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Sunday, 1 April 2012

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Cricket deservedly returns to the P. Sara

There is a mystique that is always associated with the Colombo Oval that not only floods the mind with nostalgia, but keeps one guessing as to what surprises, and great feats, and records are in store.

English cricketers have etched their imprint in the history books of Sri Lanka-Ceylon Cricket, I might add. One recalls the days when the likes of Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney, and Ken Barrington and Tony Greig-all England greats graced our turfs.

They endeared themselves to the Sri Lankan fans with their demonstration of style, class and sportsmanship. Its against this background that the visiting English team are doubly welcome.

And so it as International cricket returns to the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium once again, the aura of mystique can well pervade the grounds given the nail biting and heart throbbing first Test we witnessed in Galle last week.

For the benefit of the new generation of cricket fans it is worth stating that the Oval is the home ground of the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, appropriately named the Colombo Oval. In those early days, it was the venue where all international teams played whistle stop games, because Sri Lanka had not yet attained Test status.

The picturesque venue of the Colombo Oval still boasts of one of the best score boards in all Test playing venues that I have seen. I remember when Tony Greig led England and the match was played at the Oval how he hit Sri Lanka's left arm spinner Ajit de Silva on to the top of the scoreboard for six. The ground still has a billiard table top finish that adds to the mystique.

Former greats

The P. Sara Stadium has seen many former greats showing their prowess while playing on that hallowed turf. Names among the illustrious that come to mind are those of the greatest batsman that the world of cricket has seen, or will see, Sir Donald Bradman.

Others are the terrible and incredible 'Ws' of West Indian cricket Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Frank Worrell, and of course Garfield Sobers, Wesley Hall, Rohan Kanhai and several other great stars from all cricket playing countries.

Of the local cricketers, the one who showed his wizardry on that ground was the debonair and playboy Mahadevan Sathasivam. During his dominance, he was the best player of the late cut in world cricket.

While I am not qualified enough to write more about the history of the P. Sara Stadium aka Colombo Oval, it begs the question as to why this venue which has so much rich history was not used as the headquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket when it attained Test status in 1982.

Turned down

When Sri Lanka, after being turned down by the Lords at Lord's at that time, finally entered the portals of the elusive club of Test playing nations, the inaugural Test against England was indeed played at the P. Sara. So its perplexing as to why the P. Sara Stadium facility is not given the respect and honour it deserves and be designated as the centre of gravity of Sri Lanka cricket.

Indeed it is sad that not many international matches have been assigned to the P. Sara Stadium. We complement the SLC for their choice of the Colombo Oval for the Second Test against England.

When Andrew Strauss and Mahela Jayewardene's England and Sri Lanka teams play there this week and we are confident that the Tamil Union authorities will spruce up the stadium and provide a wicket and a ground which the teams and the spectators could enjoy and savour five days of exciting cricket.

There will be the vociferous England's 'Barmy Army' filling the open stands and shouting themselves hoarse supporting their team who are the number one in the world of Test cricket. They will be given a run for their money by Sri Lanka,s Papare Bands which must surely have acquired more gusto following the Sri Lanka win in Galle.

Grab the opportunity

So, it is now up to the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club to grab the opportunity and conduct a Test match to high standards, so that Sri Lanka Cricket will make the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium a permanent venue for international cricket.

Former double international in cricket and hockey Chandra T.A. Schaffter is the nerve, sinew and muscle of the club now and he can be relied upon to deliver a enjoyable, memorable and result-oriented Test match.

On Saturday the club opened its new Media Complex which can be classed with the best that other Test playing countries can provide.

Great on the Windies

The West Indies captained by Darren Sammy performed creditably to hold the high-riding Australians led by Shane Watson to 2-all one-day international series with one game ending in a nail-biting tie in the Caribbean.

If the result is an indication, then there is no doubt that the game in the Caribbean is once again on the up and up.

The Australians arrived in the West Indies with a proud record of having beaten India and then Sri Lanka in the best of three Commonwealth Bank Tri-series and were expected to dump the Windies.

Rude shock

But the Aussies were in for a rude shock. The Windies led cleverly by Darren Sammy put the Aussies through the wringer. And if they had little bit of luck that is so very essential in cricket as in life, they would have surely dented Aussie pride.

Watching these two teams in action, it was a refreshing if not tantalising to see an off-spinner by the name of Sunil Naraine in action for the Windies. Tall and nicely built with a high arm action, in addition to having the ability to get his off spinners to spin viciously. Yes, he can bowl a stinging doosra. Naraine made all the frontline Aussie batsmen play the wrong line, unable to read his magical spinning doosra. If the Windies persist with him in all forms of the game, there is no doubt that he will finally end up bowling them to many victories, but also end up with a big haul of wickets.

King of the doosra

Pakistan's Saed Ajmal is the king of the doosra at the moment, with India's Ravichandran Ashwin not very far behind. Naraine has the promise to be an equal.

But what is sad is that Naraine has decided to play in the money spinning Indian Premier League and not for the West Indies in the Test series against Australia.

With cricket in the Caribbean looking promising, it is now up to the warring factions to bury the hatchet and get the dashing left-hander and former Captain Christopher Gayle playing for them again. Gayle's presence could inspire Sammy's team to greater achievements.

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