Sri Lanka’s victory over India: a fluke?

In beating India by a huge 161 runs in the tri-nation tournament which also features West Indies at Sabina Park in Jamaica on Tuesday, Sri Lanka can be happy, but cannot caw to the world about it.

Beating India the World Cup Champions in a match that does not hold much significance or importance is no big deal. When it comes to battling India in a semi-final or final, the Lankans like they showed in the World Cup final in 2011 and in the ICC Champions Trophy Twenty20, they choke!

It remains a mystery as to how come the Sri Lankans when they play India in a ICC competition, they crumble like rag dolls. And every time this happens, questions are being asked by knowledgeable critics.

In recent times the Sri Lankans have come to be tagged second to the South Africans as chokers.

Thankful for small mercies

Anyway the Sri Lankan cricketers should be thankful for small mercies.

For the record, in their win against India openers Mahela Jayewardene 107 and Upul Tharanga unbeaten with a massive 174 made merry in a stand of 213 runs.When Tharanga was dropped from the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy questions were asked and the selectors were taken to task. But you can’t blame the selectors because they always endeavour to pick the best. Anyway on this tour Tharanga has made the selectors rethink.

Tharanga’s 174 was studded with 19 fours and 3 sixes and came off 159 balls in 228 minutes. Jayewardene had 9 fours and 2 sixes in his knock of 107 in 173 deliveries. Their record stand of 213 came in 232 deliveries. India could manage only 187 in 44.5 overs. India was sans regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was injured.

The Eagle has landed

And thankfully the Eagle has landed. The many times postponed International Cricket Council’s Test Championships will finally see the light of the day when it is conducted in England by the England and Wales Cricket Board in July 2017.

At its annual conference it was also decided to hold the Second Edition of the ICC Test Championship in India in 2021. The EWCB will have enough time to work out the modalities and finally get the The Championships called ‘play’ in England in 2017.The Test Championships were mooted some years back. But due to various constrains it had always been put off. But finally the lords at the ICC have taken their stance at the wicket and delivered.

Test playing nations will rejoice

All the Test playing nations will rejoice at this decision and sing the praises of the ICC. The ICC had to take some stick for always postponing this tournament. But finally they have delivered and that’s great.

Also at the IC meeting it was decided to give umpires more power to dealing with ball tampering. In the Sri Lanka- England Champions Trophy game at the Kennington Oval, allegations were made that an England player was spied scratching one of the two balls.

It was done to give the England medium pace bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan undue advantage to gain reverse swing.

The England player was not named, but he was obvious to all.

Damning allegation

This damning allegation was made by none other than former England fast bowler Bob Willis who was doing commentary for SKY TV when the umpires were forced to change one ball.

England Captain Alastair Cook seemed to be annoyed by the allegation and retorted by saying that ball was changed due to it going out of shape. But while it was hoped that Wills’ allegation would be probed, it did not come up further inquiry or discussion by the powers that be - the ICC. And for the moment Wills’ allegation lies dead and buried.

Why the ICC did not think it right to at least hold an inquiry into Willis’ allegation will remain a cricketing mystery. Wills is no ordinary guy. He had to take responsibility because he said it on popular SKY TV. How Willis will bowl it from here, will be interesting to watch.

Warne in the news

The finest spin bowler that the cricket world has seen and will probably ever see Shane Warne, wherever he goes or whatever he does is big news. He now spends most of his time here with his fiancée Liz Hurley who is a Brit.

Warne whose action was never questioned during his playing days when he had all leading batsmen bamboozled and in a flat spin, bowled the most difficult art of spin – leg spin. He worked hard for hours on his bowling and mastered a variety of deliveries watched by his coach Terry Jenner to whom he owes his success.Warne was in London doing TV commentary for SKY Sport on the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy and excelled in that field of sport with his clever reading of the wickets, the game etc.

Top class leg spin bowlers

Very soon England will have some top class leg spin bowler like the great Warne. His fiancée and he have built a house in Gloucestershire and the spin legend wants to have his own cricket pitch in the grounds.

Warne who has already worked with Cricket Australia to help emerging talent in Melbourne intends to get young Brit spin bowlers and teach them how to bowl good leg spin.With Warne to show them how. England will be well served in the art of leg spin/googly bowling in the future. England has had top class off spin bowlers, but not leg spinners. The only leg spinner we remember was Doug Wright in the 1950s.Warne also intends to host charitable matches in an attempt to raise funds for the Shane Warne Foundation. A match he organized early this year fetched 20,000 pounds for his fund and the Hop, Skip and Jump Foundation, which both support children.

World Cup riots in Brazil

The chances of five times winners of the Football World Cup Brazil conducting the World Cup next year seems to be receding if the riots that are taking place in Brazil is an indication. The Brazilians have taken to the streets protesting at the high cost of conducting the World Cup which amounts to pounds 18.7billion.

Millions have joined demos in 100 cities across the country claiming the money could have been put to better use in schools and hospitals.

Looters sought to cash in on the unrest in Rio de Janeiro and riot police had to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at groups of masked youth trying to storm the city. In case Brazil is unable to conduct next year’s World Cup, England winners of the World Cup in 1966 and with many football stadiums have shown willingness to step in and conduct the tournament.

Serena Williams dumped

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships here in England was jolted with the defeat of reigning women’s champion Serena Williams by little known German and 23 seed Sabine Lisicki.Tagged ‘boom, boom’, she sent shockwaves through the women’s game by outplaying the feared Williams. Liscicki’s 6-2,1-6,6-4 victory ended Williams’ 34-match winning run and has been heralded as the biggest shock of a tournament in which Roger Federer, Rafal Nadal and Maria Sharpova have already been ousted.Lisciki’s booming serve that clocked 122mph – still slower than Williams – was what caused Williams’ downfall. She cried tears of joy at the end of match. The previous German men’s tennis player to dominate Wimbledon was Boris Becker.

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