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much blame on the pitch It was certainly not batsmen friendly and the willow wielders were fairly and squarely put to the test. In the end it was the home team who suffered most and had to return to Colombo, failing to secure a berth in the finals. New Zealand could least afford to criticize. They played a test and one day series where the scores produced were absolutely paltry. Seam bowlers dominated on alien conditions the Indian batsmen struggled to hit the ball off the square. The Kiwis triumphed convincingly, as naturally they handled home conditions better. However, it was very poor preparation for two months of one day cricket. India did marvellously to shake off a run poor form to fight their way to reach the finals. Of course the efforts of the supreme Sachin Tendulkar played a major role. It is speculated that seepage from the nearby water-ways is contributing in there being excess moisture nearer the top surface of the pitch. After the initial couple of games produced lots of assistance for the seamers in the first session, the ground staff used minimum water in preparing the pitches for the other games. This had another effect, in the top surface drying out, breaking and powdering, during the second innings. A no win situation. These are teething problems that arise when new venues are constructed. There is always
a cure in this day and age. Even if not completely, sufficient to
produce results. Sharjah the desert venue, is a classic example.
They have spent lots of money and now have a pitch and grounds that
compares with the best in the world. Also, the composition of the top soil should be analyzed. The present top soil, I believe, is from Colombo. Should that not suit the prevailing conditions in Dambulla, then an appropriate top soil should be introduced. It was indeed
a strain, particularly when not prepared, for a venue to host seven
games within two weeks. Even seasoned venues would have felt the
pressure. With similar application, the team batting second should have been able to complete a close encounter. One-day cricket is about batting for sure. But often in high scoring games, the margin of victory is high. Average scores with close finishes also is part of the one day game. That could have been achieved in Dambulla, without too much criticism of the pitches. Abeyratne
stables on the gallop Colombo to have night horse racing The husband and wife combination bagged an astonishing 15 races within a period of one month, between April 6 and May 5, 2003. In the festival meet held in April the duo bagged 11 titles in the five days of horse races that were held in Nuwara Eliya. In the first week of May they went on to bag four more races at the Confifi Derby Beach Horse races held at Beruwala. They had the honour of winning the main events at both meets - the Governer's Cup in Nuwara Eliya and the Confifi Derby Trophy in Beruwala. The Sunday Times wanting to know more about their success trekked to their house at Neville Perera Mawatha in Panadura. Anurath just 47 years old does his own business based in the Moderawila Industrial Zone in Panadura. He started off by telling that he came into the horse racing scene by accident in 1998. As any other normal holiday maker to Nuwara Eliya in April , he had gone to witness a horse race event at the Nuwara Eliya horse race track. At the end of the day's racing he was fascinated by the events and some thing inside him was crying that he should be part of the scene. For one thing he loved horses and the more he looked at them he became fascinated by their strength, speed and agility. He had teamed up with jockey V. Mathialagan (today Mathialagan is one of his most trusted lieutinants) and had launched his trip to horse racing activities. After a long chat, jockey Mathialagan had taken him and introduced him to Mrs. Shantha de Zoysa (wife of late Bunty de Zoysa) who is the owner of Monara Stables which has been functioning for more than two decades. "She helped me and showed me her stables and gave me some hints on how to carry out the functions of a stable," he said. While talking to her Mrs. de Zoysa wanted to know whether he was interested in owning horses and when he gave a positive answer she had introduced him to Dr. M.S. Noohu who was also having a stable and has been an owner trainer of over 50 horses. "He supported and encouraged me to become a owner and today you can see the result of the tireless work we have been doing for the last three to four years". To be based in Nuwara Eliya he had to have a house of his own. In 1999 he purchased the house "Siri Medura" owned by L.S.B. Perera who had been a secretary to four prime ministers, it was a four roomed house on 106 perches of land. Having done that it was with Dr. Noohu in the year 2000 that he had gone to a horse auction in Pune, India and purchased his first horse. "The first horse to be auctioned was bought by me and we named it the Korean Dancer. The same year I purchased three more horses from the auctions and named them No Excuse, Say No More and Sonali. The horse Sonali is named after his 15-year-old daughter. Unfortunately two horses - No Excuse and Say No More - died due to illness. In the year 2001 he purchased six more horses at the Bombay auctions and named them Court of Appeal, Certain Smile, Timeless Appeal, Pickpocket, Orange King and Perfect Placement. Anurath made his own stables at Nuwara Eliya and gave the horses over to jockey Mathialagan who with eight others, look to the needs of the horses. Anurath's first win was recorded in February 3, 2001 on Orange King ridden by R. Sivakumar and the same day he had another win on Certain Smile. His first big win was when Court of Appeal took the Southern Derby last year. He says Court of Appeal is the best horse from his stables, as he has the nick of winning big events. It won the Thai Pongal trophy and the Governer's Cup this year. Last year he purchased two more horses, Singing Melody and Final Authorative, the former was bought for his eight-year-old-son Saveen. He says maintaining a horse is not easy and that it's more difficult and expensive than bringing up a child. The stable boys too find it diffucult to work in that climate but they are dedicated and do a thorough job. The horses have to be taken out and given their usual excercises at 6.00 a.m. in the morning which goes on till 11.00 a.m. after which they are given their meals and rested for a few hours. The same procedure is done again from 3.00. p.m. to 6.00. p.m. in the evening. The money he
spends to feed a horse is around Rs. 20,000 a month which comes
to Rs. 200,000 for the ten horses he owns. The medicines for the
horses and salaries for the stable boys is a seperate expenditure.
"We dont look forward to any profit from this sport and all
our expenses are being spent with our private money. Any winning
stake money from races I don't take a single cent. It's distributed
among all the stable boys as they should be looked after as much
as possible for the hard work they do". He went on to
say that very soon Sri Lanka will have its first night racing track
for which negotiations are going on with officials concerned. Two
experts from India - Narendra Lagard and Anil Muki - are due to
arrive in the island to help the industry out. "Another reason is that we must look after and protect our jockeys and give them more opportunities to race. Most of the jockeys are taken by foreign owners for assignments in Cyprus, Dubai and other countries. We are unable to pay them better wages as we don’t gain any income from the events that are being held." When asked how are they going to make any headway even if the night races are to be held with so many race by race betting centers already having good patronage and will they able to get the crowd, he said. "Why not. If people can bet on horses by watching the TV screen, won't they like to go to a race course and see the horses run live. We just have to start and the rest will happen," he said with confidence. His family too is involved in horse racing. His wife Malani who was reluctant to speak is the record keeper. All the records of the horses and collecting snaps is being done by her. Before they enter the horses for an event the husband and wife discuss as to which horses they enter for a particular race. Though involved with his own business with factories around the island he somehow spares time for his new found hobby. Prior to this he was the former president of the Panadura Sports Club (1999-2002) and the secretary of the Moderawila Industrial Association for three years but Anurath is too fascinated with his new hobby and is hell bent on giving all his support in improving or bringing back horse racing to Sri Lanka. |
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