Paranavithana a poor sport

Before a sportsman or sportswoman takes the field, masters-in-charge and coaches are expected to teach them the virtues or the 'dos' and 'dont's' associated with the wonderful thing called sport.

'Not to hit a man when he is down', 'not to hit below the belt', to play a straight bat' and most importantly - that winning or losing is not what matters, but how one played the game - are the axioms belted into sports people.

Apparently these virtues have not been inculcated into Sri Lankan opening batsman Tharanga Paranavithana by his Masters-in-Charge or the coaches which is a sad indictment on them.

The other day during the New Zealand-Sri Lanka Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, when the visitors were hanging on grimly to save the Test, the incident that took place with Paranavithana being the culprit, should have no place in the world of sport.

It was bump catch

Paranavithana took what was apparent to all a bump catch off the bat of Ian O'Brien and kept appealing insisting that it was a clean catch. Umpires Darrel Harper and Nigel Long quite rightly took the appeal to the third umpire who ruled it not out. TV replays also clearly showed that it was 'no catch'.

Why Paranavithana had to behave in such a disgraceful and degrading manner is inexplicable. Apparently frustration had set in what with the Kiwis admirably and determinedly fighting to save the Test and the Lankans lacking the bowlers to dismiss the opponents fairly and squarely.

Paranavithana's behaviour to say the least was unacceptable and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. I am sure coach Trevor Bayliss and manager Brendon Kuruppu would have told him what they thought of his action and would have severally reprimanded him asked him not to repeat.

The cricketers need not be told that their every action is watched to where ever in the cricket world TEN SPORTS was taking the action to. Cricket viewers would have been stunned by the unsporting gesture by Paranavithana.

He was fined 50 per cent of his match fee which was insufficient. A fine and a suspension would have fitted the crime.

Lucrative future

Paranavithana must understand that he has a lucrative future in the game. Then he must learn to play the game clean and according to its rules and regulations. If he thinks he could bounce these rules, then he should be nowhere near a playing field. What Paranavithana did brought to mind a similar incident when Asanka Gurusinha also took a 'bump' catch off Martin Crowe also at the SSC and insisted that he took the catch clean. Crowe refused to budge and umpire Ignatius Anandappa had to rescind his decision where he ruled Crowe out.

We hope that young Paranavithana will take these comments in the spirit it is made, and next time round when faced in a similar situation would remember that golden axiom - that it is not the winning or losing that matters, but how one played the game - be a good boy and an example.

Twenty20 three run loss

After a devastating opening blast by Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Kiwis rallied magnificently to beat the Sri Lankans by three runs and scalp the first Twent20 game under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday night.

After the Kiwis struggled to make 141 off their 20 overs and when Dilshan was going like a rocket, it looked as though the Lankans would canter home like Jamaican Usain Bolt did in scalping a world record in the 100 metre dash in Berlin and register an easy win.

But unenterprising batting by the rest of the batsmen saw to it that they would not reach the target and with the Kiwis winning the first one, the stage is set for a blockbuster final game.The batting that is worth talking about is Ross Taylor's intelligently made 60 and Dilshan's hurricane 57 in 28 deliveries. As for the bowling it was Daniel Vettori 2 for 11 and Jacob Oram 3 for 33 including a hat-trick that chartered victory for them.

Good show Police

When a 50-over game was played at the R. Premadasa Stadium between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the security people, especially the Police came in for a lot of criticism, the way they handled the big crowd that was struggling to get in to watch the action.

Sri Lanka Cricket Chairman D.S. de Silva and Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga summoned a meeting between the media and the Police at the Cricket Board Headquarters to try and do better when the New Zealand and Sri Lanka played the first Twenty20 game and not be accused of any allegations or dereliction of duty.

It was a very cordial meeting that the SLC Security Consultant, Major General Lawrence Fernando Rtd, Colombo DIG M.D. Herath, DIG Traffic Lucky Pieris and DIG Nimal Mediwaka, the Police media spokesman had with the media and ironed out the differences.

What one saw in the First Twenty20 between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the R.Premadasa Stadium was good control all round with the spectators and the security people understanding each other's duties. Spectators entered the venue without any hassle and watched and enjoyed the game peacefully, although the Lankan supporters would not have enjoyed the final result of the game.

At this juncture when the Police Department is taking a bashing, I would like to offer a big bouquet to DIGs Herath,Pieris and Mediwaka for an excellent job done.

Police sportsmen

Incidentally it was nice to see two sporting Policemen having a tete-a-tete with the media.

First to DIG Lucky Pieris. Pieris was a superb flanker for Trinity and later the Police when Police rugby was at its best winning many trophies. He played in good rugby company in the Police and was instrumental in helping them win many trophies.

Then DIG Nimal Mediwaka was an excellent soccerite for Vidyartha and Zahira, Gampola. On leaving school, he took to soccer administration and was the President of the Nuwara Eliya Football League. Mediwaka also did a lot for Kandy soccer and has also held top positions in the Football Federation of Sri Lanka.

Good then that they are in top positions.