The Sri Lanka team to the Commonwealth Games held in Auckland, New Zealand: L to R M.A.M.Sheriff, Albert Perera, J.R.de. Silva, A.I.Obeyasekera, Mrs. H.N.P.Perera (the manager's wife), Somapala, Oscar Wijesinghe, K.Edwin, Douglas Arndt, K.Duraisingham, Clifford Jansz, Shelagh Gaddam, Vivien Blaze, Summa Navaratnam, John de Saram, Harry Nightingale (swimming coach), Edward Gray and Duncan White.
Sumanthiran Navaratnam was a one time local track idol. At 72 years he is still joyful as in his youth. He is filled with happy memories full of excitement.
He was a much sought after celebrity as the fastest athlete in Asia during the early 50's . He reached the pinnacle of athletic glory, after winning his first ever prize in the 25-yards lime and spoon race at the Royal Primary as a nine-year-old.
He has won many replicas and trophies though none are in his custody these days. Most of them have been lost - either by children, who used them as toys or have been misplaced whilst on transit when shifting residence from one country to another. But he maintains a heap of paper clippings including certificates as an appreciation of his great deeds on the track. The other notable collection was a photo album focussing on a host of female fans. Apparently they were athletes or some of his ardent admirers, both local and foreign.
Surprisingly his own photographs as souvenirs of his blazing days on the track are missing. He had been antagonized and battered by the Selection Committee of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) at the beginning of his career and he brushed off all odds and contemplated giving up the sport which gave him a well deserved image.
Summa, so called by many, is not only an athlete but also a popular ruggerite whose performance in the rugby field enabled him to captain the All Ceylon Rugby team in 1955. Later he became a coach which he still does for the junior teams at Royal College. He faithfully adheres to the most popular phrase his father repeatedly taught him. A civil servant by profession his favourite saying was: 'The moment you become subservient to your job you become a slave to the employers,' which Summa adopts not only in his career but also in the sporting field.
A strict disciplinarian, his father who believed in equal treatment to all his eight children, turned down a request by Summa's coach Dr. Jed De Saram to provide him with an additional cup of milk daily saying, "I only know to live according to my means and I am not too keen in promoting his athletics career".
Born with six sisters and two brothers, they consist of professionals ranging from doctors, accountant, professor and a school principal. He stepped into the sphere of success after switching to Royal College from its primary in 1937. At 13 years he started capping titles after titles at the inter-house meets. First of the series of wins came in competing at the under 14 age group in the 100, 220 and the high jump.
Again at 15 years he won the under 16 age group titles in 110, 220, 440 and the high jump. His skills were put to test at the Public Schools Championship when he was selected by the school to participate in the 4x110 relay, running a pivotal lap to win the team event forcing the school authorities to award him the athletic colours. During his spare time, he was associated with college cricketers, ruggerties and boxers but could not progress much at school level since he was at times disregarded for infringing in the way the team was run. Then he went on to win the coveted Samson Challenge Trophy beating Gowri Wickremasinghe of St. John's Panadura in the 440 yards in 1942. But in the final year at school, he was given the reins to lead the College Athletics team in 1943 at the Public School Championship. There he came out with a personal best, winning all the events in which he participated, which were 220, 440, 4 x110 and 4 x 440. He could not compete in the 100 due to time clash with the relay events. The Royalists won the Tarbat and Jefferson Trophies for overall championship and relays awards respectively that year.
The following year he came out with an individual brilliance to win the Wilton Bartleet Challenge Trophy, where he was adjudged the best performer for his exemplary efforts in the 220 yards in the AAA meet. He blossomed into prominence at 21 when he teamed up with Duncan White, R.E.Kitto and B.C. Henricus to establish an Asian Record in the Indo Ceylon Meet in Bangalore in the 4x110.
The most bitter experience in his life surfaced during the 1948 Olympics where Summa was overlooked for selection. His own coach who was also a senior member of the AAA and a doctor forced him out of first trials saying he should rest as he was suspected of having hernia, while in reality he was only suffering from a minor cough. But R.E. Kitto and Dr. H.M.P. Perera were the first people to come to his aid. Upon querying why he was not participating in the trials, they took him for a thorough check-up and the doctor commented: " I am a nut case if you have hernia".
Back in the track with vengeance he was successful in the second trials winning his pet events with ease but the Selection Committee failed to consider him, convinced that he was medically unfit.
In frustration he gave-up athletics and went on to play serious rugby. But during the next AAA meet he was watching the games in progress when another senior official of AAA, Ronnie Peiris took him to Colonel Bines, one of the AAA selectors who mentioned the reasons behind Summa not being selected.
Angered and in revenge he joined the ACE Athletic Club and came off with a fine performance winning virtually in every meet he took-part. But he was again overlooked when the 1950 Empire Games approaced where a team was picked without proper selection criteria but were already under training.
A public hue and cry brought about a change and fresh trials were held just a month before the Games where Summa became an automatic choice.
Having gone to Auckland, New Zealand he was at the receiving end when he was hurried from the marchpast to warm-up for the heats. An announcement was made over the public address system to the effect that John de Saram had pulled out at the last minute.
He failed to qualify just for the mistake of turning and looking back when he was leading the race mid way and was beaten.
On their way to Auckland they had a brief stop over in Perth, Australia where many Australians were practicing for the Games. Talking to them made him understand that they have been training for four years which totally demoralized his ambition for a championship run. However he enjoyed his stay there where he was able to meet plenty of athletes.
Then came the crowning moment of life. In 1951 he became Asia's fastest man clocking 10.4 seconds in the one of the heats at the Madras State Olympics on a grass track. He finished on level with Ivan Jacobs of India in the final but due to lack of a photo finish at that time he was forced to settle for a silver.
In 1952 in a similar meet, but this time in Ceylon, he again finished in the identical fashion. This time he lost the gold to Lavi Pinto of Bombay the fastest man in Asia during that year. Here he participated in the final after taking part in a rugby match against the visiting Australian Colts XV the previous day. He also recollects winning the best performer's award as a Second Lieutenant in the Army when he was in the Second Volunteer Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment. His batch comprised Mahes Rodrigo, Ronnie de Mel, Nissanka Wijewardena and George Chandrasena to name a few. However he could not continue in the Army as his father put a stop to his career.Another achievement to his credit was a victory lap in the push cycle race in Ratmalana runaway in the first ever 1000 yards cycling championship. This earned him a scholarship to complete the Pilot 'A' license which he could not complete because the prize money he received during that time exceeded the right for such a reward hence ending a career in flying.
Then on, his concentration shifted to fulltime rugby. After representing CR&FC on the wing due to his power running, he captained the club side and then went on to lead the All Ceylon side in 1955.
His best break in rugger was when he was selected to play for the national side against the British Lions in 1950. He then switched on to coaching and guided Police to remain unbeaten in the 'B' Division and made them play in the Clifford Cup final against Havies which they lost. He had also coached Royal, Wesley and the CR team. Privileged to have been the last President of CRFU and the first President of SLRFU he saw the Sri Lanka team qualify for the 1974 finals in the Asiad when in office.
His marriage to the now famous author Rosemary Rogers ended up after 12 years due to lack of mutual compatibility, though they are still on friendly terms. In this marriage he has two daughters - Rosanne and Sharon. Most of Rosemary's popular novels are based on actual life with Summa who's life began in admiration for his sporting and rugby skills. Now living in the United States, she helped him to migrate to the States with his second wife Romayne and children Kendall and Nadine during the 1983 riots. After a year's stay in the US, he returned to Sri Lanka finding it difficult to match the kind of living there and on the request of his children.
An export consultant by profession, he held many responsible positions in the private sector.
His policies have always been honest and once vacated post when told to have a hand in a under-cover deal by a company's top management. His advice to the new breed of sportsmen and women is to depend on one's self to get the final results and dare not expect any kind of help from others. .
Anselm de Zilwa, the youngest Sri Lankan ruggerite in the national squad had a trail-blazing start as a juvenile player at St. Peter's, helping the Bambalapitiya school to win many titles and helping himself to be in the front row in the schools rugby scene.
The towering second-row forward, who turns out for the CR&FC hails from a sporting family. His father, Bernard de Zilwa, was an outstanding boxer, who won many titles.
The youngster, nursed and nurtured by his sport loving parents, never let them down on and off the field. In an interview with 'The Sunday Times' his former Peterite and Under-24 national coach, Nimal Leuke, said: "He owes his success to his parents and according to Zilwa Nimal Leuke, his coach was instrumental in moulding him into a tough forward from junior level.
Q. In what way did you help the school to achieve success?
A. Well, rugby is a team game where everyone has a hand for its success. There is individual brilliance, but the ball changes several hands to achieve its ultimate object.
St. Peter's emerged Under-13 Milo champions in '92, Under-15 Milo runners-up in 1993. The school toured Malaysia in the same year and received junior colours.
It was no stopping them now and St. Peter's rugby went from strength to strength. In 1993-'94 the school emerged Under-17 Milo runners-up and were Milo Under-17 seven-a-side Bowl champions. In 1994 St. Peter's emerged Premadasa Trophy Under–19 runners-up. To add to this they toured Singapore and were champions at the 22nd Black Tournament in 1995. The same year they were Under-19 Milo league runners-up and to cap it off, won the President's Trophy championship. In 1996 they were Under-19 ten-a-side Plate champions.
"I also owe a token of gratitude to Mr. B.K. Ramachandra, who had a helping hand for my success at the embryo stage, Zilwa said. Besides the school hierarchy, gave me all the encouragement, that paved the way for me to reach the highest level in rugby," he added.
Q. Any other sport you indulged as a schoolboy?
A. Yes. Basketball, the sport that made me to be an outstanding lock-forward in rugby. I was able to sandwich basketball with rugby at the Under-13 level. In 1991, the Petes won the Under-13 All-Island with Anselm de Zilwa in the midst it was the 'River Of No Return' for the Peterites who made a clean sweep in basketball when they were on top at school level. De Zilwa, ultimately captained the schools cager team in 1995. They also won the Under-19 championships under his captaincy. With this achievement Anselm won a 'double' when he was awarded colours in both sports.
For De Zilwa studies and sports go hand in hand who passed the O/L with two Ds in Maths and English and five credits, proving that sports is no barrier for studies.
He also added, he owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Maiya Gunasekera, the Rugby Union President for helping him at the Club and national level, who also helped in the skills of second-row strategy.
"National coach, Ana Saranapala and Ajith Abeyratne, inspired me to reach greater heights with their know-how," he added.
Q. Anything special in your sporting career?
A. Well, the most important thing is participation. Anything that happens on the field is all forgotten. It's part and parcel of the sport, said the indefatigable Sri Lankan forward, who has a blooming future in rugby.
Some months ago in The Hindu, I wrote an article strongly suggesting that the Indian Cricket Board of Control should not agree to the Australian proposal, that Test pitches should be covered. Now, in this Brisbane Hotel in which we are all quartered, I am not certain whether I should duck for cover along the corridor whenever I see the Indian Manager, Gupta, or an Indian cricketer approaching. As India refused to agree to the Australian proposal, this Brisbane pitch was covered by strip tarpaulin at each end of the wicket, covering only the bowler's final approach and foothold. This is what was obtained last year in the Tests against England and now many are arguing in Brisbane that had the Indians agreed to the whole pitch being covered, they would have played the game under more or less equal conditions, thus minimising the value of the toss.
Well, a pretty good case can be made out for either side but it will take much convincing that a natural pitch now and then is not in the best interests of the game. The real point is, of course, that neither the Indian nor Australian batsmen like batting on a pitch which assists the bowler and that, mostly because, most of them never have had a chance to play on such wet pitches.
Never in my experience, for instance, as an Australian Test cricketer, have I known the authorities ordain that a practice pitch should be flooded to give batsmen and bowlers practice under such conditions and Indians tell me that they never have a wet pitch at home. If unusual showers do happen to come along, they say they wait until the pitch dries before commencing play.
Thus, it is expecting much from both sides to expect them to shine under wet conditions but the fact is that competent critics will not accept any great batsman until he proves himself under all conditions. That is why I am prepared to accept Merchant as one of the world's outstanding batsmen, because he made runs in England in 1946 under all conditions. That is why I will always look upon Bradman's colossal feats with a little jaundice in my eyes, because the years have proved that he comes down from his majestic perch as soon as the ball pops off a wet pitch. A person watching his first game of cricket here in this match would have refused to believe that it was indeed Bradman he saw straight drive his middle stump against Amarnath on a sticky pitch.
Let it not be forgotten that no Australian battled as well on a sticky pitch as Amarnath did and Hazare was next best of all that batted. Keith Miller was spectacular but had not the essence of safety the others had. There are several principles which must be observed. First, Bradman must be prepared to take many blows on his body. In other words, he must get behind the line of flight of the ball and, if it pops at the last second, he must get the bat out of way, because, if he plays it, this will give the close-in fieldsmen a catch. Then, too, he must be adept in playing with a dead bat so that the ball will drop to the ground. This is done by holding the bat loosely with the fingers at the moment the ball is played so that there is no resistance in the bat. Finally, the batsman must be strong on backfoot play and must be determined to play totally off the backfoot unless he can hit the ball full or when it first touches the turf.
All first-class batsmen, at some time or the other, will make a century against good bowling in Australia. Dry pitches are so good that they can barely help it, and I suppose the same state of affairs exists in India, but a batsman worth his salt is one who can get runs under any conditions. Now if the element of wet pitches is to be taken from the game, then cricket will lose some of its greatest fascinations and it must also be remembered that captaincy will become mostly a dull and routine affair.
The Englishmen last year showed us that it is possible to play on wet pitches and it must be stressed that the wet pitch in this present Brisbane game was by no means as spiteful as the one which Hammond's men twice knew last season. I can see only one valid reason for wanting a pitch covered from the elements and that is, finance. But the facts are that even if the pitch had been covered here, bad weather would still have greatly interrupted the game and kept many people away from the match. It would be much more sensible to blame the officials who fix a Test in Brisbane at this time of the year than blame anything else. Experience over the years has shown that, late in November or early December, it is impossible to play a big match in Brisbane.
Just a few final thoughts. If Amarnath had won the toss India would possibly not have scored as heavily as Australia might have done. And there is this final observation. Had the pitch been covered and had Australia still won the toss, Bradman by now, might have beaten Hutton's world record Test score. The Australian captain had a certain glint in his eyes late that night. So, it is an ill cloud of rain - to mix the saying - that, brings no good.
Rain has ruined many a Test match played on the Brisbane ground during November. The lowest score recorded on this ground is 58 by Australia against England in 1926 - by a coincidence, it is the same as India's first innings total in the first Test at Brisbane. In 1928, again, the Australians were dismissed for 66 runs in the first Test by England and the latter won the match on both the occasions. In 1932, the South Africans were dismissed for 170 and 117 and Australia won by an innings, a feat which they repeated last year when Hammond's men were out for totals of 141 and 142. The lowest score recorded by a team in a Test match is 36 by the South Africans against Australia. Only once was a Test match on Brisbane ground played without interruption - in 1932, when Jardine's men won the match.
– By Jack Fingleton, Extract from Sport & Pastime, 6.12.1947.
I wonder to how many of the present generation the name Bill Ferguson would mean a thing? He never played any first class cricket. But travelled millions of cricketing miles that no cricketer will ever dream of travelling.
'Bill' Ferguson was an Australian boy working in Sydney. He suffered from a lung ailment and a stuffy office was not doing his health any good.
Every evening he would haunt the Sydney docks and gaze at the ships in Sydney harbour.
One late evening, in 1900 Ferguson was leaning against the rails of the Sydney docks, when a man standing closeby, removed a cigarette from his mouth, pointed to a vessel and remarked 'She's not a bad old boat.'
'How do you know?' asked Ferguson.
The man replied, "Came home from England on her. Went as Baggage Master. Didn't save a penny, but it was something to see England.'
Ferguson then asked, 'A difficult job to get, I presume?'
'No matey, not so hard, because not everybody wants it' said the man.
Ferguson ventured, 'How do I get it?'
The man laughed and said, 'Just luck matey. If you want I'll put in a word for you. But you'd better go and see Dr. Noble.'
At that time, Monty Noble was a Dentist practising in Sydney and the darling of Australian cricket. Ferguson decided to go and see Noble.
But feeling odd about making a direct approach took a plier, knocked a corner of one of his teeth out and made an appointment with Noble. When he was leaning back in the dentist's chair he asked Noble, Dr will the Australian Board want someone to look after the baggage on the next tour to England? Noble admired the courage of the youngster who was willing to even face forceps to win his ambition.
And that was how Bill Ferguson set out on a cricketing journey that knocks anybody's cricketing travels into a cocked hat.
The next tour to England was in 1902 and Ferguson went as Baggage Master. The team included, Joe Darling, Noble, Saunders, Trumble, Trumper, Hill, Duff and Gregory. This was the strongest Australian team to tour England until Bradman took his 1948 Australian side. Ferguson's greatest thrills were when he first saw Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the White Cliffs of Dover, Sherwood Forest and of course the home and centre of cricket - Lords. He was paid - believe it or not - just £2 a week.
Ferguson came back to Australia very much stronger after 26,000 miles of sea travel. The players found that all their baggage problems had vanished. For everything it was Ferguson.
At first they found it hard to believe that the boy who had never left Australia before, could be so familiar with every city they went to, name the big buildings, list famous Hotels and understand the complicated British railway time-tables. But soon they took it all for granted and he never failed them. He had slipped into the permanant position of Baggage Master. Ferguson also became scorer and was very neat, accurate and swift.
Since 1902, he accompanied about ten Australian teams to England as well as teams from New Zealand, India, South Africa and West Indies to England. Teams from England to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies. Teams from Australia to South Africa and the West Indies. Teams from South Africa to Australia. The list is endless.
In '31-32' the South Africans were touring Australia and they were on one of those never ending train journeys. The weather was hot.
Just half a mile away from that railway halt was a big modern hotel. Ferguson bided his time, and as the train was thundering past a signal box, he sent a cake of soap hurtling through a window. When the train pulled into the halt, waiting on the platform was a wagon full of beers off the ice, fruits, pies and cakes. Ferguson just smiled and said, 'Yes I sent a message asking them to phone down the line,' as the provender was wolfed into the train.
Among his other virtues, he had a habit of drawing charts of batsmen's strokes. An innings was represented by a circle covered with lines that radiated from the centre. Boundaries reached the circumference, sixes passed over it, singles, two's and three's stretched towards the circumference. The direction of each hit was shown by the way the line projected from the centre.
– Bruce Maurice
The AAA of Sri Lanka will hold the examination for Technical Officials on December 28 at 9.00 a.m., on the instructions and guidance of Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of the AAA.
The examination was earlier scheduled for September, but had to be postponed. All candidates have been individually informed of the new date for the exam.
A feature in this year's examination is that the format of the examination had been changed to conform to the IAAF requirements.
The candidates will sit for one combined paper covering Track, Field, Starting and Time-Keeping. Candidates were informed of the change five months ago and the Minister of Sports S.B. Dissanayake had approved the new scheme.
However Mahinda Rajapakse wanted to give candidates another opportunity to decide whether they want to sit for the combined paper or, as in the past answer separate papers. Only 16 candidates of over 1000 candidates wanted to sit for separate question papers.
According to the Chairman-Officials Committee of the AAA, P.H.D. Waidyatilaka, for the first time in the history of the AAA the examination will be conducted in the Tamil Language besides English and Sinhala.
Jaffna too will have a centre besides Colombo and Anuradhapura, Lumbini Maha Vidyalaya, Colombo 5, Anuradhapura M.M. Vidyalaya and Jaffna Central, Jaffna are the three centres.
The Sri Lanka Army will assit the AAA in the conducting of the examination in Jaffna.
Allan Border the legendary Australian allrounder, who led the Aussie team with distinction and Test cricket's record run-getter has been appointed the coach of their youth team for the forthcoming World Cup Youth series to be held in South Africa from January to February 1998 in South Africa.
This is the second Youth World Cup and it's now going to be a four yearly contest by the cricketing nations in the lines of the senior tournament which was started in 1975 in England. The inaugural contest was won by the West Indies when they beat Australia in a thriller at Lord's.
The first Youth World Cup was held in Australia in 1988. With Allan Border getting involved in Australian cricket it's bound to produce many a talented cricketer for the future national teams as the former Aussie skipper means buisness. Infact, Australia's main wicket taker Shane Warne, was nursed and nurtured by Border to reach stardom.
The Aussie youth team under Border has already picked a squad and will play a series of one-day matches and Tests against the visiting Pakistan Youth team for the forthcoming contest in S.A. It's after the series against the Pakistan Youth team that the final squad will be picked for the World Cup Youth series.
Sri Lanka, too will be participating in the S.A. contest with Jayantha Seneviratne as its manager and the team led by Pradeep Hewage, the promising bastman, who turns out for St. Benedict's and for the N.C.C. It will be interesting to see how well our juniors perform in the Youth World Cup as Sri Lanka are the reigning champions in the senior contest, after we beat Australia at Lahore, in 1996.
In the first World Youth Cup quite a number of players from that series blossomed into the international scene and are doing proud for their respective countries. Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, Brian Lara, the dashing West.Indian lefthanded bastman who is the highest individual scorer in Tests and in first class cricket, Stuart Law the utility Aussie allrounder, Jimmy Adams another West Indian allrounder, who has been in the frontline, England captain Mike Atherton and Naseer Hussain ( Essex and England) and the Kiwi allrounder Chris Cairns, son of Lance Cairns.
Border has the wisdom to mould this youth team into a match-winning outfit and the ACB has fittingly picked him for the job to maintain Australia's domination in international cricket. Incidentally it was Border, who led the Aussies into a nail-biting Test victory against Sri Lanka at the SSC ground. It was here that Warne came into limelight as a leg-spinner and helped them win the losing Test match on the post.
Defending champions Victory will meet Sunny Mount in the City League's over-40 Masters football tournament final, played for the Readywear Trophy at the City League grounds today. Kick off at 5.15 p.m.
Both teams have so far been unbeaten. They will battle it out in a game that will no doubt prove to be a thriller right upto the final whistle.
Renown will take on Silver Tongue in the play-off for the third place at 4 p.m.
Victory beat Renown by 3 goals to nil and Sunny Mount beat Silver Tongue by 4 goals to 1 in their semi-final encounters.
On their way to the finals, Victory beat Sunrise 6-1, Silver Tongue 2-nil, while Sunny Mount beat York 4-1, Jupiters 2-1 and Renown 2-nil.
Nalaka Weerakkody the former Kingswood soccerite, who skippered the Sri Lanka youth soccer team to Chinese Taipei in 1994 could have been a frontline centre forward, but opted to play rugby football.
Today, he is one of Sri Lanka's best fullbacks, who is doing yeoman service for the country at international level. In the recent Asian qualifying World Cup match Nalaka scored 32 points in a total of 39 against Malaysia held in Kuala Lumpur.
Twenty-one year old Nalaka, who started his rugby at Randles Hill School in 1991 and finally ended up in 1995 as captain went on to represent the country as a schoolboy.
In 1995 he was a member of the national squad, which team was skippered by Lasitha Gunaratne against Malaysia. But he really got the taste of rugby in January 1996 when he toured Hong Kong under diminutive Lankan scrum half Sudath Sampath for the H. K. International 'sevens'. From there onwards there was no stopping young Weerakkody. He is not only a fullback, but is also an extra man in the line always forming the overlap for a breezy run.
Weerakkody, now a key player in the national team was interviewed by The Sunday Times.
Q - Who advised you to take to rugby?
A - Ananda Kasturarachchi and Army winger Gunadasa. There were instrumental in moulding me at school level.
In 1995 I joined the CR and FC. I am proud to say at club level it was C. P. P. Abeygunawardena, who moulded me in advanced rugby skills to go places. I owe him a debt of gratitude.
Later I joined Kandy S. C. They won a triple crown last season. Here it was Nimal Leuke, who guided me. One must not forget those who inspired me. At national level it was Ana Saranapala and Ajith Abeyratne, who had a special interest in my progress. Dr. Maiya Gunasekera, who believes in a high standard of discipline, was not only a beacon of light to me but for the young promising players in general. It is due to the development programme of the SLRFU spearheded by Dr. Maiya that the sport is on the upward trend, he added.
Q - Who helped you in your sporting career?
A - Well, my maternal aunt(loku amma) at school level. Then at the CR and FC diehard rugby supporter Asanga Seneviratne (an outstanding ruggerite and a cricketer).
But when I crossed over to Kandy S. C., it was Malik Samarawickrema. I was not the only beneficiary, but there are others too who benefited from his helping hand. I must say a big 'Thank You' to him as he found me gainful employment to make my future career stable Nalaka stated.
Q - Anything special in your rugby career?
A - Yes, Nilantha Ratnayake the former Sri Lanka cricketer is helping me in my physical training. He instilled in me the basic requirements - including my diet.
Q - Are you enjoying the game?
A - It's a beautful sport, robust game at times marred by frayed tempers. But whatever happens on the field is forgotten off the field. That's what sport is all about. It helps to build one's character the 'hill country's outstanding rugby player added.
– BW
Cycling championshipThe National Cycling championships conducted by the Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka will be held today (Sunday) December 28 at Ratnapura.
The events to be held are, Under-19 schoolboys standard 2 rounds at 7.30 a.m., Under-19 schoolgirls standard 1 round at 8.15 a.m., Boys open standard 5 rounds 9 a.m., Girls open standard 2 rounds at 10.45 a.m., Open men racing (elite amateur) 10 rounds at 11.15 a.m.
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