Who is to manage McHeyzer Stadium?

By Sinniah Gurunathan, Our Trincomalee Correspondent

Who is responsible for the management of McHeyzer Stadium at Trincomalee? This stadium was constructed in 1956 with the assistance of Asia Foundation and named after the then Government Agent-Trincomalee, Anton McHeyzer.

North-East Provincial Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Sports has informed the Chairman of the Trincomalee Urban Council, P. Sooriyamoorthy that a committee of management has been appointed with the permission of NEPC Governor for the Trincomalee McHeyzer Stadium, and its first committee meeting was fixed for August 17 at the ministry office. The Chairman of the Urban Council was one of the members of the committee, appointed by the Provincial Sports Ministry.

At the meeting UC Chairman Sooriyamoorthy immediately informed the Provincial Ministry of Sports that the McHeyzer Stadium has been vested in the Urban Council and no one except the Urban Council could appoint a committee of Management to manage the stadium.

The Chairman told the Provincial Sports Ministry not to interfere in the Council's administration.

Meanwhile, UC Chairman Sooryamoorthy had summoned another conference to appoint a consultative committee to assist the Council to run the stadium and invited all heads of schools and sports clubs in the Trincomalee UC limits to attend the conference.

16 teams for Moore Shield

Sixteen teams will compete in the 43rd Moore Shield All Island Inter Club Knock-out Hockey tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation. The matches will get underway tomorrow (August 23).

Two matches are down for decision tomorrow with three matches on cards, Malwatta Sports Club will meet Youngsters SC Kandy at Matale; Air Force vs Kandy at the University Grounds, Peradeniya; and Peradeniya University will encounter Park SC, Matale at Matale. The semi-finals and finals will be played at the Astra Turf, Reid Avenue. (AF)

Will tour of Australia be a 'grudge series'?

From Trevine Rodrigo in Melbourne, Australia

Australian cricket fans are bracing themselves for what promises to be a summer-sizzler, not so much the weather, but because the Test and one-day series this year serves up its arch-rivals in both forms of the game, England and Sri Lanka.

The love-hate relationship between the Aussies and Sri Lanka cricketers is set to resume as Arjuna Ranatunga leads his men to what is widely tipped to be another controversial 'grudge series,' picking up from where it left off at the World Cup.

But although the passions were stirred Down Under, the Sri Lankans will be treated with more repect this time around unlike their previous visits here. The Aussies will be nursing painful memories of their trouncing in the World Cup final.

The recipe for a sell-out summer could not have been spiced up more with England, (not to be written off in the one day games) being the other member of the Tri-Nation series a cleverly pre-meditated Australian Cricket Board (ACB) coup that would be a windfall to its coffers.

Sure, there will be a lot of scores to be settled in the Test and one-dayers with England under its new leader Alec Stewart making a strong bid to overcome its tormentor of the last few ashes campaigns. Sri Lanka's bone of contention was that they should rightly have claimed the last Benson And Hedges Trophy on offer. The Sri Lankans were dogged by controversy on that last tour with bad umpiring decisions and the unforgettable chucking and ball tampering allegations probably affecting their performances. Critics in Australia felt that the psychological strategies adopted by the Australian media and certain other quarters, had a telling effect on the Sri Lankan's potential. But the ploy resoundingly boomeranged on them in the World Cup that followed as it only helped strengthen their resolve.

Times and attitudes have changed for the better, since, for many of the Australians including Test skipper Mark Taylor and current one-day captain Steve Waugh have grown an enormous respect for cricket in the sub-continent.

After being at the receiving end of the fierce blade wielding Lankans in the World Cup, Waugh unashamedly proclaimed the Sri Lankans to be worthy world champions, adding they had brought a new dimension to the game. He even suggested that Australian cricket should take the Sri Lanakns as a model to improve their game. It was an ironic turnaround for a team that not long before, looked up at Australia, as the team to follow. However, Sri Lanka cannot be complacent, as they have a lot to learn from the Aussies on how to improve its performances in the Test arena.

I vividly remember Sri Lanka's last tour to Australia which was 'Heralded' by many as a catastrophe to the ACB in terms of revenue. Critics like former Test batsman Dean Jones bemoaned such a tour labelling the Sri Lankans a bunch of losers. In an insulting column in the Melbourne Herald Sun, Jones suggested that a cricket match between Victoria and New South Wales would draw more crowds than an Australia/Sri Lanka Test on the traditional Boxing Day game at the MCG. His criticisms were soon shoved back down his throat by the time the fiercely competitive Lankans left Australia's shores.

In fact the number of fans, particularly fun loving and very vocal Sri Lankans which thronged the venues, shocked the most critical Aussie. The Sri Lankans are now perceived to be the biggest crowd pullers with their incessant singing and flag waving, a scene that will be looked forward to in future tours.

Sri Lanka's form since the World Cup is being closely monitored by Australia. And they are carefully plotting their revenge for the consecutive World Cup and Singer Cup reversals. Arjuna Ranatunga who commands tremendous respect as a captain in Australia will need to be alert to that fact and strengthen the iron grip he has on his team. Success in Australia, because of the different conditions and wickets, can only be prised out.

The Aussies are masters in their territory and are fiercely competitive at home. Sri Lanka's currently fluctuating form has not gone unnoticed with losses in South Africa and at home to India well documented. It appears that their two strong points in the triumphant World Cup campaign, their batting and fielding, has dropped off noticeably. They will need to rebuild themselves because the Aussies will punish them for any lapses.

The Australian dual focus - to put away the Englishmen in the Tests, and the Sri Lankans in the one-dayers will be a hidden desire to psychologically establish them as the most potent team in the world before the next World Cup in England. Only Sri Lanka can stop their push, and for this they will need a strong physical and mental preparation. The Aussies with their aggressive approach will test them relentlessly with their proved mental and physical style.

Experience will remind Ranatunga and his men that they need to be wary of the unconventional methods used in Australia to gain psychological edge. Sledging is their favourite so they must steadfastly focus on the game and not let themselves be sidetracked into the Aussie lure. Hansie Cronje's South African's were monumental in this respect last summer stolidly refusing to be psyched out by the media and other distractions which would have pushed them into a defensive mode. Sri Lanka can learn from that lesson leaving the controversies and distractions in the capable hands of its accompanying administrators.

Cheer squads in both the Australian and Sri Lankan camps will throng the venues to watch Sri Lanka's giant killing World Cup stars such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda De Silva and currently out of form Romesh Kaluwitharana who have meteriocally risen as the finest strokemakers in the world today. Their reputations were only recently shaded by India's fantastic Sachin Tendulkar, who tore the Aussie bowling to shreds during their best forgotten visit to the sub-continent earlier this year.

But it will be Sri Lanka's batting, which is reckoned by such greats as Keith Stackpole, to be on par or as good as India against spin, that will need to prove their reputation on the bouncier and recently more spin friendly Australian tracks. However, the return to the international fray of Australian speed merchants Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie from injuries, will give the Sri Lankan batsmen little respite at wickets in Perth and Brisbane where batting can sometimes be a nightmare for the extra speed and bounce they generate.

With Shane Warne's spin to supplement the Australian speed attack, the Sri Lankans will have their work cut out for them if they are to prove they are indeed a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Incidentally, Warne who took a battering in India, but sought solace in a shoulder injury and a lack of baked beans in his diet, will be fired up to redeem himself before his adoring one-eyed Aussie fans.

This tour for Warne could be a testing one, for he has clearly shown a lack of self-control in his inability to contain his frustrations when he does not meet with success. A few thousand amused Sri Lankan fans still gleefully recall his butt bearing exhibition at the 'hallowed' MCG in an irresponsible gesture, after he let himself be goaded by their heckling, in a pressure-cooker one- dayer. Strangely the incident almost went unnoticed by the usually hawk-eyed but often selective Australian media.

Warne's latest scheme to induce a sense of complacency in the visiting batsmen from Sri Lanka and England by declaring that his career has ended, is being scoffed by the medical profession, particularly the surgeons who performed his shoulder operation. This may be his desperate ploy to gain some self respect after the Indian nightmare.

The Sri Lankan selectors will be best advised to stick with an experienced line-up as the conditions and approach in Australia is not conducive for blooding rookies.

What has been most heartening is the news that Sri Lanka has dug deep into its own rich resources from the past and unearthed Roy Dias as its new coach. While the move is undoubtedly meeting mixed reactions in the cricketing world, the bottom line is that no one would understand the team's requirements better than a local man.

Dias is a man of considerable experience and commands tremendous respect in many Test playing nations who were fortunate to see him in action in his hey-day. His brilliant strokeplay is still talked about by the legendary Ian Chappel on Australian TV when he recalls some of the best batsmen he has seen during his time. A glowing tribute indeed!

Dias's surprisingly short stint in the international arena was widely rumoured to have ended due to the spiteful politics in the Cricket Board at the time. That experience will no doubt be the handy tool he will use to keep unwanted elements from meddling with the team structure, a disease that has dogged past Sri Lankan teams.

After only a whistle - stop tour to England to prove his credentials as a coach, Dias will receive a fiery baptism in Australia pitted against some of the best strategists the game has to offer. He will therefore need to look up his old mate Dave Whatmore whose advice on the various wickets produced in Australia could prove to be invaluable. Perhaps the Sri Lanka Cricket Board should contract Whatmore as a consultant on this tour if the wounds of the past are not beyond cure.

In what must surely be the most calculated plot ever, the Australian Cricket Board has drawn up a massive schedule of 21 one-day games against Sri Lanka, an ominous sign of their relentless pursuit to work out and dethrone the current world champions. Consequently, it is up to the Sri Lankan cricket heirarchy to play them at their own game and do their homework on the Aussies if they are to prove themselves worthy exponents of the mind games, off the field.

The cricketing world will, no doubt, be riveted to this series because Sri Lanka has recently been the only team to hold the whip-hand over the Aussies in the popular limited overs version.

South Africa which dominated it's recent one-day series at home against the Sri Lankans were soundly beaten by the Australians in the final of the Carlton and United series last summer, so they in particular, will be keenly interested in the outcome as the world champions try to outdo the Aussies on their home turf.

The highlight of the summer will centre on the friendly rivalry between the Australian and Sri Lankan fans which has hitherto been one of the most endearing spectacles in recent times.

The Sri Lankan fans with their beautiful eye-catching lion emblem flags combined with their incessant baila tempo have more than intrigued the Australian public, so much so that the Australians have banded together time and time again in a endeavour to drown them with the raucaus Aussie catch-cry Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oiy, Oiy, Oiy,. But to no avail.

In fact the Sri Lankans with their current world champion status appear to have replaced the West Indies as the team most Aussies would rather barrack against and this in itself promises a backdrop for a wonderful summer's cricket.

Sanath is pursued by English journalists

By Marlon Fernandopulle

August 11 (Tuesday): The President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka Thilanga Sumathipala is also aboard the AirLanka flight to London.

Thilanga reveals his intention of sending at least one promising youngster to the Australian Cricket Academy every year.The CB President hopes to negotiate this with the CEO of the Academy Rod Marsh when he visits Australia at the end of this year.According to Sumathipala the Sri Lanka team will be playing a One-day game after the Test match on Sept. 2 against an Invitation side put together by a well known English businessman.

August 12 (Wednesday): Visited the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)at Lords to obtain media accredition for the Triangular and Test Match.The Media Liasion Officer promptly responds to my request and promises to deliver the match passes to my Hotel a few kilometres away.No forms to fill,No Photographs required, 0nly a letter of identification needed from the Media Organization.Within hours the passes are at the Hotel. Reception: Laminated,sealed and a seat number allocated for each game. All Newspapers carry front page pictures and stories of England's nail biting Test win and the series triumph. However Sri Lanka's eight wicket win over Kent does not appear in the sports news.

August 13 (Thursday): Travelled to Trent Bridge 300 km north of London for the curtain raiser of the Triangular tournament.Not surprising that cab and coach drivers are not aware of the Test venue or the fact that a One-day International is to be played tomorrow. Newspapers continue to carry stories on Alec Stewarts maiden series triumph while little or nothing is said about the Triangular which begins tomorrow.

August 14 (Friday): Sri Lanka thrash the South Africans by 57 runs at the Trent Bridge ground which looked an absolute beauty.Decked with colourful Hordings on the boundary and the impressive Radcliffe stand built at a cost of 7.2 million sterling pounds,Trent Bridge is one of the top three grounds in England today.The 160 year old ground is one of the best loved venues due to its charm,character,and friendly atmosphere.

August 15 (Saturday): The English press is full of praise for Sri Lanka's performence yesterday and warns England to be ready to be at the receiving end of the flashing blades on Sunday. Headlines in the daily Telegraph says WEARY SOUTH AFRICANS FLOORED BY TRIED AND TESTED FORMULA while the SUN says that Lanka proves they can produce their unique brand of One-day brilliance in this country.

August 16 (Sunday): Blazing sunshine greets the Lankans at Lords. A large number of Sri Lankans are present to watch the world champs who are in England after seven years and for the first time after winning the One-day title in Lahore. Despite Lanka's loss to England by 37 runs the fans are not disappointed as they are aware that Sri Lanka will return to Lords for the Final. Some English Journalists show a lot of keeness to find out who is Ranatunga's new bat sponsor.

August 17 (Monday): Football takes a back seat in some of the English dailies as England's smashing victory grabs the sports headlines. HICK PROVES HIT FOR ENGLAND is the headline in the Daily Telegraph in which Christopher Martin Jenkins goes on to say that the Lankans were plundered as England came out with a bowling display of the highest quality.A full page hails England's victory over the Lankans.

August 18 (Tuesday): The Lankans are back at the nets at Lords preparing for Thursday's final. England take on South Africa at Edgbaston to decide Lanka's opponents. English journalists are ignorant of the net run rate calculations and are unable to give the required rate for South Africa to enter the final.The Times goes on to say that South Africa needs to win by 80 runs or with 12 overs remaining when the actual case is 48 runs and 10 overs.

August 19 (Wednesday): Sri Lanka have a final workout at the Lords net.Chaminda Vaas who arrived at the nets has a light bowl.However according to Physio Alec Kontouri Vaas who has a groin injury will be closely watched and will be included only if he is fully fit. Kontouri admited that in the past playing half fit bowlers had backfired and they will not take any chances with Vaas.

Sanath Jayasuriya is pursued by English journalists for interviews while Sky Sports gets a preview from Arjuna and Aravinda.

Duncan White

My first contact with Duncan was back in 1943 when I was seconded for service with the 1st Ceylon Light Infantry under the command of Lt Col. C. P. Jayawardene, then based at China Bay. Col Jayawardene's officers were mainly sportsmen, and athletes from his old school Trinity, with a few from other schools.

The camp at China Bay had a water front facing Sober Island. One day Duncan, Attygalle and I decided to paddle across the bay to explore Sober Island in an improvised canoe made from a crashed Catalina float. At this point of time, there was an alert for Japanese submarines in Trincomalee. We returned to base just before dusk. Lieut. Attygalla's machine gun post on the shore mistook us for a Jap sub, and fired a volley across the water. Luckily Attygala's stentorian voice and a favourable wind, carried across the water to his gunners - "friends you bloody fools." We might have lost a future Olympic medalist and a future Army General.

I had the good fortune to be present at the Olympic games at Wembly in 1948, to witness Duncan's epic run in the 400 metres hurdles. I was thrilled. When Duncan who came second, mounted the victory stand, the national flag was raised and the new national anthem played.

Duncan recalled how the American who won, used a bit of gamesmanship before the start of the race remarking "this race is mine, I have trained for it for two years."

Duncan was a family man, devoted to his wife Angela and family.

A.T.S. Paul

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