee had a clean bowling action?

Was it the Law that applied during the 1999/2000 Australian Season, or was it the (soon to be applied) Draft Laws of Cricket 2000?

The relevant law relating to illegal bowling actions which was in effect last season when the complaint about Lee was made is Law 24: 'No Ball'. Sub-Section 2

FAIR DELIVERY - THE ARM. It states:

"For a delivery to be fair the ball must be bowled not thrown. If either umpire is not entirely satisfied with the absolute fairness of a delivery in this respect he shall call and signal 'no ball' instantly upon delivery."

The rule is quite simple. The phrases 'not entirely satisfied' and 'absolute fairness of a delivery' read together mean that if there is even the slightest doubt that the delivery is not 100% clean, the umpire shall call 'No Ball'. In fact the umpire is under obligation to make that call.

In calling the 'No Ball', the umpire is not accusing the bowler of having thrown the ball. All he is saying is that he is not 100% satisfied that the action for that particular delivery was legitimate.

'Where an action is illegal, ball after ball, the task faced by the umpire is relatively easy. What makes it extremely difficult to detect during the course of a game is if the illegal deliveries occur at random. These deliveries invariably result in a wicket, or they shake batsmen to the extent that a succeeding legitimate delivery claims the wicket.

Even if the umpire was to detect the transgression of this Law, several factors enter into the equation as to whether that umpire will call 'No Ball' or not.

1. Whether the umpire has sufficient courage to make the call. I know from experience what it is like. I think back to my first venture into no-balling a bowler for his action when my knees wobbled under me for some hours after the event!

2. Whether he has sufficient confidence in his ability to detect the unfair delivery. The majority of Australian umpires have played cricket at a relatively low level or not at all. Therefore, even though the umpire may feel that a bowler could have a doubtful action, he may not want to back his own judgment - he would assume that the bowler has been passed by umpires at the lower grades and therefore must be legitimate.

3. Is it worthwhile sticking one's neck out and no-balling a prominent player - thereby jeopardizing an umpiring career which includes thousands of dollars in match payments, five star accommodation in hotels and business class air travel to exotic places?

So what do the smart umpires do? They now leave it to the International Panel to determine whether a bowler's action is legitimate or not.

And what a mess that has been. Recent decisions have left the cricket-loving public aghast. Fancy saying that Pakistan fast bowler Shoab Akhtar's action is suspect only when he bowls 'bouncers', thus allowing him to participate in One-day Internationals because there, a bouncer is automatically a 'No ball'! Is this the judgment of intelligent people, some of who are regarded as cricket's greatest legends? Could Shoab not send down a thunderbolt that passes the batsman below shoulder height?

An even more ridiculous situation has now arisen in the Brett Lee case, where the panel passed judgment on Lee's action on the basis of a conference conducted by Telephone Hookup between members of the same panel. In effect, the poor youngster's career hinged on a decision generated in a similar manner to judging the Eurovision Song Contest.

This brings me back to my original question - which law was Brett Lee judged on?

The Draft Laws of Cricket 2000 redefine Law 24(2). The phrases 'entirely satisfied' and 'absolute fairness' have been removed. A third subsection has been added to make it even more difficult for an umpire to judge an illegitimate delivery. It reads: "A ball is fairly delivered in respect of the arm if, once a bowlers arm has reached the level of the shoulder in the delivery swing, the elbow joint is not straightened partially or completely from that ponit until the ball has left the hand."

I believe that the re-written Law forces the umpire to say that he is l00% sure that the ball was thrown rather than the old Law which required the umpire to rule that he was not 100% sure that the ball was not thrown.

The call of 'No Ball' by an umpire will be a thing of the past. As an umpire myself, unless faced with the most blatant of throws, I doubt if I would ever call 'No Ball' for a transgression of Law 24 sub-sections (2) or (3).

The unlucky bowler in this whole sorry scenario is the Pakistani speedster Shoab Akhtar. Unfortunately for Shoab, Brett Lee was not included in the Australian contingent for the Series against Pakistan. Had Lee been a bowler during that series, one wonders whether the reports by Australian umpires doubting the legitimacy of the Akhtar action would have materialized.

The betting (no pun intended) on whether he will ever again be accused of having an illegal action, must heavily favour the proposition that Akhtar will never be queried again.

What does the ICC do to get rid of the problem? Rather than advocate a stricter interpretation of a Law that has served the game well, they have taken the easy way out and re-worded the Law.

Youngsters always attempt to emulate their heroes. It will not be too long before these actions become the norm. How then will the authorities pick the exaggerations from this new base?

The ICC could be creating a rod for it's own back. Expensive video equipment will not be available at club level to pick the throws from the wobbly actions. Sadly for the game, the first time these actions will come under the microscope will be when these young players, having escaped detection and correction in their formative years, get on to the International stage.

•Barney Reid has played first class cricket in Sri Lanka (BRC), England (Durham County) and Australia (Melbourne University). He is today a respected cricket coach and umpire in Melbourne.

Golden Spitz

"Swimming is not every thing but winning is". This was the mantra taught to Mark Spitz by his father, Arnold. And when Spitz was packed off from Munich in a hurry in the wake of the tragic killing of Israeli athletes by PLO guerrillas during the Olympics in 1972, he carried with him the tag legend. The legend he is a living one at that. Till date, Spitz is the only sports person to have won seven gold medals in a single Olympics.

Munich was the theatre when Mark Spitz reached the zenith of his career. After a fantastic five gold medal haul at the pan-American games, Spitz boasted that he was ready to break the four-medal tally of Don Schoolander at Mexico. But that confidence turned into a mere bravado. His colleagues bailed him out through two golds in relays. When his personal performance was below par.

An ordinary athlete would have been demoralized. But Spitz was different. He made into the US team again for the Munich Games. His exploits - two gold medals in 100m and 200m freestyle, 100 and 200 m butterfly, and three relays , 4x100, 4x200 freestyle and 4x100 medley, convinced the world that Spitz was no run-of-the-mill athlete. What's more every medal was a world record.

Mark Spitz set for himself a set of objectives when preparing for Munich in 1972, the first was to overhaul the four-medal tally of Schoolander, to become the first individual to take six golds and, if possible seven to create Olympic mystery. In the light of the failure at the previous games as also the self-doubt he expressed on many occasions, there was speculation about Spitz coming gold in his resolve. He conquered the initial spell of nerves in the 200 m freestyle, the first event for Spitz in the Munich games. Once this barrier was crossed, he was a man possessed. He shattered everything before him. The tall, muscular Californian from Modesto, wrote a golden chapter in Olympic history, he once remarked, "I was rediculed, exploited and eaten alive. But don't count me out yet, I was once tagged as a failure as a swimmer."

At Munich Mark Spitz clocked 51.225 for 100 freestyle, a world record, and 1.52.78s (WR), for 200, 54.27s (WR), for 100m butterfly and 2.00.70 (WR), for 200 butterfly. He won three relays, all with new world records, so carried away was he by the sequence of victories that during a medal ceremony, he waved a shoe to the crowds and cameras. Summoned by the IOC for this intraction, Spitz managed to convince the powers-that-be that it was an act in the heat of the moment and not an endorsement for a shoe company. In order to shine at the Olympics, he dropped out of dental college, although after quitting the scene Spitz became a dentist between 1967 and 1972, Spitz established 26 world records. When he came out of the amateur ranks after Munich, he had an Olympic tally of nine gold medals, one silver and a bronze.

Mark Spitz turned professional in a blaze of publicity, signing endorsements worth five million dollars. But promoters were not enthused by the response, forcing Spitz to return to dentistry. He almost faded from the scene for a decade or more, leading a quiet life with his wife and son.

Suddenly, in 1990, Spitz announced he was fit enough to be in the US squad for the Barcelona Olympics in butterfly. That however proved mere talk, a show of egoism.

There is no denying that swimming is enriched by the deeds of men like Mark Spitz.

- Thushara Kumarasinghe.

Avery Brundage, the colossal Olympian

One evening outside the Munich Olympic Stadium, after the day's athletic events were over, I casually saw him walking with a group of officials. A tall, well built man, his head held erect, he was walking very rapidly. The other officials were trying to keep pace with him as they gradually moved out of my sight. His innumerable photographs that had continually appeared in both sports magazines and daily papers for several years, were very familiar to me and then to see him in person, even at a casual glance was quite an experience to me.

My mind flashed back to Avery Brundage that "Colossal Olympian" who swayed absolute power over world affairs in sports for a period of 20 years as the President of the International Olympic Committe (IOC). The President of the IOC advises this international group and presides at its committee meetings. He appoints members of its executive committee and guides the important body in its deliberations. He wields great influence over the entire organisation of International Sport through his decisions, his counselling letters and his public statements. He holds its office for eight years and he could be re-elected. Before Avery Brundage became president of the IOC, he was the president of the US Olympic Association. During this period his name came into world limelight because of his major decisions which raised hornets nest of critics and stirred up a host of enemies. As president of US Olympic Association he suspended Swimmer Eleanor Holm from the 1936 US Olympic team for sipping champagne; took away, the present of a new automobile from figure skator Barbara Ann Scott and declared Jesse Owens a professional. To his vociferous critics he only said, "lt doesn't bother me, if your conscious is clear, you don't have to worry about what people say about you". He said about Swimmer Eleanor Holm, "I didn't throw her off the Olympic team. I didn't have the authority to. The US Olympic Committee threw her off. There were 20 men on the Committee and they voted unanimously to do it. I was the chairman of the committee and it was my duty to announce its action, which let me make it clearly understood, I approve of 100%. About Jesse Owens," he declared, "Jesse Owns is a fine man. I have the utmost respect for him. His accomplishments in the '36 Games were remarkable. But...."

In like manner he carried on his decisions as president of IOC. His decisions were not very popular. "I am aware of them," he used to say, "but I am not greatly disturbed by it."

Avery Brundage was a self-made millionaire. He was born to Detroit, September 28, 1887; and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1909 with a degree in Civil Engineering. He started his own construction company and in a few years he was greatly successful in business. He had a sense of humour. He owned the luxurious La Salle Hotel. When asked if he owned the La Salle, he replied, "No, a corporation owns it". Then he added cheerfully, "but I own the corporation".

In his youth he was a superb athlete. He won 3 times the US National all-round championship. His enthusiasm and energy for work were his great assets. He admitted that his physical punishment in early youth brought about the well known ''Brundage Zeal''.

Right throughout his 20 years as president of IOC he maintained "Keep politics out of Olympics. Keep professionalism out''. Giving an interview to the well known journalist Robert Creamer, he clearly distinguished between an Amateur and Professional athlete. "An amateur athlete is one who loves sport. Can't professional athletes love sport? Certainly. You take most professional athletes. They keep themselves in excellent shape and they work at the job. Why? They have to. An amateur doesn't have to. But he does anyway. Why? Why should he punish himself and make the sacrifices every athlete has to make? Because, he loves to play. He wants to win and he plays to win because it's fun to win, but if he loses he congratulates the winner and tries harder the next time.

- L.W.N. Labutal

Junior rugby in KV

By Bernie Wijesekera

There was a hive of activity at the 114-year-old Kelani Valley grounds in Talduwa when over 1,200 children in various age groups, who took part in the two-day junior rugby carnival organised by the Sabaragamuwa Rugby Football Union among the schools in the district, worked off last weekend.

This rugby promotional campaign at grassroots level sponsored by Red Cow (Delmege Forsyth Co. Ltd.), for the fifth successive year drew a big crowd drawn from the district. 37 schools scrummed down despite the school vacation. Though inclement weather prevailed, they were there in their numbers. Seeing is believing!

It was organised in 1994 to promote the sport among the newcomers. But since then its energetic committee headed by Arjun Dharmadasa has kept the sport on course. Of course the Provincial Ministry of Education and Sports has given them all encouragement for its further development. Its Deputy Director, Bandula Dayaratne Karawita, was present to witness the matches.

Mr. Karawita told The Sunday Times that rugby football has come to stay among the schools in the province. Shortly he will be calling for a meeting among the school heads who have taken to the sport along with the officials of the Sab. RFU, for its further development. The Ministers and MPs of the district, too will be invited to help give more momentum for its continuity. This in turn will help the children to get themselves occupied and for a better future, he added.

Incidentally Sab. RFU was the first to organise an Inter-Prov. schools rugby tournament, for the age groups - 11, 13, 15 and 19. They have their own referees society. They are also promoting rugby among the girls, too. In the end the girls did well to win the women's rugby 'sevens' organised by the Rugby Union. They got the better of the strong Army team, in the finals. It speaks well for their grim determination.

The future

K.V. with a tradition for rugby in the past had some outstanding players who excelled at the national level. Lionel Almeida, Stanley Unamboowe, Ken Balendra, Arjun Dharmadasa to name a few. Besides foreign planters too played for K.V. At present they are playing in the 'B' Div. tournament. But with the encouragement afforded to the youngsters in the province the future holds good for the sport.

According to Arjun Dharmadasa, in all probability they will field a Combined Sab. Schools team for the forthcoming rugby 'sevens' organised by Kandy SC.

Already a club has been formed in Balangoda, according to SRFU Secretary, K.S.P. Karunaratne.

The matches were keenly contested. The kids showed rugby skills constantly running with the ball. Some of them were strongly built for their age. B.K. Ramachandran, the technical officer appointed to serve the province has done a good job with his charges. The respective PTIs including the women teachers are keen students of the game.

The girls from Ranjan Wijeratne MV stole the limelight in the final. Both their 'A' and 'B' teams entered the finals. The former won 20-nil. They are being coached by the first woman referee, Francisca Handapangoda.

Former Trinity ruggerite and 'lion' in hockey, S.B. Dissanayake, the Group Gen. Manager, Mahaoya Group, was the chief guest. Dr. Kamal Weerapperuma, Group Chief Executive Delmege Forsyth and Co. Ltd., was the guest of honour and gave away the Red Cow awards to the respective winners.

It was sad to note none of the officials of the Rugby Union was present at these games to give them that much needed encouragement.

But Neil Wijeratne, Senarath de Alwis and Dr. Daya Atukorale made a trek on their own. After the conclusion of the matches it was nice to see the kids going on their knees thanking their respective coaches and teachers for helping them.

Results: Under-13 (Cup) - Eheliyagoda MV bt. Kegalu V 10-5 in a keen contest. H.T. 5-all. Plate - Talduwa MV held Embilipitiya MV nil-all (joint champs). Under-11 - Sitawaka MV bt. Talduwa Baudha MV 10-0. Under-13 (newscomers) - Godakawela Kularatne MV bt. Udugama MV Balangoda.

Marion's signature event

By Annesley Ferreira

The Women's 100 metres sprint event at the Olympic Games is the most technical and intellectual run of all track events. It is the signature event of American superstar Marion Jones, tipped to win an unprecedented and phenomenal five gold medals in the 100, 200 metres sprints, 4X100 and 4X200 metres relays and the long jump, a feat that has not been done before and not to be repeated in the future - perhaps sometime after 2050. Yet this may not be enough for Marion if everything goes right to her plan - no fatal foot faults or dropped batons, if her tender back and thrice broken left foot survive such demanding calls on her diminutive, fragile and injury prone physique - with several or so preliminary rounds that go on before the final of all these events are called - and if Marion isn't ultimately humbled by superior powers for her hubris - in several afternoons and evenings in September in Sydney Australia - this exceptional athlete, Marion Jones, will prove to the global audience what she already thinks of herself - the greatest woman athletes of this world of six billion inhabitants.

Marion, born strong with fast twitch muscles, mental strength, rigorous self-appraisal, willingness to change, incredible discipline, pragmatism and above all, hard work, brought her to be the best in the world of women sprinters - perhaps of all time - where all successful athletes must possess to succeed in exaction at a stage such as the Olympic games.

Some 10,000 athletes will participate at the XXVIIth summer Olympiad - but none are the expectations as great as those of Marion Jones has set for herself. The striking 24-year-old golden brown skin, long eyelashes with a captivating smile for want of orthodontic correction, Jones brashly and bravely claims that the five golds are for the grabbing. Should she win her first two events, which she would without much difficulty judging from her recent form in the grand prixs, such as last week's Stockholm competition, then it is all a matter of programming. Her quest for the five golds becomes magnificent with a different story almost everyday during the track & field program, says Graig Masback, 'if she goes to win five" head of USA track & field, the sport's national governing body, "Jones will be the first female athlete to transcend sports internationally the way Muhammad Ali, Pele and Michael Johnson did. It would be the most glorious thing in sports."

In another spectacular and phenomenal situation that would be seen at the XXVIIth millennium Olimpic games in Syndney, Australia, when Alexander Popov of Russia would win the gold in the 50 and 100 metres freestyle swimming event, would be his third in a row at the Olympics.

Having won the 50 and 100 metres sprint event in 21.91 and 49.02 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, followed by winning the same two events at the 1996 centenary games in 23.13 and 48.74, Popov is believed to repeat this extraordinary feat at the 2000 millennium Sydney Olympics, etching his name perhaps for ever in the annals of Olympic history.

To hold such a demanding and fiercely competed sprint events, one less than quarter of a minute and the other in less than half a minute, is a phenomenal achievement under any given circumstance - In the ten past years Popov has stayed at the top. With the Australians, Swedes, British and Americans, all knocking at world record times for the 50 and 100 metres freestyle events would escalate Popov's unprecedented superiority that would astound the world. Popov's pre-eminence in the sprints, with almost no publicity for his extraordinary talent has gone almost unnoticed until he surprised the Russian selectors that Popov was their best bet for two sure golds in Sydney.

Legend and lore: Sweden's Gunnar Larsson defeated American Tim McKee by .002 of a second in the 400 metre individual medley final in the 1972 Munich Olympics, a separating less than an elbow's length throughout the race. The closest race in Olympic history. So close, in fact, that the result prompted a rules change. Larsson touched the electronic wall pad in 4:31.981, McKee in 4:31.983. both were credited with an Olympic record - rounded to 4:31.98 - but Larsson was awarded the gold. McKee reacted philosophically, "there has to be a winner and loser, even if it's two one millionths," he said.

But some Americans cried foul, contending that slight variations in the length of lanes made it unreasonable to compute times to thousandths of second. Times are now calculated only to hundreths of a second. Australian Shrilly Strickland at 31, might have been over the hill by sprinting standards, but age hadn't slowed her any in 1956 Melbourne games. In fact she ran faster than ever. Strickland won the 80-metre hurdles in an Olympic record of 10.7 seconds - two-tenths under her winning time of four years before - and then ran a leg on Australia's victorious 400 relay team, establishing a new world record of 44.5 seconds. She finished her Olympic career with seven medals, three of them golds. The only Australian to win more was swimmer Dawn Fraser, with eight - made her Olympic debut in 1956, the same year Strickland bowed out.

[In association with C Vijitha Fernando, Trustee, Duncan White Sports Foundation]

Eddie in Torch Relay

By Bernie Wijesekera

Edward I. Gray, former Royal and Sri Lanka Olympic boxer, who particapted at the '48 Olympics at the Wembley Stadium had the opportunity of taking part in the Sydney 2,000 Olympic Torch Relay on July 29.

In the autum of his sporting career its a rare milestone, thereby doing proud to his alma mater and for the country of his birth.

He has made immense contributions for the development of sport in Sri Lanka especially boxing. As a senior official of the National Olympic Committee, he has represented the country in the past Olympiads.

Gray, richly deserves this honour of being a member of the Torch Relay Team. He was runner No.89. He carried the torch from Geelong along Princess Highway from House No. 2, and finished at McDonalds - 400M.

This is once-in-a-lifetime experience for anyone to carry the Olympic Torch and Gray was one of them.

According to Gray the torch he brought, now belongs to him - yet another addition to his collection of mementos.

Picture on left shows Gray on the run along Geelong with an Aussie girl, who is keeping pace with him - acknowledge to the cheering crowd.

He has been nominated as Sri Lanka's representative to Co-ordinate with Sydney Olympic Games by Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake.

Chess training programme

A chess training programme for beginners organised by Central YMCA will be held on Wednesday August 30 at the YMCA Gymnasium, Fort. This programme will be conducted by the ten times national chess champion and gold medallist in the World Chess Olympiad Mrs. Suneetha Wijesooriya.

All those wishing to participate in this training programme should send their applications to reach the Secretary, Sports and Recreation, Young Mens' Christian Association, No. 39, Bristol Street, Colombo on or before August 15.

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