Sanga’s choice of openers upsets Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya questioned the wisdom of Kumar Sangakkara making his choice of batting line-up for the World Cup public, saying as skipper, Sangakkara should be more responsible about the statements he made.

''You can have your opinions as an individual, but when you are in a position of responsibility, you must be careful of what you say in public,” the most capped one-day player in the history of the game told Deccan Herald. Sangakkara’s preferred line-up does not include Jayasuriya, the current captain plumping instead for younger guys like Dinesh Chandimal and Jeevan Mendis who are not in the squad for the tri-series under way. “I am not disappointed, it’s just an individual making a statement,” the 41-year-old Jayasuriya reiterated. “Anybody has the freedom to do so, but we must remember that there is a system in place, there are four selectors whose job it is to pick the team. Yes, the captain must have a say, I agree, but at the end of the day, the players must play the game and the administrators must run it. “There are six months between now and the World Cup, anything can happen in that period. For the captain to come out and make his choices clear and public is not in good taste. What are the selectors there for?” Jayasuriya, an elected member of Parliament, questioned. The explosive left-hander hasn’t played for Sri Lanka since the World T20 in the Caribbean, and his last 50-over game for the country was in India last December. “I am still fit, and I have the same enthusiasm as before,” the former skipper went on. “I have been training with the domestic season in mind. I have come up the hard way, taken several knocks along the way and therefore I value playing for Sri Lanka. I feel I still have what it takes to succeed at the international level. “Now that I have retired from Test cricket, I am managing my cricket better, too,” he observed. “Age is just a number, I don’t think it has affected my fitness in any way because I work really hard to stay fit. And I don’t give up. I know that eventually, it’s performances that will count, and that once the provincial tournament starts, I must grab my chances and make runs. I was happy with the runs I made for Worcestershire this season in England, and I am confident I will deliver in the domestic competition too.” Massive stage Only Javed Miandad has played in six World Cups. Jayasuriya and his Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar have been part of five campaigns, with a sixth beckoning. “The World Cup is a massive stage, and I personally feel the future of 50-over cricket is secure,” Jayasuriya pointed out. “It’s a bit disappointing that the fans aren’t flocking the grounds to watch one-day cricket like they used to. Now, it’s all about T20 cricket – the combination of cricket and entertainment. Plus, you get a result in three hours. The administrators must find ways of bringing the crowds back to 50-over cricket.” One of the pioneers of making the most of the first 15 overs, Jayasuriya agreed that the face of the 50-over game had changed. “There aren’t too many destructive openers. Of course, there is Sehwag who is a unique player. There is no doubt he is the most explosive opener now. But with the introduction of the batting Power Play, there is scope to make quick runs in other positions too.”

Jayasuriya, Tharanga star in Ruhuna's crushing win

Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya at Olam Cup 2010, Singapore 

(Photographer: Critically Cricket)

The former national opening pair of Upul Tharanga 83 not out and Sanath Jayasuriya 53 put up a fireworks display for Ruhunu Province to defeat Sri La Cricket Combined XI by nine wickets in the Inter Provincial Twenty20 cricket tournament match played at Lake View grounds, Kandy yesterday.

Left handed Sanath Jayasuriya smashed quick 53 in just 21 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes while Upul Tharanga made his runs in just 58 balls hitting 3 sixes and 9 fours. They together put on 81 for the first wicket, Dinesh Chandimal too batted well to score 42 not out with 1 four and 3 sixes off 36 balls.

For SLC Combined XI Kithruwan Withanage was in full cry and tore into the Wayamba attack by scoring an aggressive 62 not out with 6 sixes and 3 fours in only 30 balls.

SLC Combined XI 179 for 5 in 20 overs (Achira Eranga 22, Hans Fernando 66, Bhanuka Rajapakse 20, Kithruwan Withanage 62 not out, Tharanga Lakshitha 2 for 29, Sajeewa Weerakoon 1 for 14, Sachithra Senanayake 1 for 20, T .M. Sampath 1 for 4.

Ruhunu Province 181 for 1 in 18 overs (Sanath Jayasuriya 53, Upul Tharanga 83 not out, Dinesh Chandimal 42 not out )

Sanath and Upul steer Ruhuna to a thrilling 4 run win

Sanath Jayasuriya bowling at the Olam Cup 2010 at Singapore.

(Thanks to Critically Cricket for the Image)

Dashing opener Upul Tharanga hit a top score of 93 and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya snapped up four wickets to help Ruhuna Province pull off a thrilling four runs victory over the unbeaten Kandurata team in a key SLC Inter Provincial limited overs cricket tournament match worked off at the Galle Stadium yesterday.

Kandurata chasing a modest 213 runs recovered well after a bad start before falling short by just four runs with two balls to spare. All rounder Jeewan Mendis was the last man out for a fighting 59 which included one six and two boundaries.

Jayasuriya who opened the bowling along with Sachithra Senanayake, caused most of the damage with the best figures of four wickets for 26 runs. Earlier Upul Tharanga hammered a magnificent 93 from 135 balls with seven boundaries to steer Ruhuna to 213 runs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Ruhuna: 213 in 50 overs (U.Tharanga 93, S. Jayasuriya 25, D. Chandimal 25, K. Kulasekera 21, S. Senanayake 22, M. Muralitharan 3 for 47, S. Randiv 3 for 29, D. Fernando 2 for 29).

Kandurata: 209 in 49.4 overs (T. Samaraweera 55, K. Sangakkara 18, C. Kapugedera 32, J. Mendis 59, C. Jayasinghe 20, S. Senanayake 2 for 29, S. Jayasuriya 4 for 26, L. Malinga 2 for 55).

Eastern Riders led by star Sri Lankan players beat Western Challengers to win inaugural Olam Cup

Captain Sanath Jayasuriya receiving Inaugural Cup from Singapore President S R Nathan.

Sanath Jayasuriya hits one out of the ground.

SINGAPORE: The Eastern Riders, led by their star Sri Lankan players, won the inaugural IAT20 Super Challenge Olam Cup in Singapore on Sunday.

Four teams competed in the two-day event at the Indian Association grounds, and the Eastern Riders and the Western Challengers made it to the finals.

Fans lapped up world-class cricket on display as the two teams fought it out.

Batting first, the Challengers posted 189 runs for 8, setting a 190 target for their opponents to chase.

The Riders got off to a bad start when their biggest batsman, Sanath Jayasuriya, was out for 6.

Youngster Irfan Nasir caught the Sri Lankan star after Tom Harrison bowled.

But his compatriot, Upul Tharanga, took off where he left and the Riders charged ahead to finish on 190 runs for 6 to clinch victory.

President SR Nathan, who enjoyed watching the sport in his younger days, was on hand to present the trophy and the winning cheque of $15,000.

Organisers claim it has been a long time since they have seen such a large paying crowd at a cricket event as the Olam Cup.

And here's more good news - bigger-name stars are being planned to make their appearances in the next editions of the Olam Cup in 2011 and 2012.

Jayasuriya & Tharanga to play for Eastern Riders, Singapore

Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga will play for the Eastern Riders, Singapore

Sri Lankan international players Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga will play for the Eastern Riders along with the Southern Kings, Western Challengers, Northern Spice Devils team in the inaugural Indian Association Twenty20 Super Challenge here in Singapore.

ONE of India's richest men, Dr Bhupendra Kumar Modi wants to put a fast spin on the local cricket scene by forking out about $50,000 to sponsor the Northern Spice Devils team, which will include Pakistani international player Taufiq Umar, in a tournament here from Jan 29-31.

"The international players in our team are going to be names which everybody have heard of - Sanath Jayasuriya who's a master blaster and we have got this upcoming guy Upul Tharanga who is also in the Sri Lankan team," said Sunder Mani, captain of Eastern Riders (Olam Cup).

"We've got Saad Khan, the promising fast bowler from Pakistan and we are getting Taufiq Umar from Pakistan," said Munish Arora, Northern Spice Devils (Olam Cup).

But it's not all about big names, as the younger players too will gain valuable exposure.

"We are gearing up very well. We have about seven national team players who represented Singapore so we have been training really hard for the tournament," said Buddhika Mendis, captain of Southern Kings (Olam Cup).

The organisers hope the event will also bring the community together.

"The focus is on the Indian community. We do have different sections of the community, but the common thread is all of them love cricket, and all of them play cricket. That provides a platform where all these different communities can come together with a common passion," said Murali Pany, chairman of Board of Games, Indian Association.

Sharing that passion with them is President SR Nathan who will be the guest-of-honour.

In addition to winning the cup, $25,000 will be offered as prize money, with the winning team pocketing $15,000.

The event will be held for the next two years but beyond the Olam Cup, Singapore cricket has big plans. The national team has already engaged a new coach, former Sri Lankan Team Captain and the 1996 World Cup winning team member, Marvan Atapattu

• Also Read : Sanath, Tharanga lead Eastern Riders to win inaugural Olam Cup

Replacing Sanath brings its own kind of pressure - Upul Tharanga

Despite figuring in 82 one-day international matches, Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga hasn’t quite managed to cement his place in the national team. So when the selectors decided that he should replace Sanath Jayasuriya at the top of the Lankan batting line-up for the first ODI against India, the 24-year-old left-hander considered it a brand new beginning. In an interview with The Indian Express, Tharanga talked about why this series is important for him. Excerpts:

How huge is the responsibility to replace Jayasuriya as an opener?

It’s huge. I’m taking the place of a player who has a number of records against his name. It will be tough. There will be pressure. But having Dilshan at the other end, I can hope to play my natural game.

How important is this series for you?

I’m looking forward to this series because I’ve got a chance after many months. I have a decent record in India, I have scored two hundreds in the Champions Trophy, but that’s history now. I have to start afresh, and scoring against a good side always helps.

Did you speak to Jayasuriya before coming here?

I spoke to every senior player in the side — Sangakkara, Mahela (Jayawardene), Muralitharan, and Sanath. We discussed what should be done on this tour, and Jayasuriya told me how I should go after the bowlers and pace my innings. I’ll remember that.

You had a good England tour and then the Champions Trophy in 2006, but after that your performance went down. What happened?

After the World Cup, I didn’t play well and was dropped for eight months. I was picked for the Pakistan series, but after that I didn’t get a place in the side again. I thought my career would be over if I don’t perform. There is a lot of competition back home. But I told myself I have the capability, and that it was a matter of time before I returned. I knew there were domestic cricket and A tours, so if I kept performing, I would get a chance.

Source

Sanath Jayasuriya returns to old haunt in middle order

At 40, challenges still exist for Sanath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan team management, led by captain Kumar Sangakkara, has decided to push Jayasuriya down the order to make better use of the allrounder. Jayasuriya admitted it was a "big challenge" for him to return to the position where he had started his career.

"Since 1995, I have not opened unless I was coming back from an injury. So it is a big challenge, which for the last 15 years I haven't faced," Jayasuriya told Cricinfo on the eve of Sri Lanka's first ODI in Rajkot. "But I have taken up the challenge and I will work hard to perform."

Jayasuriya was a regular middle-order batsman before being asked to open in the World Series Challenge in Australia in 1995 by the then captain Arjuna Ranatunga for the first time. Jayasuriya lapped up the new job with an intensity that would make him a household name in the years to come and completely redefine the role of an opener in the 50-over the game. But with age Jayasuriya's reflexes have thinned down, resulting in the dip in his ODI form. To avoid the issue becoming a growing concern, the Sri Lankan think tank decided to push him down the order. The new job came with a disclaimer: there was no security.

Interestingly, Jayasuriya's previous performances in the role have been far from impressive: in 39 innings, he averages 13.13 with no fifties. He last batted in the middle order in 2005 against India, scoring an unbeaten 43 at No. 6 to help Sri Lanka chase 206.

Despite the pressure building on him, Jayasuriya indicated he was not in a desperate situation. "Nobody is guaranteed a place if you don't perform," Jayasuriya said. "It doesn't matter if you are an allrounder or an opener. So whenever I get an opportunity I have to perform."

Comparing the two roles, Jayasuriya said facing the new ball was a completely different equation as against negotiating the old ball in the middle-to-end overs. "It is unlike batting as an opener where you have the license to play your natural game and go after the bowling. The field is up and you are looking to get runs on the board so you are attacking from the very beginning," he said. "In the middle order, you need to play according to the situation and occupy the crease for longer periods."

Despite the change in his job profile, Jayasuriya remains a dangerous proposition for the opposition, a fact the Indian captain MS Dhoni agreed with. "Whenever he has played a long innings, batting through the middle overs, he emphasises more on running between the wickets," Dhoni pointed out.

Dhoni said Jayasuriya is not as brutal while batting in the middle order, where the focus is to run hard and then go after the bowling at the end of the innings. According to Dhoni, the key to arrest Jaysuriya's development was to restrict him from converting the singles into twos and threes.

"He is a very good runner, (who) tries to put pressure on fielders," Dhoni said. "The key is not to give him easy singles and doubles."

Sri Lanka have announced that Upul Tharanga will partner Tillakaratne Dilshan at the top.

Sanath Jayasuriya did better than Tillakaratne Dilshan in the Twenty20s but was comfortably overshadowed by Sangakkara's top-order fireworks. Always a powerful striker, he will now be an important middle-order player regardless of whether Sri Lanka get away to a flier or lose early wickers. The test will be for him to add extra patience to his game in the latter scenario. Jayasuriya's left-arm spin is equally vital - his spell in the first Twenty20 was crucial to Sri Lanka's win - and he has a knack of breaking through when the lead bowlers are struggling.

Source

Discarded Saram shines in Ruhuna win after Jayasuriya / Tharanga Blitz

Sri Lanka discard Indika de Saram hammered a career best knock of 94 to spearhead Ruhuna Province to a rousing 51 run victory over Basnahira North in their SLT Inter Provincial cricket tournament match worked off at the Moors grounds in Braybrooke Place yesterday.

De Saram launched a fierce attack on the Basnahira North bowlers after the two season campaigners Upul Tharanga and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya had provided a flying start to their innings.

Tharanga went on to hit a sparkling half century from 47 deliveries inclusive of two sixes and four boundaries while Jayasuriya raced to a 13 ball 32 with one six and half a dozen of boundaries. De Saram took over the honours from there onwards with a swashbuckling innings from just 43 deliveries that contained as many as nine sixes and four boundaries.

Basnahira North never looked like overtaking this formidable total despite a valiant effort from wicket keeper batsman Kaushal Silva who hit a 47 ball 60 with the aid of nine boundaries. Paceman Tharanga Lakshitha was the pick of the bowlers with excellent figures of four wickets for 28 while Lasith Malinga and Kosala Kulasekera claimed two wickets each.

Ruhuna: 203 for 6 in 20 overs (U. Tharanga 52, S. Jayasuriya 32, I. de Saram 94)

Basnahira North: 152 in 19.1 overs (K. Silva 60, A. Mathews 23, N. Kulasekera 22 n.o, L. Malinga 2 for 24, T. Lakshitha 4 for 28, K. Kulasekera 2 for 28)