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Umpires for the World Cup Currently the eight umpires are required to officiate in all test matches while one of the eight are required to stand in all one day tournaments. Although this move by the ICC was to improve the quality of umpiring, six months later questions are being raised as to whether the ICC has achieved it's objective. Given the volume of cricket that is played today the eight umpires are required to travel extensively from country to country or from venue to venue and officiate Test matches in very short periods. As most of the Umpires are in their fifties, travelling extensively and standing in hot,humid conditions for five successive days will not go down too well. Its definitely bound to effect their concentration and decision making at some time or another. Infact some decisions by umpires in recent test series left much to be desired. Today, three test series(Australia-England, South Africa-Sri Lanka,Zimbabwe-Pakistan) and a one day tournament (India-West Indies) is in progress and seven out of the eight elite umpires are on the job officiating game after game. This situation will only result in a decline in the quality of umpiring as the umpires will not have their concentration at the desired levels when making decisions. Thus the move by the ICC to complement the current elite eight umpires with a further twelve umpires for the World Cup is a step in the right direction. Infact the ICC should think in terms of increasing the Elite Panel of eight umpires not only for the forthcoming World Cup but for the routine test and one day tournaments as well. Lanka
Yalta in grand win Results: Arpico SC 86 in 16 overs (B.A. Dharmasiri 21, Veerajan Bharathie 19, Athula Wickramatileke 14; Mohamed Zahir 4/-14) Akbar Brothers 20 in 16 overs Mohamed Zahir 16; Ranil Peiris 3/-4, Susil Shantha 3/-7) Ceylinco SC 98 in 16 overs (Aruna Jayasekera 20, Mauroce 16, Noori 17, Peter 16; Hirantha Perera 4/-18) MAP SC 99 in 16 overs (Orville Fernando 26, Hirantha Perera 18, Keerthi Nugegoda 10, Manoj 10; Noori 4/0) Lanka Yalta 171 in 16 overs (Lyndon Hannibal 30, Sanjeewa Weerasinghe 29, Nishantha Saranasekera 28) Akbar Brothers -32 in 16 overs (Yusuf Feroni 9; Sanjeewa Weerasinghe 4/-18, Thiran Thenabadu 4/-1, Aruna Hettiarachchi 4/-11)-MSA Up
up for Royal Down Under The boys from Reid Avenue had won the Bradby Shield in record style and swept to victory in the President's Trophy to earn the trip to Australia. They had plenty to show during the two games in Victoria, Australia's Garden State. With unusually warm spring weather to their liking, the Royalists unleashed their magic against St Kevin's, runners up-Victorian championships, with a resounding 41-0 triumph on November 2. The next day they lined up against the star-studded Combined Victorian Schools and gave a valiant display before going down 15-10. Game 1 vs
St Kevin's All the points came through beautifully structured build- ups and in some instances the try resulted from the sixth or seventh phase. Spectator support was very good both from Old Royalists and the home team. Both sets of supporters were suitably impressed by the high standard of rugby. Many of our past rugby greats were in awe of the Royalists air of confidence in taking on the local team in the forwards and then moving the ball wide in some memorable classic back play set moves. Basic skills were of an extremely high standard resulting in a fast game with few breakdowns. The forward rushes, back row moves and lineout peels were a complete contrast to the general modus oparendi of Sri Lankan teams when playing much bigger overseas teams. Centre Rajith Jayasundare gave a stirring display and was voted as the man-of-the match which earned him a Wallaby jersey signed by the great David Campese (holder of the most Test tries in world rugby) and presented by former Royal captain Ashy Cader. Game 2 vs.
Combined Victorian Schools As expected a strong local side was picked for the game on Sunday, November 3. The game started off at blistering pace. The local team had the best of the exchanges in the first half with Royal pinned in their own half for most of the first quarter. Royal were spirited despite signs of fatigue from playing the day before. Their defence was resolute and despite some fierce forays by the local team, the Royalists did well to go into half time trailing 10-0. In the second half Royal showing great composure and confidence in their ability ran the ball out of their own goal line. Centre Lucky Dissanake opened up the Victorian defence with a sizzling 30-metre sprint and a forward rush resulted in Dushan Lueke touching down to make the scoreline 10-5 in favour of the Victorians. The Royalists stepped up a gear but conceded a soft try to trail 15-5. But they struck back after the kick off with a sustained forward rush. The ball was spun wide where quick hands among the backs saw an overlap resulting in winger Awaiz Rasheed dummying his way for a great try on the left corner. The conversion attempt hit the left upright and bounced the wrong way. Not long after full time was blown and a gallant Royal left the field with their heads held high. The team lost but was far from beaten. The two tries to each side seemed a fair result although Royal had the better of the attacking play. The victorious Victorian side was equal in defence. the match was played at the cracking pace and was of a very high standard. Former wallaby second rower Dr Bill Campbell, watching as a spectator was impressed by the Lankan team's speed, size and explosive power. He marvelled at the very high level of skill and continuity of phases of play that did showcase school boy rugby at its best. Zulkanain Hamid was the man-of-the-match and was presented with a David Campese signed Wallaby jumper from chief guest Dr. Trevor Anghie. Lakshman (Lucky) Dissanayake was a worthy recipient of the Sir Weary Dunlop medal always presented to the visiting team's most exciting player by the Victorian Schools Rugby Union. the award was presented by Kevin Culliver, Chairman of the Victorian Schools Rugby Union. After their exploits in Victoria the Royalists had rare privilege of participating in a training session with former Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer and the NSW Waratahs team in Sydney. No Australian school has had that privilege yet! |
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