[PICS] Sanath Jayasuriya - Chief Guest - CricFest 2009 | Colombo University

 

 

 

Sanath Jayasuriya was invited as the Chief guest during the recently held CricFest 2009 at Colombo University.

Thanks to Mr. Atheeb Mohammed  for these pictures !

Jayasuriya participates in 'Walk for Life 2009' to create diabetes awareness among Sri Lankan public

(Pictures by Udesh Gunarathne)

Commemorating the World Diabetes Day today, 'Walk for Life 2009' a walk organized by the Diabetes Research Unit, Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine in University of Colombo and the Tharunyata Hetak youth organization took place this morning.

The walk commenced at the Colombo Municipal Council Grounds in front of the Vihara Maha Devi Park and ended at the Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha.

General public, school children, medical students, officials from the Health Ministry, athletes and celebrities came together to create awareness on diabetes.

One in ten adults over 20 years and one in five in the urban areas in Sri Lanka are affected by diabetes. The walk aims to create awareness of the controllable disease and to establish a diabetes research fund in Sri Lanka, the organizers said.

Cricket legends Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Akalanka Gamage, 'Tharunayata Hetak' Chairman Namal Rajapaksa and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva were among the participants.

Participating at the event world famous Sri Lankan cricket star Sanath Jayasuriya said, "My mother is also a diabetic patient. So I very well know the suffering of a diabetic patient as well as its complications. Therefore, I wanted to raise an awareness of this disease among the people in our country and in the world."

(Source)

[VIDEO] Sanath Jayasuriya's Fastest ODI Fifty - 50 in 17 balls

Sanath Jayasuriya currently holds the record fastest fifty in ODIs, 50 scored off just 17 balls.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan ODI played at Singapore, 2 April 1996

Score Card : ( http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/66026.html )

Sanath is an important player - Sangakkara

Maintaining that Jayasuriya was very much in the reckoning for the 2011 World Cup, Sangakkara said the team was waiting to see how he performs in his new role on this tour.

"Sanath has been wonderful he's always been positive accepting of the decisions made about him and supporting those ideas. We are going to wait and see how Sanath comes out from this tour. He's a very important player for us going towards the next World Cup," he added.

Sangakkara warned that no excuses like in the past about the food in India or conditions would be tolerated.

"Complaints are negative things and excuses. No matter what happens on field if you focus too much on negative things it's not good for anyone," he said.

Sangakkara said if Lanka were to become competitive away from home they need to toughen up mentally.

"Sometimes they are too pampered and spoilt to accept things not going our way. We have to change attitude. If you want to compete well anywhere in the world you need to become mentally tougher. This (tour) is a start," he said.

"If we can all play our cricket fair and hard and commit to give 100 per cent we don't need these complaints and excuses. We have to enjoy India as a country, enjoy the tour as individuals and as a team," he added.

Simply Sanath Jayasuriya Magic - G Rajaraman

There are many facets to Jayasuriya, but all of them can be summed up in one phrase, a quiet achiever. Or Simply Sanath, shall we say?

G.rAJARAMAN ON SANATH TERAN JAYASURIYA

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Some have branded him Butcher of Matara. Others prefer the more subtle Matara Marauder or even the Matara Marvel when they want to talk about him but, left to himself, it is more likely than not that he would tell you that he prefers to be called simply Sanath. Come to think of it, 'Simply Sanath' goes well with his approach to batting—direct and uncomplicated. It also reflects his unique approach to captaincy—simple and straightforward. Above all, it mirrors his philosophy of life.

He may lack the statesmanship of an Arjuna Ranatunga as captain or the style of an Aravinda de Silva at the batting crease, but from the time he exploded on the international stage as a pinch-hitting opening batsman in 1995-96, Sanath Jayasuriya has been able to quietly achieve so much that he will always be regarded one of Sri Lanka's finest sporting champions.

You do not need statistics to substantiate the fact that the 33-year-old is a pillar of the Sri Lankan cricket team as it prepares for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The blades of Herschelle Gibbs and Virender Sehwag may produce the staccato bursts more often now than Jayasuriya's, but few captains will risk ignoring the real threat that he poses to their bowlers.

Several years after he gave notice of his big-hitting, bowlers around the world still respect him and his wonderful gifts while captains continue to scratch their heads, wondering how to set fields to the aggressive left-hander. Long after he puts down his blazing bat, Jayasuriya will be remembered as one of the first executioners of a strategy adopted by nearly all teams now.

Of course, India's own Krishnamachari Srikkanth pioneered the audacious strokes over the in-field early in the innings. But it was Jayasuriya, along with Romesh Kaluwaitharana, who set lofty standards as pinch-hitting opening batsmen.

There were not few who reckoned Jayasuriya depended so much on eye-hand coordination that he would run out of steam as he grew older. But at 33, he has shown no signs of slowing down at all. Two hundreds in successive VB Series matches against Australia and England last week are convincing evidence. The back-to-back centuries in Sydney in the VB Series are ominous warnings for teams in the World Cup—Jayasuriya remains hungry as ever.

He is so strong mentally that he does not appear to worry needlessly over who is bowling. For him, it is the ball that he is playing, not the bowler. He is fairly quick on his feet, getting into position to play his strokes with the minimum of fuss. He works the ball really well off his legs and punishing the short ball ruthlessly as it were and can send the ball high over the in-field when the ball is pitched up to him. Then again, he is no mere slogger. The 10 hundreds and 22 half-centuries in Test cricket bear testimony to his overall quality as a batsman.

Nobody was more aware than Jayasuriya that Ranatunga was always going to be a hard act to follow as Sri Lankan captain. Small wonder then, he took quite a while to settle down. In fact, he has gone on record saying he was shocked when handed the reins of the team before the aiwa Cup at home in 1999. It took him a good part of three years to evolve as captain, leading the Test team to nine successive victories at home.

There has been criticism of his captaincy by consensus—he tends to convene mid-wicket conferences—but there can be no doubt that he has been a quiet but very strong influence on Sri Lankan cricket. He played no mean hand in the return of De Silva to the team, has handled his bowlers really well, takes care of the newcomers in the side and, above all, has got along well with coach Dave Whatmore. All this ensures harmony both on the field and in the dressing room.

He has seen it all. The high of a World Cup conquest in 1996 and the low of a dismal tour of India two years earlier, the agony of sitting out with injury and the ecstasy of being named Most Valuable Player of the World Cup, the despair of a divorce, which affected him before the 1999 World Cup, and the delight of the birth of his daughter last February.

Scoring runs and leading his team to victory may be top priorities, but Jayasuriya has shown his heart is in the right place, devoting time as an unaids Ambassador of Goodwill and in getting his team to support the Hope Foundation's bid to build a cancer hospital in Sri Lanka. These are but two examples of his wanting to contribute to the society at large.

For one who grew up reading about the exploits of Vivian Richards, and Sunil Gavaskar, Jayasuriya has not done badly himself. Indeed, there are many facets to Sanath Teran Jayasuriya. But all of them can be summed up in one phrase, a quiet achiever. Or Simply Sanath, shall we say?

( Article Written by G Rajaraman - Outlook Jan 27, 2003 )

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Jayasuriya vows to fight on, facing uncertain future in cricket

With his future as an international cricketer in serious doubt, veteran Sanath Jayasuriya vowed not to give in, saying his international cricket career is far from over. Members of the national selection committee, together with skipper Kumar Sangakkara, said on Thursday that they didn’t believe the 40-year-old has a future as an opener.

The selectors also said that there’s no guarantee that Jayasuriya will feature in all matches of the upcoming ODI series against India and his participation depended solely on conditions and the requirements of the team.

"I am not going to give up. I will keep fighting and the series against India provides me with an opportunity and I am waiting for that opportunity," the left-hander, into the 20th year of his international career told.

"No players’ place is guaranteed in the team. There aren’t free places available in the side and you have to keep fighting. Not just for me, it’s applicable to all the players. You have to consistently perform for the team," Jayasuriya added.

Jayasuriya lost his place in the side last year as well, but was called back to the side ahead of the Asia Cup owing to his good form in the Indian Premier League T-20 tournament and on that occasion he blasted twin hundreds in the tournament, including one in the final, where the rest of batting, with the exception of Tillekeratne Dilshan, failed miserably. Sri Lanka went on to win that tournament.

He also hit a hundred early this year against India and became the oldest player to score a hundred in an ODI just four months before his 40th birthday.

Source : The Island

Jayasuriya to drop down the order - Sangakkara

Sri Lanka, in their forthcoming tour to India, will like to erase the dubious record of never having won a Test match on the Indian soil.

As the men from the Emerald Isles prepare to embark on the tour, skipper Kumar Sangakkara has a short and simple message for his team.

"The attitude should be simple. The first thing we should start with is no complaints with anything," said Sangakkara.

The wicketkeeper batsman has asked his players to concentrate on their strengths and do what they do best, instead of complaining about the uncontrollables.

He urged his men to use their energy in focusing on their game rather than finding flaws in the conditions, pitches and other things about the tour.

The Lankan captain expects the series, which includes three Tests, two Twenty20s and five ODIs, to be “very exciting and also a daunting task” for his side.

Talking about the composition of his team, Sangakkara conceded that the old war-horse Sanath Jayasuriya will drop down in the batting order in order to accommodate young opener Upul Tharanga, who is likely to open the innings along side Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The 40-year-old Matara Marauder has opened the innings in 387 matches out of 441 that he has played, scoring 12,738 runs with an average of 34.

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Will this be the end of Sanath Jayasuriya's reign?

Sanath Jayasuriya, the oldest player in modern cricket is to miss his usual position as the opening batsman during the upcoming One day series in India.

Speaking at a press briefing held in Colombo this afternoon, the captain of the Sri Lankan team, Kumar Sangakkara said Sanath will bat at the number six position in the ODI series.

According to Sangakkara this decision was taken due to the need of an all-rounder in the middle order.

The cricket analysts say this would be the first step of removing Sanath Jayasuriya from Sri Lankan squad.

In the ODI series T.M. Dilshan and Upul Tharanga will open the batting for Sri Lanka, Sangakkara added.

However, it was reported that T.M Dilshan has sustained an injury during a practice session this morning, but expect to recover before the Indian tour begins.

Sri Lankan team will play five one day international matches against the Indian team during the upcoming series.

Source : Colombo Page

Sanath Jayasuriya's future under scrutiny

Sanath Jayasuriya's cricketing future has been put in the balance with Sri Lanka's selectors saying today that his days as an opener are effectively over and that following the upcoming tour of India he will be picked on performance alone. Jayasuriya, 40, has been picked in the one-day squad as an allrounder who can bat down the order and bowl left-arm spin.

"What we expect from Sanath is that he should win one in three games for Sri Lanka, which he was doing in the past," Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, said in Colombo. "But now that has reduced and we are a little concerned about it. In the Champions Trophy in South Africa his performance was below par .That's the reason why we have gone in with the option of playing him as an allrounder."

Jayasuriya scored freely during the World Twenty20 in England this summer, where Sri Lanka finished runners-up, and ended as their joint second-highest run-getter with 177 at 25.28. However, he underperformed in the limited-overs fixtures against New Zealand and India at home and in the Champions Trophy.

Sri Lanka's selectors have Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan in mind as the opening pair for the future and Jayasuriya's selection will depend on the requirements of the team depending on where they will play. "We have spoken to Sanath on the role he has to play," de Mel said. "He has the option to play as an allrounder. We have considered him for this tour only, after that his selection will depend on his performance. He has to perform to hold his place in the team for the World Cup."

de Mel said the selectors did not have a settled position for Jayasuriya, who was impressive as an allrounder during Sri Lanka's victorious World Cup campaign in 1996, and that his flexibility worked in his favour. "Especially in the batting power play having a spinning allrounder like Sanath is useful in the subcontinent because he can hit the ball. He might bat in the middle or in the top order depending on the situation," he said. "Also, the World Cup will be held in the subcontinent where his left-arm spin can become useful. He can perform that role because in South Africa in the game against New Zealand when they scored 300 runs he was the one who bowled ten overs for three wickets and 30 runs. He has done well in the subcontinent especially with his bowling."

Jayasuriya is the second batsman after India's Sachin Tendulkar to pass 13,000 runs in ODIs and also holds the record for being the oldest batsman to score a one-day century, at 39 years and 212 days against India in Colombo. Of the 13,377 runs he has scored in 441 ODIs, 2841 have come in 86 ODIs against India including seven hundreds at a strike-rate of 97.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara felt the main factor in Sri Lanka's poor ODI performances over the past two years has been an inconsistent batting line up. "The biggest let-down we had is our batting. We suffered because we had lots of batting position changes up and down the order," he said. "For the batting to improve you must give the players the confidence. They must know what role they are supposed to play. Role identification has been a big problem. Except for the openers no one knew what their role was in the side.

"We have never clicked in all departments those are things the team ignored for a while. The players have now started to realise that they take a lot of pride not just representing the country but to be up to the task that is required of them by the team."

Fielding was one of the key areas where Sri Lanka suffered during the Champions Trophy and to address the poor standards and improve them Sri Lanka Cricket acquired the services of Gavin Fingleson, a former Olympic baseball player.

"He didn't come and change but showed us how do things right. He showed us little points that will make us better and quick fielders, at the same time we also realized to be quicker on the field you've got to be fitter as a side," Sangakkara said. "We started doing a lot of work on fitness running. Gavin showed us a lot of drills and how you can gain that extra second advantage when going for a catch or trying to stop the ball. At the same time the most important point was to make sure at practice you do everything as perfectly, those are the habits we have to build on."

Jayasuriya – still Sri Lanka’s match winner

The master is still a match winner

The world’s best ODI player with a fantastic record not just in ODI’s but in Test’s too, Sanath Jayasuriya may be 40 plus but is still raring to go. Despite a rather modest return at home in the recent T20 games against New Zealand there is little doubt that Sanath Jayasuriya is still very much the Master Blaster and holds the key to a very great extent with regards to the success of Sri Lanka in the shorter version of the game and in the Champions Trophy in South Africa. Known for his attacking batsmanship with his liking for the upper cut and the pull Jayasuriya can be devastating when on song. All Sri Lankans will be naturally hoping that “Sana” as he is fondly known will be able to fire on all cylinders come the big event in South Africa as there is very little doubt that he is one of the most feared batsmen in world cricket.

Looking in to his beginnings Jayasuriya started his game as an aggressive middle order batsman and was always hailed as a future star for Sri Lanka. This was further confirmed when on a tour to Pakistan with the Sri Lanka A team Jayasuriya had the rare distinction of scoring back to back double hundreds, a feat which I am sure will be extremely tough to emulate! Especially for a visiting batsman in Pakistan!
Despite his brilliance in batting in the middle order Jayasuriya’s ascendancy to the openers spot was something totally unexpected. Having been asked to open on the controversial tour to Australia in the mid nineties, the great left hander since then has never looked back. It was on the same tour that both Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana another hard hitting wicket keeper opening batsman started the innovative batting approach to the first ten overs of a ODI game by smashing the bowlers to all parts of the ground giving the game a new dimension and definitely to the rest of the teams some food for thought in its approach to ODI cricket. Come 1996 Wills World Cup Sanath Jayasuriya received a major recognition being picked the most valuable player of the tournament, ahead of some big names such as Mark Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Sri Lanka’s own Aravinda De Silva, confirming his status as a rising star of the world scene.

Sanath Jayasuriya had arrived and was ready to stay for a very long time in the game!

Since then Jayasuriya has definitely been the star of many Sri Lankan shows. Be it smashing one day hundreds or scoring the 340 against India at the Premadasa Stadium in that World Record Test score or the breathtaking double hundred against England at the Oval, when Sri Lanka won a test match for the first time in that country, Jayasuriya was simply all class. With his phenomenal record of almost 20,000 plus runs at International cricket with 42 hundreds and 99 half centuries plus his 417 wickets, he will surely be a very strong contender for the title “Sri Lanka’s greatest ever Cricketer”.

It will be with that background and pedigree that Sanath Jayasuriya will enter the ring against the world’s top bowlers, when the ICC Champions Trophy begins with the opening game against the top ODI team in the world, South Africa. Taking a much closer look at Jayasuriya’s skills at the advanced cricketing age of 40 it’s interesting to note the many changes he has adopted in his batting and how beautifully his game has been fine tuned. Sanath Jayasuriya is without an iota of doubt one of the hardest working cricketers in the world. When critics questioned his ability to cope with the short rising ball directed at the body or his horizontal shots at the top of the order, Jayasuriya’s reply was to let his broad bat talk and that he achieved with a lot of dedication and commitment which he still religiously pursues even now. One could only but marvel at Sanath watching him on the cricket field, either fielding so brilliantly with his running, pickups and even accurate throwing or stifling a batting line up with his left arm spin or simply smashing the bowling around.

Jayasuriya has challenged even the fittest men in the cricketing arena of Sri Lanka in that aspect. It is a clear indication that he is still able to deliver. With not many more Everest’s to conquer for this great left hander, I am sure he would want to call it a day when he is on a high. And one way of being on a high is to perform in the Champions Trophy in South Africa. Sanath we know you have done it in the past and we know you can do it again.

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