Jayasuriya & Namal: Two MPs to bat for ICC Cricket World Cup

MPs, Namal Rajapaksa and Sanath Jayasuriya were present for the opening of the ticket reservations for the ICC Cricket World Cup which was announced at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota yesterday.(Source)

Sanath and Mahela make an appearance at Zig Tech Reebok event

September 29, 2010: It was a celebrity event for footwear giant Reebok when Sri Lankan cricketers Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayewardene made an appearance at the launch of their newest shoe ‘ZIG TECH’ at their flagship Maitland Crescent store on Tuesday.

Unveiling the new shoe and trying it on themselves, the cricketers thanked Reebok for their commitment to enhancing the standards of cricket in Sri Lanka by ensuring the team has the exact requirements necessary for peak performance.

Other cricketing Reebok brand ambassadors in the Asian region are M.S. Dhoni, Rahul Dravid and Shoaib Malik.

Sanath, Vaas off to the Caribbean

Batting maestro Sanath Jayasuriya and veteran all-rounder Chaminda Vaas are among hosts of Sri Lankan ex-cricketers who will represent Sri Lanka at the four-nation CLOBI Cup World Master’s Cricket Tournament to be held in Barbados, West Indies.

The tournament, a brainchild of Cricket Legend’s of Barbados is aimed at brining the legends of cricket together for the purpose of providing a world class, exciting and entertaining tournament to Barbados, the region and the world. All matches will be played at the Kensington Oval, formerly known as Pickwick Cricket Club.

The one-week event will commence on October 30 while the finals is to be played on November 5. 

Sri Lankans legends will be up against the likes of Mohammed Azharuddin and Javagal Srinath from India, Graeme Hick and Graham Thorpe from England and Courtney Walsh, Courtly Ambrose and Carl Hooper from West Indies. Former Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu will captain Sri Lanka legends team.

Though Sri Lanka is yet to finalize the team, players Romesh Kaluwitharana, Upul Chandana, and Indika de Saram have all confirmed their participation for the tour.

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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.”

Sanath Jayasuriya Cricket Foundation win and lose

A fine spell of right arm off spin bowling (4 for 16) by Yoshitha Atukorale failed to help SJCF beat Roy Dias Cricket Academy in a friendly under 13 match played over the weekend.

Charith Mihiranga contributed a fighting 50 for RDCA, that virtually took them through to a fine win. This was the 2nd match of two matches played on the same day.

SJCF did well to convincingly win the 1st match and thus both sides won one match each.

These matches have been organized in preparation for the cricket tour to Bangalore, India by SJCF as they will be embarking on its 1st tour abroad with Sanath Jayasuriya, himself being present.

In the 1st match, SJCF 175 for 9. Y. Atukorale contributing a top score of 25 and in bowling for SJCF, B. Kumararatne captured 3 wickets to bundle out RDCA for 101.

Chief Scores:
1st match.
SJCF 175 for 6 (Y. Atukorale 25, B. Kumararatne 21, A. Dissanayake 20, D. Sumathipala 15).

RDCA 100 all out (B. Kumararatne 3 for 10, Y. Atukorale 2 for 9, B. Perera 2 for 12).

2nd match.
SJCF 117 all out. (A. Dissanayake 30, B. Kumararatne 17, B. Perera 18, S. Rabukpotha 15, Y. Atukorale 10: T. Kavinda 3 for 13, Pushpika 3 for 10).

RDCA 120/7 (V. Samuditha 20, C. Mihiranga 50, Y. Anjana 23 n.o: Y. Atukorale 4 for 16, B. Perera 2 for 12).

Life without Murali, Jayasuriya and Vaas

Sri Lankan cricket is bracing itself for life without three of its greatest ever players.

Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan retired from Test cricket after taking his 800th wicket in a victory over India, while Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas - who have already ended their Test careers - are on the verge of bowing out of international cricket for good.

These three veterans, along with Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva, were responsible for transforming Sri Lankan cricket.

Their collective performance brought an unexpected victory at the 1996 World Cup and persuaded the established powers to arrange extended Test tours in Sri Lanka.
In particular it was Murali, under Ranatunga's captaincy, who led the evolution from underdog to formidable cricketing force.

"I think Sri Lanka will be extremely lucky if it gets another Muralitharan within the next 100 years," Ranatunga told the BBC.

Kent spinner Malinga Bandara agrees, saying: "I think Murali's achievements with bowling are equal to Sir Donald Bradman's remarkable achievements from the bat."

Sanath Jayasurya, meanwhile, has harvested his natural talents with bat and ball.

"I think Jayasuriya is a natural player, both batting and bowling, who actually does not need any coaching," said Champaka Ramanyake, Sri Lanka's bowling coach.

Nicknamed "Master Blaster", Jayasuriya was instrumental in introducing an aggressive batting style - together with Romesh Kaluwitharana - as the opening batsman. His unpredictable batting helped Sri Lanka to win the World Cup and made him player of the tournament.

"There have been occasions that fans left the ground when they learnt that Jayasuriya was not playing," said Ramanyake.

Rating Vaas as the best-ever fast bowler Sri Lanka has produced, Ramanyake believes his contribution has been key to Murali's record success.

"In cricket we talk about pairs. Since 1996, it was Vaas who supported Murali from the other end, while Murali was taking wickets," said the bowling coach.
Vaas also contributed with his patient batting style.

"I think Vaas, with his overall performance, was unlucky not to be appointed as a captain. That is what happens when you are surrounded by a very talented group," said Channaka de Silva, sports editor of the Daily Mirror English.

The trio may yet be re-united, for the last time, at the 2011 World Cup, which will be hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

Both Murali and Jayasuriya are still members of the national team for the shorter version of the game, while Vaas faces an uphill battle despite his good form for Northamptonshire.

"I have been knocking on the door to get back to the ODI team but the selectors have been coming up with different excuses," Vaas told the BBC Sinhala service.

Beyond that tournament, how will Sri Lanka cope without the presence of three legends in the dressing room?

"I think Sri Lanka won't notice a huge impact in the short term," says de Silva.
"Australia, for example, went through a downward tendency long after the departure of many senior players," he said.

Mahela Jayawardene's 10th Test hundred at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Tuesday may be a clear example of the team's new direction.

"The game won't disappear just because players retire," says Ramanayake. "But of course we may not see similar records and performance in the near future."

While Sangakkara and Jayawardene may feel the absence of three veterans in the dressing room, the younger generation will be assigned with the difficult task of carrying on.

For the moment, though, it seems it is business as usual for the Sri Lanka squad.

Jayasuriya’s exclusion may prove costly for Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan all rounder, Sanath Jayasuriya has been dropped from the squad.  He was not one of the twenty players who were offered new central contracts by Sri Lanka Cricket for the upcoming season. Jayasuriya who is now 41 years old, has been playing since 1989 and played an essential role in Sri Lanka winning the 1996 World Cup. Despite Jayasuriya’s public wishes to play until the 2011 World Cup before retiring, he was not amongst the twenty players who were offered contracts, which could be blamed on his recent poor performance.

Jayasuriya held the record for the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan, 340 against India, and the longest partnership in a Test match, with Roshan Mahanama, where they managed 576 runs in 1997. However, almost 10 years later, the records were broken by fellow Sri Lankans, Mahela Jayawardene with partner Kumar Sangakkara.  Jayasuriya also holds the honour of being the first Sri Lankan and the 33^rdcricketer in history to reach the 100 Test mark.

Jayasuriya also has an impressive record in his One Day International career, he holds the fourth highest One Day International score with Viv Richards, and also boasts one of the four highest individual Sri Lankan scores. He is the current holder of the record for the fastest fifty in ODI’s, which he scored just off of 17 balls. He was the record-holder for the fastest century and the world record for most ODI sixes, both of which he lost to Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi.

He became the fourth batsman in the world to score more than 10,000 runs and the second batsman to score more than 12,000 and 13,000 runs in the history of the One Day Internationals. He also holds the third highest number of centuries in One Day Internationals, with an impressive 28 centuries. In addition to that he heads the most international ODI caps, 444, closely followed by Sachin Tendulkar of India.

Jayasuriya made his mark in Twenty20 cricket as well, in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, he impressed by scoring two centuries in the group stages.

His form started declining and he didn’t impress too much in the One Day International series against England after the World Cup, which Sri Lanka lost 3-2. In 2007, he signed for Warwickshire in the Twenty20 Cup, but only a year later he signed with the Mumbai Indians to play in the Indian Premier League. He now plays with Worcestershire Royals in their Twenty20 cup campaign.

Glenn McGrath said, Jayasuriya was in his list of XI toughest batsmen, “it is always a massive compliment to someone to say they changed the game, and his storming innings in the 1996 World Cup changed everyone's thinking about how to start an innings.” Jayasuriya whose trademark shot is a lofted cut over point, can diversify with both cuts and pulls. Sri Lanka Cricket’s decision to leave Jayasuriya out may prove costly, because despite his age and recent poor form, the Sri Lankan star still has a lot to offer.

I owe my good captaincy record to Murali - Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya - Former Lankan skipper pays rich tributes to his retiring mate

Sanath Jayasuriya, accompanied by his son Ranuka, share a light moment with Muttiah Muralitharan during a Sports Ministry event in Colombo on January 2, 2010. President Rajapaksa presented tokens of appreciation to Jayasuriya for having completed 20 years in the international arena. Muralitharan was feted for his world records, while retired sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe was honoured for her silver medal at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney.

Their careers overlapped for the most part, the marauding batsmanship of the one complemented beautifully by the cunning and guile of the other during the golden era of Sri Lankan cricket.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan share a wonderful relationship, one born out of mutual admiration and respect, as well as both individuals’ desire to be the best in their chosen vocations.

The 41-year-old Jayasuriya recently completed 20 years in international cricket and is still available for limited-overs duties. Three days from now, Muralitharan, 38, will bid adieu to Test cricket but will keep his options open so far as the one-day format is concerned, with an eye on the World Cup in the sub-continent early next year.

Both men were crucial cogs in the wheel during Sri Lanka’s triumphant march to the 1996 World Cup, and once Jayasuriya took over the captaincy at the turn of the millennium, Muralitharan played a key role in the former’s successful stint at the helm.

Under Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka won 18 of their 38 Tests. Muralitharan played in 17 of those triumphs, and played a significant part, too. In all, 35 Tests under Jayasuriya brought Muralitharan an astonishing 230 wickets at 20.22, well below his career average of 22.71, with 20 five-wicket innings hauls and nine ten-wicket match collections.

“I have a good record as a Sri Lankan captain, and the main reason for that, I think, is that I was fortunate that Murali was at his peak during the four years I captained the side,” said the former skipper, now a television expert, among other things, as he bides his time hoping for a recall to the one-day set-up.

“Murali is a great character,” he went on, his eyes twinkling with admiration. “There’s never a dull moment when he’s around. He’ll keep all of us going, cracking jokes and giving insights on basically anything. He’s also very positive, hardly gets into a negative mentality and basically it’s fun when he’s around. He’s a very genuine guy as well, and the work he did after the tsunami has been very much appreciated by everyone.”

Jayasuriya was serving apprentice under Arjuna Ranatunga when Muralitharan was called in Australia for chucking in 1998. It is no secret that Ranatunga took on the establishment and steadfastly stood by his star bowler. Jayasuriya provided a ringside insight into those difficult days. “Murali owes a lot to Arjuna for the way he defended him, and he’s been grateful to Arjuna ever since,” Jayasuriya observed. “When he was called for throwing in 1998 in Australia, I was the vice-captain of the side. Some of the measures Arjuna took to defend him will be hard to match.”

Reflecting on his time alongside Muralitharan in the national team, the towering left-hander said, “Our careers ran parallel. The hard times and the good times we went through together… Going on to win the World Cup in 1996 was the pinnacle.

“I also remember the Oval Test with great fondness, when we beat England in England for the first time,” Jayasuriya reminisced. “We both played a crucial part in our team’s success. Murali got 16 wickets in that Test, and I got a double hundred. That victory is a very special moment along with winning the World Cup.”


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[VIDEO] Jayasuriya presenting an IFFA Award

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Sanath Jayasuriya Blogspot

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Contract snub doesn’t bother Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka's 41-year-old all rounder, Sanath Jayasuriya has no regrets over missing the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) annual contract. He has been a permanent fixture in the Sri Lanka side after playing a key role in the 1996 World Cup, but found himself dropped from the list.

Speaking exclusively over his mobile from Worcestershire, he said, "I have no regrets. Those who perform well, get contracts. I can not make comments on who have made this decision, but even without contract, I can play for the nation".

In January 2009, during the first ODI against India, he became the second man to cross 13,000 runs in ODIs', and at the age of 39 years and 212 days, he became the oldest man to score an ODI century.

The contracts to the 20 players have been worked out on previous year's performances and found no place for him. Interestingly, Muthiah Muralidharan, who is set to retire from Test cricket after the Galle Test against India, has been retained in the list.

Sanath Jayasuriya will not be able to witness Murali's farewell Test from the VIP enclosure. "I am returning (to Sri Lanka) only by the end of this month and will miss watching him play the last Test. However, I have already sent him a good-luck message for his last Test. He is a great player, who has done lot for the country and not only we, as team mates, but the entire nation will miss him", Jayasuriya further added.

Jayasuriya is likely to be appointed as a guest studio commentator by Ten Sports to air his views on the Sri Lanka-India matches, along with Arun Lal and Dean Jones. He may not play for Worcestershire's final two matches.