Moratuwa gears for 'big' match

By S.M.D.Sirisena

The cricket crazy town of Moratuwa will be full of activity next weekend as the 49th battle between Prince of Wales' and St. Sebastian's will be played at the De Zoysa Stadium. Play will commence at 10.00 a.m on each day.

From the 49 matches played so far in the series Prince of Wales' have notched up six wins, while St.Sebastian's have secured 2 wins. The last time a result was produced in this series was in 1977 when Prince of Wales led by Premalal Fernando gained a win. The last time St. Sebastian's gained a win was way back in 1966 under the captaincy of Sarath Perera.

Prince of Wales have recorded three wins this season. Their wins were against Kingswood, Dharmapala and Sri Jayawardanapura M.V. St Sebastian's beat De Mazenod. However they had to taste defeat at the hands St.Anne's Kurunegala after 14 years.

Looking at the two sides, it won't be a surprise if this year's encounter too ends in an another draw.

Both teams are evenly balanced but Prince of Wales have a slight advantage as they will be playing with three coloursmen. St .Sebastian's will be going into the big 'un without any coloursmen.

Prince of Wales' are led by Hasantha Fernando, who is a coloursman. Hasantha was a member of the under 19 Sri Lanka pool..

Last year Hasantha did well to pass the 1000 run mark. He didn't stop there. He went onto do well with the ball too capturing over 50 wickets.

This season he has scored over 800 runs including three centuries. They were against Wesley (117 n.o), Trinity (120 ), and S. Thomas' (115). He has also captured 45 wickets.His best bowling figures are 6 for 18 against Maliyadeva.

His deputy is second year coloursman Janaka Wannakuwatta. Janaka has scored over 600 runs with three half centuries.

Pubudu Ranaweera and Rashan Pieris are the openers for Prince of Wales. Both batsmen have been in good form this season and their captain Hasantha will be expecting a good start.

Pubudu Ranaweera who is playing in his second year has so far scored over 650 runs which includes a century (120 n.o. against Mahinda).

Rashan Pieris is one of the finest batsmen produced by Prince of Wales this season. Rashan is the only schoolboy to pass the dream of scoring 1000 runs in the current inter-school cricket season. On his way to his 1000 runs he scored a century and nine half centuries.

Left arm medium pacer Manjula Bandara will open the attack with Shanesh Weerawansa. Bandara's best bowling is 5 for 40 against Wesley and Weerawansa's best bowling is 6 for 31 against St. Benedict's.

All rounder Janaka Goonaratna is also among the runs this season. Janaka is also a good right arm off spinner has captured over 40 wickets this season. Fourteen-year-old Shan Wijeratna is the 'baby of the side'.

Prince Of Wales - (from ) Hasantha Fernando (Captain), Janaka Wannakuwatta (vice captain), Pubudu Ranaweera, Janaka Goonaratna, Manjula Bandara, Shammika Fernando, Rashan Pieris, Kalpa Devinda Fernando, Shan Wijeratna, Shanesh Weerawansa, Buddhika Dananjaya, Shanaka Cooray, Buthsara Pieris, Lalanka Abeygunawardana.

St Sebastian's College - (from) Nuwan Fernando (Captain ), Manoj Fernando (vice captain ), Malshan Fernando, Ryan Mendis, Himal Perera, Kanchana Cooray, Premesh Perera, Suranga De Silva, Dilip Fernando, Taraka De Mel, Sunanjan Fernando, Sumalka Perera, Harith Fernando, Patrick O'Brian, Dhanuska Fernando

Brief

New golf club opens at Rajawella

The official opening of the new Victoria Golf and Country Club at Rajawella was celebrated recently with the inaugural golf tournament sponsored by "ONEWORLD" the new global alliance formed by American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. Over 90 golfers participated in the tournament including ladies.

The Golf and Country Club features a course built to international standards, with several challenging holes in the par 73 course. The course designers and architects have been careful to retain as much of the natural undulations and flora as possible, thus creating a new course which already has many mature features, noticeably the trees which make many of the fairways tight.

Accurate tee shots were essential but the course also favours the long hitters, with several very long par 5s, including two at 540 yds as well as a couple of long par 3s of 200 yds. The fairways played well, with the imported Santa Ana grass providing a consistent lie. Straying into the rough, particularly on the front nine had serious repercussions, as the thick vegetation was very unforgiving and there was some challenge from some marshier areas on the 3rd and 7th.

The greens are possibly the most remarkable golfing features, and it was these that required the most labour. The top soil was removed, drainage inserted, levelled and re-grassed with the specialist Tiftwarf seed. The result has been very true, fast surfaces, rewarding for those with a smooth but confident putting stroke. A number of the greens also have some subtle breaks which needed careful reading, and there were several tricky pin placements. As the day was hot and dry, the greens became noticeably faster throughout the tournament.

The stableford scored reflected the challenging nature of the course, and also that the handicaps were also accurate. The winning Stableford total was 37 for Mr. C. Kulasinghe followed by runner-up gents Mr. G. Wijetilaka and runner-up ladies Ms. Shayanika De Silva and 3rd placed was Mr. Neil Chanmugam.

The stunning nature of the course was summed up by Donald Steel who was the golf course architect when he said "there is no lovelier place in the world at which golf is played". With the choice of at least three holes - the dramatic 35th, the open vista from the height of the tee box at the par 47th and the view across the Victoria dam at the Par 56th Mr. Steel's comment is thoroughly justified.

The role of the coach

Everybody wants a simple answer, a simple philosophy something they can write on a dressing room wall which will inspire them and ensure that they win matches.

Coaches are supposed to have all the answers. While there is more to the game from coach's point of view than simplistic slogans, there are basic principles that should not be lost in a welter of theories and philosophies.

The role of the cricket coach is simple, to assist cricketers in improving their skills and enhancing their personal performance. The coach's aims should be simple too.

A coach must create improvement, so that a batsman scores more runs, a bowler takes more wickets and a fieldsman takes more cacthes, saves more runs in the field and seizes more opportunities to create runouts.

What does a cricket coach need to achieive these aims? Obviously he or she must process knowledge of all aspects of the sport, plus the ability to communicate effectively with cricketers. Plus enthusiasm. Plus a love and passion for the game and desire to instill these attributes in those seeking support and guidance.

A good coach should be able to recall virtually all the incidents in a day's play so attention can be drawn to them and the players questions can be answered with authority. You cannot do that if you do not concentrate on the game.

enthusiasm is undoubtedly one of the main assets of a good coach. In fact, he or she has to be the most enthusiastic member of the team because it is the coach's responsibility to communicate and maintain keenness of the players at all the times.

It is not just talking about technical or purely cricket matters here. Often outside influences play a major role in the quality of an individual's or teams performance and every effort must be made to indentify such influence and solve any problems they may cause.

Technical cricket worries are a quite different matter. No player's worries should be overlooked or treated lightly whether they are considered real or imaginary.

If a player feels there is a problem, it is a threat to that player's ability to perform properly. All cricketers at one time or another will be beset by uncertainties. In their mind the problems are real, irrespective of whether their coach or other players see it that way.

Inevitably, this is a very testing situation for a coach, who initially should go through a mental checklist to see if a player really does have a technical problem. If this process draws a blank, the coach continues the search by trying to discover if there is a problem outside of cricket which is affecting that player's performance. - Ramesh Joseph

The Bird from Barnsley

From Bernie Wijesekera

Dickie Bird, the former Yorkshire and Leicestershire batsman, who turned out to be a legendary Test umpire retired from first class umpiring in 1995.

Imagine, after two years of county cricket he came into the Test panel and stayed there upto 1996, until he hung up his white coat. The Bird from Barnsley, Yorskshire - a coal miner's son became undoubtedly the best in the world. He attributes this to his parents though they were not rich in monetary terms, but gave everything to him and his two sisters Marjorie and Sylvia within their limitations.

Sylvia, who was closely attached to him died young. His father Harold Charles named him Harold Dennis, but his nickname was 'Dickie'.

Bird was a cricketer from Yorkshire, who played in the company of Fred Trueman, Johnny Wardle, Ray Illingworth, Phil Sharpe, all playing for the county. When things went tough for him at Headingly he crossed over to Leicestershire, who were at the bottom of the table.

In his first season he scored over 1,000 runs. He was also involved in an opening stand of 277 with Maurice Hallam against S. Africa.

Besides, he was an advanced level cricket coach and had a coaching stint in S. Africa and did an excellent job. Dickie believes in natural ability of the young players and never interfered with it, but allowed them to play in their own style and only corrected them where it was necessary.

He also spent much time with the underpriviledged blacks in Sweto.

He also believes in faith. His parents taught him and his two sisters the right way to live. Todate he continues to believe in faith and wherever he is, he makes it a point to go to church during his spare time. His father has told him not to smoke and drink. But occasionally after a hard day at the middle he has a drink but he never smoked. His close pal John Hampshire of Yorkshire and England who had later become a Test umpire, once asked him 'Dickie why don't you get married?' He replied that he was "scared that everyone's got Aids" a shrill of laughter.

Here's a complete man who has played the game at the highest level in England county and an advanced level coach and a man who lives and practices faith and helps the needy.

It is not surprising that he is undoubtedly the best umpire in the world to emerge from the nursery of English cricket umpires. In the past, England had Frank Chester (with an amputated hand), Syd Buller, James Handridge etc. England also had the tallest umpire in the world the, amiable policeman, who turned out to be an umpire Nigel Plews, was another character.

This scribe came to know him while covering an assignment in Sharjah. But Dickie, went over the top with his firm decision making and had a sense of humour on and off the field. Two Lankan greats who also played for Leicestershire were Stanley Jayasinghe and Clive Inman.

The agony and ecstacy of The Police Training School

Life at the Police Training School is very tough and tedious for a young lad who joins the Police at a tender age, just out of school. The training lasts six gruelling months which includes Parade, Physical Training, Law, Police Orders and Sports which are compulsory in the curriculum. By the end of the training period the young rookie is transformed from an innocent civilian into policeman mentally and physically.

The agony and ecstacy whilst under training is best described by Sub Inspector Percy Weerasinghe when he was undergoing training in 1951 when the Director of Training was Sydney de Zoysa, which appeared in the Police off duty Magazine the same year in his impeccable English article which many a police officer of yesteryear still cherishes. Percy, an old Royalist had two brothers too in the Police, namely, Berty Weerasinghe another old Royalist and a former Army Officer who fought in World War II and won the bravery medal for his courageous Police duties during the 1958 communal riots whilst being stationed at Anuradhapura as a Supdt. of Police and younger brother Vernon Werasinghe who went to Royal College and Wesley College and who was in the CID as a Chief Inspector for a long period.

Percy Weerasinghe who retired as Chief Inspector described his experiences at the Police training School thus:

"One of the most difficult jobs to get is that of a Sub-Inspector in the Ceylon Police Service. There is tremendous competition. One wonders why. Applicants come in their thousands, many of them are fine men and excellent athletes. The process of enquiry and selection is long and tedious. After pulling out every skeleton in his family cupboard, and subjecting the applicant to a series of interviews and tests, the numbers are dwindled down to a couple of hundreds, and of this a mere handful are picked. At this stage, the candidates are more or less of an equal standard, and luck plays a big hand in the final selection. The disappointed candidates call it influence.

the selected applicant is generally a young man straight out of school. He is good looking and well built. During his schooldays he has spent more time on his games and sports than on his studies. The result is, that while he is a splendid physical specimen, it cannot be said that he is a very brainy type. Academically, he has just managed to pass the SSC, and is still puzzeled as to how he got through. He is of course, a throughly decent fellow, with normally healthy instincts. Being a sportsman, he is imbued with a sense of fair play. His optimism is great! His presumption knows no bounds!

Even before he comes to the school for training the new Sub-Inspector has wonderful dreams and aspiratons. He pictures himself as a smart young officer, immaculately clad in khaki uniform. He has no time for girls. His destiny is to suppress crime. He is Sherlock Holmes in flesh and blood. He will bring his keen analytical mind to bear on cases that baffle the chief. A case such as the CTC Robbery would be mere bagatelle. "Elementary my dear Richard" he would say; and then in the Court House, he will lead evidence like some lion of the bar. He will have the defence at his mercy. His name will be respected in Legal circles, its very mention will strike cold terror in the hearts of criminals. He will someday rise to be the Inspector General of Police!!

Comes the day when the S. I. reports at the School for training. His first impact with Police life is somewhat disillusioning. The optimism begins to waver a little. He is given a pep talk by the Director of Training, in which he is given an outline of the training, and Police life in general. It sounds grim, and not at all in line with his own ideas on the subject. He is told in unmistakable terms, that if he feels he cannot go the whole hog, he may resign without causing the Government any further inconvenience and expenditure. He is also told a great deal about a sense of Duty, Honour, about being straightforward and honest etc. The S. I. who up to this time believed himself to be a bit of a nut, begins to wonder whether he actually is one. To him it sounds more a reproach on his morals. He begins to introspect and feel a little miserable. These pep talks are very common. Anybody who comes in contact with the S.I., gives him one. The Chief Lecturers, the Drill Instructor, and even the Billiard Marker, all try to impress on the S. I. their ability and personality through the medium of these pep talks.

Consciously or unconsciously, the D. T. and his Staff consider a class of Sub-Inspectors, as so many young colts that have to be broken in. The first few lectures given by the Chief Lecturer are a nightmare. In a small class room, the lecturer who is a powerful looking person, yells till he is blue in the face. He goes on rapidly quoting sections from the Penal Code, Evidence Ordinance, and Criminal Procedure. The S. I. is greatly impressed with his legal knowledge, lung power, and accent but being new to all this, he is unable to make head or tail of the lecture. His interest begins to flag. He looks out of the window and begins to wonder whether he has done wisely in joining the Police Service. Could he not have joined a Commercial Firm or an Estate as a Superintedent? Would he not have been better off, and less at sea. There is a tremendous roar, and the S. I. is brought to his feet. He is made to stand, and the lecturer pitches into him as though he has comitted some heinous crime. He is told that he is utterly lacking in a sense of responsibility, and zeal, and so on. they S. I. now actually feels he should have joined an Estate, even as a Kangany.

He is beleaguered so much on little things, that certain words and phrases, such as a sense of Duty, Honour, Playing the game etc., lose their meaning for him. The idea behind the whole thing is that the S. I. must turn out a perfect Policeman, complete in every detail. If the S.I. fails to polish his belt, he is told that he is not playing the game, and not displaying sufficient zeal to Duty, and of course "letting the whole Inspectorate down".

This letting down of the Inspectorate is a favourite gag. As though such a thing were possible. Every member of the Staff from the D. T. downwards is waiting for the S.I. to make a slip, so that he can jump on him with spiked boots; in doing this he takes a positive delight. The S. I. on his part gives ample opportunities for this.

The present day Drill Instructors, are said to be, not such terrors as they used to be some years back. In the olden days they used to actually bite the S. I. and punch him viciously on the back of the neck and solar plexus. The present day Drill Instructor is not so bad, but he certainly does not lessen the trials of an S.I. There is also a file on every S.I. The Staff revel in making adverse entries in this file.

After a couple of months the S.I. is broken in, and he finds his place in the horribly regimented scheme of things.

He now makes entries of his movements in the I.B. as a thing that just has to be done. It was not long ago that he rebelled at the very idea. If two SIs are going out for a walk, they march in step. Occasionally, one can be observed to change his step. This happens automatically, as if it is some natural reflex of the limb.

Young Kenny strikes back; wins Haydock National Trial

By Ismail Khan

Peter Beaumont the trainer of Young Kenny brought off a good 'about turn' when his 8-year-old having unseated rider at Newcastle, exactly seven days ago also in a long distance Grand National Trial, bolted home by 13 lengths from Fiddling The Facts and Him of Praise at Haydock Saturday last also in a National Trial.

All credit for the trainer for nursing him so well to strike back within a week but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth when you trace back Young Kenny's past prolific wins and his easy style of negotiating the fences. This was a sure jumper and in very good form and was going so well when he came a cropper seven days ago. But still Saturday last at 9/1 he gathers himself up so well that he runs away with the £85,000 prize by 13 lengths from an honest jumper Fiddling the Facts whose eighth placed effort this was and Him Of Praise further back in third spot. May be the change of rider from Brian Storey to Brendan Powell did do the trick or may be it was another betting coup being successful. Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway the Premier Grand National Trial at Haydock sponsored by Greenalls over 28 furlongs was run and won and lost bar the shouting and now what matters is the post-mortem of the event. That I leave it to the stewards at Haydock Park.

Now, then the horse to follow from the Grand National Trial; Young Kenny himself, the winner of this event who won this race and other long distance events in his career with consummate ease underlying the fact that IF in the Grand National at Aintree in April will take a lot of beating.

Haydock began the day Saturday last with Tim Easterby's Simply Gifted beating Rajati by 12 lengths with Navarre Samson in third place. Horse to follow: Navarre Samson who came into the firing line a little too late but who with a little more effort could have gone closer to winning.

The next event, the Greenalls Dry Gin Handicap over 20 furlongs went to D. Gandolfo's Mouse Bird from Storm Damage. Follow this horse Storm Damage for an early success.

The next event went to Go Informal ridden by Lorcan Wyer from Blowing Wind who pulled off a good double with this 8-year-old having won the opener with Simply Gifted. Horse to follow in this event; Blowing Wind who jumped his fences like a stranger groping in his own house. Next time he could go close with a little bit of enterprising riding. Race number five as I mentioned earlier went to Young Kenny from Fiddling The Facts and Him of Praise.The fifth event went to Martin Pipe's Rash Remark who beat Smith's Peak by a distance from Lucky Ross.

Elite Racing Club Triumph Hurdle

(Cheltenham March 18) Ante Post Betting (First Ten): Katrino 6/1; Hors La Loi 8/1; Knife Edge 8/1; Afarad 10/1; Dangerous Precedent 12/1; Quel Senor 12/1; Behrajan 12/1; Goldanzig 18/1; Scarlet Pimpernal 20/1; Golden Rule 20/1 Sri Lanka's pace bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara wed Janeena at the Trans Asia Hotel. Pic by Dunstan Wickremaratne

Sri Lanka's pace bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara wed Janeena at the Trans Asia Hotel. Pic by Dunstan Wickremaratne

CCC and NCC beat the rains to win

By Saif Izzadeen

Although rain played a major part in the Premier Inter-Club cricket tournament last weekend, Colombo Cricket Club and Nondescripts Cricket Club did well to beat the rain enabling them to record victories over Matara SC and Wattala Antonian SC respectively..

Rain interrupted play in most of the games from the first day onwards. However CCC and NCC did well to play themselves into winning positions from the opening day.

At the CCC Grounds in Maitland Crescent, where Brendan Kuruppu became the first double centurion for Sri Lanka when he made a patient 201 not out against New Zealand in 1987, the home team scored a resounding innings and 74 runs win over Matara SC.

Taking first lease of the wicket, CCC helped by three cracking innings from former Isipatanian Bradman Ediriweera (103), Lanka de Silva (95) and Hemantha Boteju (72 not out) collected 315 for 5 before declaring the innings.

Matara SC in reply couldn't come to terms with some good right arm fast bowling by Indika Gallage who ran through the innings with a four wicket haul which saw them being bowled out for 156.

Following on Matara SC didn't fare much better as they were skittled out for 85. This time too Indika Gallage proved to be their nemesis as he followed his first innings four wickets haul with another four wickets which gave him a match bag of 8 for 62 and helped his club to secure a convincing victory.

At the adjoining ground NCC gained a 139 runs win over Wattala Antonian SC due to good team work. NCC played as a unit which enabled them to score this victory.

The architects behind the win were batsmen Naveed Nawaz and Asela Pathirana and in the bowling department Sajeewa de Silva continued his good work with the ball and took four wickets and helped his club to score this win.

Four centuries featured in this weekend's inter-club matches. The players to pass the three figure mark were Saman Kumara (Tamil Union), Chaminda Mendis (Colts), Roshan Mahanama (Bloomfield) and Bradman Ediriweera(CCC).

Two batsmen missed their centuries by one and five runs respectively. They were Primesh Perera of Sebastianites who made 99 against SSC. Former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Lanka de Silva too missed his century when he made 95 for CCC against Matara SC

This week's batting honours goes to Tamil Union's Saman Kumara who made a sizzling 122 against Singha SC. The bowling honours goes to Singha SC's S.Sanjeewa who ran through the Tamil Union batting line-up in the second innings to claim 5 for 18.

Results

CCC - 315 for 5 dec beat Matara SC - 156 and 85 by an innings and 74 runs. BRC - 275 for 9 dec and 144 vs Police SC - 152 - draw.

Galle CC - 152 and 167 for 5 vs Bloomfield - 237 for 9 dec - draw. NCC - 307 for 9 dec and 179 for 6 dec beat Wattala Antonian SC - 232 and 136 by 118 runs.

Singha SC - 184 and 126 vs Tamil Union - 245 for 8 dec and 58 for 7 - draw. Moors SC - 281 and 119 for 7 dec vs Kurunegala YCC - 138 and 215 for 7 - draw.

Colts CC - 347 vs Panadura SC - 123 and 152 for 5 - draw. Sebastianites - 184 and 248 for 8 vs SSC - 255 - draw.

Club cricket honours

The day Hammond opened his mouth

By Bruce Maurice

Walter Reginald Hammond - to give him his full name - was one of the world's and England's greatest batsman of a by-gone era. He scored more than 7000 Test runs with a highest score of 336 against New Zealand.

But academically he was not of the same standard as his batting. Especially Geography where he was completely out of his depth. On this particular day the subject was on New Zealand and there was something more important on Hammond's mind than what the Geography master was talking about. Hammond always has a one track mind, and what occupied his mind to the exclusiveness of every thing else was a House match to be played the following day.

Hammond's House was not very strong in bowling, so they had to make a big score if they hoped to win. And Hammond was expected to provide it. But at the nets the previous evening., a bowler of the rival House rolled up one from the back of the hand and bowled Hammond neck and crop. The bowler was delighted and Hammond was nonplussed. Then grinning from ear to ear he did it again with the next delivery.

So as the sunlight warmed his back through the long window, his mind was deeply involved over that particular ball. When like a bolt out of the blue, the master asked him what an aptery was. Hammond got up to answer, but his mind was going round in circles. His condition was apparent to all but no one dared to help him as the master was bending his brows. In agony he looked out of the corner of his eye at his best friend Bill Neale - who also played for Gloucestershire - and out of the corner of his stiff and motionless lips Hammond thought he heard a mutilated whisper. "A swear word for New Zealand, Sir, " glibly announced Hammond without giving his confused brain time to test the sense of it. This was followed by a deathly silence, when someone thinly twittered.

" I have no doubt they have some good ones, but certainly not that. I have already spoken to you about day dreaming. This meams detention," said the master.

"Oh! SIR" came a ragged chorus of voices. Hammond's among them. Because he would have to miss the match. Members of the rival House were also agonized as much as Hammond, as they were no doubt thinking of that googly bowler who had brought Hammond down a peg or two the previous evening. The master thought it over and then said, "Well,"I will postpone it till after the match." Hammond was correct in the main issue because he had mastered the trick of that particular delivery. When the third over started, Hammond went down the wicket and hit it for a massive six. From that moment he had that bowler flat on the decks. He went onto make 365 - the highest score he ever made. After the match he went to see the master. " I've come to see you about the detention Sir, he said "Detention?" asked the master," forget it Hammond. But keep practising those off and cover drives of yours and one day you can go to New Zealand and learn first hand about the aptery," said, the master.

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