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| Sunday, 17 April 2005 |
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Sports |  |
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Straight talk by Lal Gunesekera Malinga-an unpolished 'gem' has come to stay! What would have been the plight of Lasith Malinga if both Nuwan Soysa and Dilhara Fernando were available to tour New Zealand? Both were on the injured list and the selectors were forced to bring in Malinga for the Kiwi tour and he proved himself at Napier in the First Test with a haul of nine wickets (four in the first innings and five in the second). First, it was the Australians and now it was the turn of the Kiwis to face the unorthodox round-arm bowling action of Lasith Malinga. He troubled the batsmen no end, and the Kiwis even went to the extent of requesting the umpires to wear white trousers instead of the black, to see Malinga's deliveries more clearly. They did change the colour of their ties, but refused point blank to change the colour of their trousers just because of one bowler. That's how the New Zealanders feared to face Malinga. He made his debut against the Australians whose batsmen were given a torrid time 'down under'. This was his first tour overseas and then he was pitted against the South Africans on their tour of the island and their batsmen too had problems facing Malinga. A product from the Southern Province, Lasith Malinga, is an unpolished gem, who should be permitted to continue in the same manner-his action I mean, instead of someone attempting to change it, which may not bring in the desired results he is enjoying at present. What were the selectors doing all this time? Where were they? Nuwan Soysa is known to "break down" quite regularly and Dilhara Fernando is a wayward bowler, though fast. Surely, they could have brought in Malinga, who should be persisted with even at this stage. He must be given the opportunity of showing his capabilities, instead of dumping him when Soysa and Fernando are fit. Two other "quickies" who now seems to be in the wilderness are Charith Buddhika and Prabath Nissanka. What has happened to them? One hopes that the selectors will not forget them. They are too good to be left out for long. Where does Michael Van Dort and Russel Arnold stand where the selectors are concerned? Excuses are trotted out, particularly where the former is concerned to say that his fielding is not "upto the mark", but how was it that he was brought in to the Sri Lanka 'A' where he impressed? What about Arnold? Sure, he went through a bad patch with the bat, but has come out of it now. It has been reported that he has been brought in after his performances on the domestic scene. Arnold (in the opinion of many), is the only guy to hold the middle-order together after Arjuna Ranatunga and Hashan Tillekeratne went out of the scene. Our middle-order batsmen collapsed against the Kiwis at Napier and gave a pathetic display at Wellington, except for Thilan Samaraweera and Tillekeratne Dilshan who held the fort when others before them crumbled and fell like nine pins. It would have been a different story if Arnold was there. Man with a vision Dian Games who heads the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) of Sri Lanka is a man with a vision and mission. The young and enigmatic Gomes, who also heads the Sara Lee Courtaulds MAS Holdings Joint Ventures in Sri Lanka, has channelled the monies he has earned at various corporate lectures straight into the coffers of the ABA, helping to garner in more than a million rupees in the past year. The bald-headed, goatee bearded personality often wearing a golf cap, has eight of his contemporaries at Royal College heading eight of the largest conglomerates in the country and handpicked a group of professionals who share his passion and philosophy-people like DIG Thangavelu, Captain G. E. S. de Silva and Marzook, an Asian Games bronze medallist, SP Rohan Abeywardene, Brigadier Jagath Jayasuriya etc. They are all persons who are doers and not just talkers. Gomes has a vision for boxing in Sri Lanka and leads from the front and it seems to be working-going by the results shown to date. He gets help from the corporate sector such as Caltex, MAS Holdings and Brandix. Let's see what Dian Gomes can come up with, in his second term. Rules amended There was a hockey tournament conducted recently for those in the Colombo District (boys and girls under-15 and under-13) where matches were not worked out on schedule. Wesley (under-15 and under-13) were to have played their games in the morning, but the under-13 game itself started only at 12.20 p.m. Though the players were present from 10 a.m., the organisers did not serve any refreshments. During their game with D. S. Senanayake College, certain rules (off-side, 'sticks', obstructions etc) were not adhered to. The same was seen at Wesley's under-15 game with Zahira. One glaring example was when Wesley scored a goal, but the umpire changed his decision and awarded a free-hit, to the opponents to the amazement of the spectators. I wonder whether rules have been amended and hope that qualified umpires will officiate in future as this sort of thing only demoralises the players. Were accounts auditored? Has the accounts of the current year of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka been auditored by the Auditor-General as stipulated in its constitution? If not why? I understand that the head of the NOC and the Auditor-General himself were contemporaries at the University and also at the Sri Lanka Navy, Isn't it a coincidence? PM's wife resigns Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapakse, wife of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, withdrew her nominations from the post of President of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) at the annual general meeting. She was elected uncontested for the second term, but quoted "personal reasons" for her resignation. Now comes the news that the previous head of NFSL, Mrs. Trixie Nanayakkara, is making every attempt to get into the hot seat again. There were plenty of controversies during her tenure of office with the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Jeevan Kumaratunga then appointing Mrs. Tamara Dharmakirthi Herath, to head it. It is good for the sport if only Mrs. Herath reconsiders her decision and returns to head the NFSL. She did a wonderful job earlier. |
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