Jayasuriya left out of SLC Contract list

Finally it is curtains for 41-year-old Member of Parliament Sanath Teran Jayasuriya as far Sri Lanka cricket is concerned. The Panel of selectors led by Aravinda de Silva has decided upon the contracts for the 2010/11 season and requested the Lankan cricket hierarchy to omit the Lankan cricketing veteran from the list of contracted players for the coming season.

Jayasuriya who played 110 Tests for Sri Lanka and scored 6973 runs with an average of 40.07 making 14 centuries and 31 half centuries. Jayasuriya made his Test debut for Sri Lanka against New Zealand at Hamilton on February 22, 1991. He is also one of the triple centurions for Sri Lanka making a highest score of 340 against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

The left hand opening batsman who was more prolific as a ODI player turned out for Sri Lanka in 444 One-day Internationals and scored 13,428 runs at and average of 32.43. The Contracts for the Lankan players expired at the end of March this year and was delayed owing to logistical reasons. SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga explaining the situation to the Sunday Times said “Now we have ironed out the few creases on the sheet and are ready to sign them up before the first Test against India at Galle on the 18th of July.” He also added that there would be some more names added to the list after the Sri Lanka A tour of Australia.

In category 1 comes the incumbent national cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara along with former skipper Mahela Jayawardena, vice captain Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Samaraweera and T.M. Dilshan. However as Muralitharan has retired from Test cricket he will be paid only 40% of his contract, but, still will remain with the top five contracted players.

With Muralitharan calling it a day in Test cricket, the next hurdle for the selectors would be to select a vice captain from the second Test against India which will begin on the 26th of July at the Sinhalese Sports Club Grounds. On the head to head count it would be a toss up between the next most senior player T.M. Dilshan and consistent Thilan Samaraweera, but one could not leave out promising all rounder Angelo Mathews for the job if they are looking for Lankan cricketing fortunes beyond 2011. It is noteworthy that the 23-year-old allrounder had been placed on the category III contract over several other seniors.


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Jayasuriya cleared for politics and sport

Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya has been cleared by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board to play cricket while engaging in his political campaign to contest the upcoming General Elections.

Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman Nishantha Ranatunga confirmed to Daily Mirror online that the cricketer has been given the green light to engage in politics while remaining a contracted cricketer. (ISA)

SLC forgets, but President congratulates Jayasuriya

Veteran batsman Sanath Jayasuriya had a surprise telephone call from President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday congratulating the senior cricketer on completing 20 years of international cricket. However, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) snubbed the cricketer as it took no efforts to mark the occasion.

The President had called up the cricketer in New Delhi yesterday morning where he was preparing to play the fifth and final One-Day International against India.

But surprisingly none of SLC’s highly paid officials or the appointed Interim Committee members took the trouble to call up the cricketer.

SLC has been quick to draft and distribute media releases, even when its chairman D.S. de Silva distributed cricket goods, but surprisingly had overlooked the important milestone.

Only Javed Miandad and Sachin Tendulkar have represented their countries in ODI cricket for more than 20 years.

Jayasuriya first played for Sri Lanka in 1989 on Boxing Day when he appeared in a One-Day International at the MCG against Australia, and since then, has been ever-present in the Sri Lankan team and went on to captain the side for four years.

Playing under Arjuna Ranatunga, Jayasuriya’s debut was inauspicious as he was dismissed by Merv Hughes for just three runs, but he went on to have a successful international career, the highlight of which was being named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ in the 1996 World Cup.

(Source)

These wins showed our character -Sanath Jayasuriya | Lanka rise up again

Just over three months ago, the Sri Lankan cricket team were being shot at in their team bus on their way to the Gadaffi Stadium.

Dealing with the trauma of March 3 would have been hard enough, but the team landed in London right in the middle of protests against alleged war crimes back home, where the Lankan army recently crushed the LTTE resistance.

Under the circumstances, it can’t be easy playing cricket. Under the circumstances, it’s only cricket that provides relief.

Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 15 runs at Trent Bridge on Wednesday, their second comprehensive win on the bounce having thumped Australia by six wickets in their opener. “It’s been hard. These wins showed our character,” Sanath Jayasuriya said after the game.

Having not played together for a while, not many gave them a chance. Having lost to South Africa in the warm-ups, after they had only just managed to scrape past Bangladesh, they were expected to slink out of the group of death. Instead, with two big wins, they’re looking like strong contenders for a spot in the semis.

For the Lankan team, this event is an opportunity to reduce the hurt, and they’re intent on making the most of the painkillers.

“It felt odd getting into a team bus again to go from the airport to the hotel,” Sangakkara had said after the team landed in London, amidst high security. “For the team, the only thing that matters is the cricket,” he had said after the team bus had been blocked by protestors on their way to the ground the day they were to play Australia. There were protests against the government and the army at each of their practice games as well, but Kumar Sangakkara’s team have managed to ignore most distractions.

“The thing we’ve realised after Lahore is that life goes on.”

In control

On Wednesday, they were in control right through the 40 overs of cricket, thanks in no small measure to a blistering 47-ball 81 from Jayasuriya, the tournament’s oldest player (he turns 40 at the end of this month).

At the other end, Tillakaratne Dilshan played like he has done for the past couple of months — lots of power-hitting, lots of cheeky dabs, lots of entertainment, finishing with 74 of 47 deliveries.

The duo put on 124 runs in just over 12 overs as Lanka piled on an intimidating 192 in their 20 overs.

Source : Indian Express

The Aging Warriors in the Sri Lankan Team | Sanath Jayasuriya & Muttiah Muralitharan

Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan are the most senior members of the Sri Lankan team. They were part of the Ranatunga outfit that took the Sri Lankans from minnow status to one of the powerhouses in international cricket. But they are aging fast at 39 and 36 years respectively, and it needs to be seen how Sri Lanka will handle their retirements.

Murali has already decided to make the 2011 World Cup his final goobye. Since it will be played in the Indian sub-continent, it would be a good place for him to go out with a bang. Having now claimed the highest number of wickets in one-dayersTests, there are few records left for him to break. and

I guess he could continue playing if he is still in good health, but the problem is that everytime he has a slump in form, people will take it as a sign of decline with age, and he will be under pressure. Sri Lanka does not have the strength to accomplish any great feats in Test cricket that would necessitate Murali hanging around.

Sri Lanka, being much stronger in ODIs than Tests, it is possible that Murali will go Jayasuriya’s route of a Test retirement first. With Mendis around, it won’t be as easy to grab the lion’s share of wickets any longer, and so the pace of wicket-taking will fall. In addition, longer tours against the bigger Test nations will prove gruelling.

Jayasuriya is also likely to try to stick around for the 2011 World Cup finals, but he has not made any commitment or expressed interest. AFAIK, he is taking it one match at a time. Sri Lanka has few talented and destructive batsmen as him. So his place is safe for the time being.

Since he retired from Tests, Jayasuriya only has limited overs achievements ahead of him. As far as individual records go, he is way behind Sachin Tendulkar, so perhaps the 2011 World Cup is the only thing left for him. Sri Lanka do have a good chance at it (if they can reverse the current slump), but South Africa and India could crash that party.

[Photos remixed from photo taken by Tony Patterson (license) and photo taken by S J Jagadeesh (license)]

Thanks to : KRIDAYA BLOG