The Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment XI
A little while back Pro Lion and I ran a little fantasy draft game on our main site-SL Cricket.Com. The rules were simple. A whole heap of cricket fanatics took part and you would get a turn to pick a cricketer from any era of cricket since the 1900s. But you could only pick 2 cricketers from each decade.Needless to say when your turn came around the good guys were all taken. Each round was randomised so that everyone got a fair go to get the best “picks” of that round.
Click here if you want the full details on the competition and how it unfolded over weeks (cuz it was played on a cricket forum with players from USA/Australia/Europe/Asia and sometimes we would have to wait for about a day for a guy from the USA to pick his player when his turn came around)
Tribute to Murali from a Fan
Thank you Murali,from All of us.
What else can you say about Muttiah that hasn’t already been said. Everyone was busy typing up columns and articles for their respective bosses when he over took Shane Warne as the most successful bowler in the history of the game.
But in my opinion those articles cannot be compared to what us fans have been treated to by Murali over the years. So its fitting that this post is all about us- the fans, and we have to say about the man.
Here is what Muralis fans had to say about their favorite Murali Moment(s)
“Everytime he hits a six (his) arms and legs goes everywhere and somehow the ball manages to clear the rope - and usually he has fallen on his backside attempting the shot”
-Lee Barnes from Australia
All Time Sri Lankan Test XI
February 17th-21st in 1982 marked Sri Lankas first ever test. A game we sadly lost the Englishmen, after fighting with them, neck and tooth, for the first few days. All in all it was a good start to our test career as a country.
And so, its been 25 years of test cricket for the Island nation. There have been many ups and downs in our short history in the game and currently Sri Lankan cricket is at its strongest. 106 players have pulled on our national colours and they have done a great service to our cricket in their own way.
I found this an opportune time to put my self in the shoes of the “Joker” and try some “Muppet Mastering” my self. My quest was to come up with the All time Sri Lankan Test XI. NO easy task but luckily I did have my trusty handbook, provided by SLC, to make my decisions easier.
Men in White Coats
Umpiring is widely accepted as one of the toughest jobs in sport. With wave after wave of fans/ex-players/commentators increasingly asking for more technology to be brought into the game it doesn’t get any easier. Umpires are a strange breed, because unlike players they do not gain the accolades and the records and the media that the players crave and play for, and yet they sweat it out over 5 days. The money handed to an “elite” umpire at the end of the game is a joke- it’s close to what a FC cricketer makes (When you compare that with what some of the players make these days it’s absolutely nothing.).
Reading what the umpire needs
So it’s important to know what motivates an umpire to take up the role in the first place. Many umpires who have been offered the role to umpire in the elite panel have declined- eg: Peter Willey. Why? Because many do not want the demanding traveling, the public slandering of their name and the constant heckling.
Regardless of whether Darrel Hair was right or wrong in the decisions he has made- how can an upcoming umpire feel that the working environment is a safe one when looking at how hair was treated by the ICC?
Eng V SL 1st Test: Points to Ponder
Another home test and another win the Sri Lankans at Kandy. It was a bit tricky at the end and it took a couple of special balls from the golden boy from Kandy to seal the deal for the Lankans.
England came to Kandy knowing that they had to get something out of the 1st test if they were to stand a chance of winning this series. Visiting teams do unusually well in the former hill capital but order was restored and normal service resumed as Sri Lanka romped home for a 88 run victory.