• Wickremanayake takes Energiser Trophy
• Murali spins his way
• Ramsay, a flaming legend
• Shereen heads Women's Cricket Assoc.
• Mirinda Mini-Tennis on September 30
• Dramatic win 

Wickremanayake takes Energiser Trophy

The golf was good, bad and indifferent. The most outstanding was young Sanjeewa Wickramanayake who just one week ago making his debut in competitive golf cracked a superlative nett 55. He continued his excellent skill and form to leave his competitors behind and falling apart to take the handsome Amcham Energizer Trophy and a first class return ticket to Singapore through the courtesy of Paul Goh of Singapore Airlines. What followed this award was a magnanimous gesture which was received with resounding applause. Realizing the cause, Wickramanayake returned the SQ Airticket which was smartly auctioned by Dayan Abeywardena and generously picked up by Jerry Harding of Scotia Bank for a cool sum of Rs. 85,000/00.

Khan fun

The entire Khan brood was there to joyfully cheer papa Akbar Khan who completed a splendid round to be judged 1st runner-up. He and his cheering wife will get a further taste of paradise on SriLankan Airlines to and from Maldive Islands. In the event set aside for Amcham golfers Jeremy Haycock took pride of place and goes to the Victoria Golf Club for a golfing weekend and much needed lessons. He will be the guest of the popular Mahaweli Reach Hotel. Coming behind him was Garry Robbins who smiled all the way home with a famous Calloway Putter gifted by Susantha Pinto.

Magnanimous Pinto

Susantha Pinto was 2nd runner-up and collected an award of full board at the Halaveli Holiday Village Maldives which he very kindly returned for auction. This response added further to the worthy cause. Ray Jubitz was 3rd runner-up following quite a tidy round which unfortunately collected a few strayers affecting his final score. Bringing up the rear of winners were Amrith de Soysa. Tony Cooper, Suren Pinto and Michael de Zoysa who were padded with weekends for 2, Dinners for 2 and free rounds of Golf with lessons thrown in.

Gymkhana events

Jehan de Saram was by far the longest off the 8th tee and for his longest drive he will be dining at the Gables with his girlfriend courtesy of Colombo Hilton. Christine Senonar was closest to the pin on the 9th. Off the tee her shot took off with nowhere to go when quite unknown to her a low slow moving breeze brought distance and direction and she will very soon be dining as guests of the JAIC Hilton with 3 others. Misery in absolute style came to Michael Moormen whose tee shot chocked and singing the fairway settled within easy reach. He was captured and given a very special award from Col. Sanders and McDonald's Ian Sheridan could not do worse. The gamey fun-loving supporter of the cause was awarded a ladle designed and made with special wood for his effort with golf lessons for life free of charge.

Lost and found

On the fringe of the disaster zone stood a crop of charity supporters who plunged into ponds with aquaphobia, moved earth off fairways, peppered the neighbourhood and ended bankrupt of strokes all for the fun that golf provides and all for the Jaipur Foot.

Awards & much more

As the players came in Lionel Almeida, Maria Ondaatjie and Ray Jubitz took over scrutinizing the cards and checking the returns. I sat with them and was quite amused by the expressions on their faces when they were checking cards returned from the disaster zones. Ondaatjie worked like a beaver through the award ceremony which was mastered by Ray Jubitz in fun-filled style. Kavan Ratnayake President of Amcham made the opening address and then the newly arrived Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy,burly Lewis Amselem was introduced to a round of applause. He said hello, thank you and nice to be with you after which he distributed the awards and stood for photo-catching with the winners. In concluding willowy Kalyani Ranasinghe President of the Jaipur Foot Organization expressed her gratitude and thanks to Amcham, the participants, supporters and donors for their graciousness and magnanimity. The Jaipur Foot coffers should benefit by 1/2 million rupees. What a magnificient effort? Maria Ondaatjie did a helluva job in style and with finesse.
Manel Dharmakeerthi, the Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lanka wushu delegation for the first South Asian Wushu Championship was appointed joint secretary of the South Asian Wushu Federation. Sify Kyuhei Muraoka, the Secretary General of the Wushu Federation of Asia (IWUF) was the chief guest of the SAWF inaugural meeting held at the Shangri La Hotel in Kathmandu is seen presenting the credentials to Dharmakeerthi. 

Murali spins his way

By Marlon Fernandopulle

In today's context bowlers are ranked according to their averages i.e number of runs conceded for every wicket taken.However, it will also be interesting to note how often the bowler gets a wicket. (the strike rate)i.e.the number of balls required to get one wicket.Another criteria used to measure the performance of a bowler could be the number of wickets taken per Test match.

Published below are three separate tables of bowlers who have captured more than 250 Test wickets (23 bowlers in all,out of whom 17 are medium pacers and 6 are spinners).They are ranked according to 1)Wickets per Tests, 2)Balls per wicket and 3)Runs per wicket.

Sri Lanka's spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan is ranked prominently in all three tables.He tops the list in the Wickets per tests and is the only current test player to have an average of above five wickets in tests. Despite being ranked 16th and 15th in the Balls per wicket rankings and Runs per wicket rankings,Muralitharan tops the list among the six leading spinners.Could it be that he is the All-time Best Spinner in World Cricket?If not, certainly he is on the road to achieving that goal!

Wickets per Test

Muttiah Muralitharan heads the list and is only one of three bowlers to have a five plus average.The other two bowlers are Dennis Lillee and Sir Richard Hadlee.They are followed by current test fast bowlers Allan Donald,Waqar Younis and Glen Mcgrath In addition to Muralitharan, Anil Kumble(9th) and Shane Warne(11th) are the only spinners in the rankings to have a four plus average.Incidentally Kapil Dev who prolonged his carreer to break the World record at that time lies at the bottom of the list with an average of 3.31.

Balls per wicket.

Pakistan's Waqar Younis tops the list capturing a wicket in every 42 balls.He is followed by Allan Donald (45.67),Malcolm Marshall(46.77) and Fred Trueman (49.44).A feature of this table is that the top 15 places are occupied by Medium pace bowlers. Sri Lanka's Muralitharan (16th) is the best among six spinners capturing a wicket in every 62 deliveries.

Runs per wicket

World's leading wicket taker Courtney Walsh (20.99)has the honour of topping the list. His former team mates Joel Garner (20.97) and the late Malcolm Marshall(20.94) are 2nd and 3rd respectively.Among the current test players Allan Donald(21.59) ,Glen McGrath(22.42) Waqar Younis(22.5) and Wasim Akram(22.98) are 5th,7th,8th and 10th in the table.

Muralitharan although ranked 15th with an average of 25.96 is once again the best among the spinners.

Wickets per Test 

Table 1 

1.M. Muralitharan	57	291	5.11
2.Dennis Lillee	70	355	5.07
3.Richard Hadlee	86	431	5.01
4.Allan Donald	62	297	4.79
5.Waqar Younis	67	308	4.60
6.Glen Mcgrath	62	288	4.65
7.Malcolm Marshall	81	376	4.64
8.Fred Trueman	67	307	4.58
9.Anil Kumble	61	276	4.52
10.Joel Garner	58	259	4.47
11.Shane Warne	84	366	4.36
12.Wasim Akram	98	407	4.15
13.Curtly Ambrose	98	405	4.13
14.Imran Khan	88	362	4.11
15.Bishen Singh Bedi	67	266	3.97
16.Courtney Walsh	122	483	3.96
17.Lance Gibbs	79	309	3.91
18.Ian Botham	102 3	83	3.75
19.Craig McDermot	79	291	3.68
20.Brian Statham	70	252	3.60
21.Bob Willis	90	325	3.61
22.Derek Underwood	86	297	3.45
23.Kapil Dev	131	434	3.31

Table 2: Balls per Wicket 

1.Waqar Younis	42.10
2.Allan Donald	45.67
3.Malcolm Marshall	46.77
4.Fred Trueman	49.44
5.Richard Hadlee	50.85
6.Joel Garner	50.87
7.Glen Mcgrath	51.61
8.Dennis Lillee	52.02
9.Wasim Akram	53.12
10.Bob Willis	53.41
11.Imran Khan	53.75
12.Curtly Ambrose	54.56
13.Courtney Walsh	56.41
14.Ian Botham	56.96
15.Craig Mcdermot	57.00
16.Muttaih Muralitharan	62.61
17.Brian Statham	63.71
18.Kapil Dev	63.92
19.Shane Warne	64.21
20.Anil Kumble	69.30
21.Derek Underwood	73.61
22.Bishen Singh Bedi	80.32
23.Lance Gibbs	87.75

Table 3: Runs per Wicket 

1.Courtney Walsh	20.99
2.Joel Garner	20.97
3.Malcolm Marshall	20.94
4.Fred Trueman	21.57
5.Allan Donald	21.59
6.Richard Hadlee	22.3
7.Glen Mcgrath	22.42
8.Waqar Younis	22.5
9.Imran Khan	22.81
10.Wasim Akram	22.98
11.Dennis Lillee	23.92
12.Curtly Ambrose	24.24
13.Brian Statham	24.84
14.Bob Willis	25.20
15.Muttaih Muralitharan	25.57
16.Derek Underwood	25.83
17.Shane Warne	25.96
18.Anil Kumble	28.01
19.Ian Botham	28.4
20.Craig Mcdermot	28.63
21.Bishen Singh Bedi	28.71
22.Lance Gibbs	29.09
23.Kapil Dev	29.64

Ramsay, a flaming legend 

The lanky, 68-year-old journalist from Sri Lanka sprinted through suburban Preston, July 30th carrying aloft the elegantly sheathed Olympic flame. 

Undeterred by bypass surgery or the requirement to wear Olympic shorts in 14-degree weather, his mission was to "represent every race and creed in Sri Lanka. It's a great honour to be chosen and I'll be carrying the Torch with pride." 

The Post-Times continues "the Torch relay was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and your sizable army of supporters probably relished your yards in the limelight almost as much as you did." The Australia-Sri Lanka Friendship Association, of which Ramsay is President, invited well-wishers; "The run will be televised live by Channel 7 so come in colourful kit and bring the drums along." Several newspapers featured his run and his picture made front page. 

Flashing that impish grin, carrying Torches and flaming in the limelight are routine for this ex-Peterite, Times of Ceylon Sports Editor, who migrated in '74. 

He is noted for his 'cheeky streak'. In '92 Ramsay chartered a six-carriage train to take 632 Sri Lankan well-wishers to the World Cup (England vs Sri Lanka) Match at Ballarat. 

His association sold over 5000 tickets. The people of Ballarat joined in the Sri Lankan-style match celebration with gusto and to teetotaller Ziegelaar's consternation every bar in Ballarat ran dry! The cricket 'peace train' - widely televised in Britain, and lead news on Australia's Channel 9 - was a huge promotion for Sri Lanka. This is the free publicity Ramsay Ziegelaar is capable of generating. 

Wryly he observes "Sri Lanka's public image is poor, yet they don't make use of the people overseas. 

They don't know the importance of publicity or what they can get out of it. The Tamil Tigers have got more publicity because they make use of Tamils living abroad for promotion." 

Co-ordinator of the Australia-Sri Lanka Sports Foundation, Ramsay bemoans "when you work free, Sri Lankans don't appreciate or take advantage of it. Rather, they'll ask what's my commission!" ASLSF sponsored training for Sri Lankan cricketers such as Asanka Gurusinghe, athletes Damayanthi Darsha and Susanthika Jayasinghe, who trained with Cathy Freeman's coach, and an NYSC troupe which performed at the Moomba Festival.

Ramsay advocates "promote tourism through the Sri Lankans here. The market in Australia is waiting to be tapped." With the Pacific Islands off-limits, Sri Lanka's beaches could attract young Australians. 

"Study the market. Take over businesses that are crashing", he advises new migrants. "Sri Lankans have a good image as workers not shirkers!" Opportunities abound in e-commerce, computer-related jobs and the hotel trade. 

Further tips, "once you leave Sri Lanka you must leave politics to the Sri Lankans who remain in Sri Lanka" and - on integrating - "You haven't gone to school with them, they don't know your culture, how you will react to a joke - so you have to make the first move." The golden recipe for becoming a "Flaming Legend" ???!!

Shereen heads Women's Cricket Assoc.

Her appointment is a replacement for former President of Sri Lanka Women's Cricket Association Mrs. C.V. Goonaratne, C.V. Goonaratne was the Patron. Both died 

Former Sri Lanka Wicket keeper/Batsman, Old Wesleyite Russel Hamer is the coach of this National Association. 

The first session of Sri Lanka Women's National Pool Selections got underway on 23rd Saturday upto 25th at Kettarama International Stadium. 

The Pool comprises players from every corner of the country for the purpose of giving the opportunity to every player to show her talent at selections. The majority is from the outstations. 

Makers of Sustagan Sport - M/s J.L. Morrisons made Johnson Nutritious and Nestle Lanka are the organisers for nourishing items during this pool period. 

Nestle Lanka will supply their nourishing items. The co-sponsors are J.L. Morrisons, Nestle Lanka and Maxims Ltd., Ratmalana. 

Mirinda Mini-Tennis on September 30

"At last year's tournament 1300 children participated, if everything goes as planned, we expect around 1500 youngsters to participate this year. The tournament will be open to boys and girls between grades 3 and 5, said Boshan Dayaratne, Chairman, Tournament Committee. The events to be worked out are, Boys' and Girls' Grade 3,4 and 5. Matches will be played throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, while on weekdays it will be from 2.30 p.m. onwards. A carnival atmosphere will be a special feature of this event. Music will be played throughout these days. We also hope to show videos on tennis and organize games. Students can also check their eyes free of charge during the Championships," said Dayaratne. All participants will receive a certificate, while winners will be awarded valuable gifts. Eric Rajapakse, Colonial Hardware and Panda Lanka have contributed generously for this event, while Yes FM and MTV will be the media sponsors. 

Mirinda Mini-Tennis is a smaller version of tennis and can be played by children as young as 5 years old. Mirinda Mini-Tennis is currently played around schools in Colombo, Kandy, Negombo and Batticaloa. It is estimated that around 20,000 chilidren will participate in the Mirinda Mini-Tennis programme. 

Dramatic win 

Half centuries by Sri Rahula Skipper Upul Saman Kumara (63 with 9 fours) and team-mate Lalindra Samaradivakara (53) enabled the winners to total a commanding 219/9 in 45 overs. (A.K) 

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