By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The selection of 23-year-old Silva no doubt would keep Jayawardene (30) on his toes to retain his place in the Test side. Jayawardene may be regarded as the best in the business with his immaculate glove work behind the stumps, but in the context of cricket as it is played in the modern age, there is no room for pure bred wicketkeepers. The whole scenario of a wicketkeeper has changed to the extent that he should also be able to make a substantial contribution with the bat.

The thoughts of the national selection committee that picked the side for India, which Sangakkara was also part of, are of the view to quote its chairman Ashantha de Mel: “To win a Test match you cannot go with four bowlers, you need another all-rounder who can also bowl and bat. Thus the number six position for a wicketkeeper should be for someone who can bat. Today teams select wicketkeepers who can also bat and contribute runs. Times have changed because earlier the thinking was the best wicketkeeper should play but it is not so now. A wicketkeeper today should also be a good batsman otherwise it is difficult for him to get into the Test side.”

The message is there for Jayawardene cut and dry – “Have enough runs under your belt if you want to keep your place in the Test team.”
Jayawardene’s current Test batting average of 24.90 does not compare favourably with wicketkeepers of other Test-playing nations. A comparative study shows that Australian Brian Haddin has a Test batting average of 39.30, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni 37.73, Matt Prior of England 44.20, Kamran Akmal of Pakistan 33.22, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand 31.70 and Mark Boucher of South Africa 30.13. Dinesh Ramdin of West Indies and Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh are the only wicketkeepers with a Test batting average below Jayawardene’s.

Sangakkara’s view of having Jayawardene and Silva in the team is: “In the Test arena we are looking at Kaushal Silva and Prasanna Jayawardene as wicketkeepers on this tour. The main reason why we have Kaushal Silva is because he scored a lot of runs in the ‘A’ side and domestic cricket over the last four years. Also if we have a problem at the top of the order one of them could step up so that we can get (Thilina) Kandamby into the playing 11.

“Kandamby is batting well and deserves a good shot at Test cricket for which he is ideally suited. We’ve got to work out how the combinations are going to play but the real clear thing is not to get confused. Take a decision and always back it whether it works or not. You’ve got to be sure that any team we play out there is good enough to beat India.”

A comparative analysis of Jayawardene’s and Silva’s first-class career batting averages puts the latter way ahead of his senior and experienced colleague. Jayawardene averages 25.62 with seven first-class hundreds whereas Silva’s batting average is 42.92 with nine first-class centuries.

If the selection committee sticks strictly to its line of thinking the dice certainly is loaded against Jayawardene.
The washout of Sri Lanka’s only practice match of their Indian tour at Mumbai could be a blessing in disguise for Jayawardene to retain his place in the team for the first Test against India starting at Ahmedabad tomorrow (Monday). He hit a timely century for Bloomfield in the on-going Premier Tier A league match against Ragama CC a week before the team’s departure to India, an innings which may yet save his Test place.

Ragama CC went through the same agony losing five of their top batsmen for a depressing total of 64 against Moors SC at Braybrooke Place. Ragama CC who accelerated the control of the match by bowling out their opponents for a paltry total of 91 on the first day had to pay the price for not showing consistency in batting as fast-bowler Dihara Lokuhettige went on the rampage to claim 3 wickets for 11 runs in 10 overs. Ragama opener Dushantha Ranatunga was unbeaten on 26 during his patient knock in 63 balls.

CCC experienced an early shock losing their first wicket cheaply for five at stumps against Bloomfield who scored 246 at Maitland Crescent. Bloomfield resuming from their overnight score of 199-7 added a further 47 runs with left-arm spinner Sohan Boralessa taking 4/76. Play between Colts and Army SC at Panagoda and Tamil Union and SSC at P Sara Oval were called off on the second day yesterday without a ball being bowled due to rain. All matches will continue today.

• At Maitland Place: NCC 252-8 contd 265 (92.2) (Yohan de Silva 65, Angelo Perera 81, Tharaka Kottehewa 26, Kosala Kulasekara 23, Gayan Wijekoon 4/35, Dinuka Hettiarachchi 2/89, Malinda Pushpakumara 2/44)
  Chilaw Marians 48-3 (17.3) at close (Mahela Udawatte 28, Tharaka Kottehewa 2/11)
• At Braybrooke Place: Moors SC 91 (27.3) (Hasantha Fernando 27, Dharshana Gamage 5/37, Malinga Bandara 3/8)
  Ragama CC 64-5 (21.4) at close (Dushantha Ranatunga 26 n.o., Dilhara Lokuhettige 3/11)
• At Maitland Crescent: Bloomfield 199-7 contd 246 (68.4) (Chamara Silva 130, Tharanga Lakshitha 23, Sohan Boralessa 4/76, Chaminda Vidanapathirana 3/79)
  CCC 5-1 (4) at close.
• At Panagoda: Colts 144-6 (46) v Army SC.
• At P Sara Oval: Tamil Union 94-4 (28.2) v SSC. - [MNA]

Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC by scoring 266 in their reply managed to gain the upper hand in their match against Tier B table leader Lankan CC who scored a paltry 129 in their first innings at Thurstan Cricket Complex. Seeduwa/Raddoluwa who resumed at 94-3 was spearheaded by a valiant knock from their top-order batsman Geeth Kumara (70) and a late knock by Manjula de Silva (76). At stumps Lankan CC was 39 for no loss. A steady partnership of 101 runs for the second wicket between Harsha de Silva (57) and Malinda Abeyratne (47) helped Police SC gain first innings honours against Singha SC at Police Park. In reply to Singha SC’s first innings total of 172 Police SC were 212-5 at stumps. After batting throughout the entire two days Moratuwa SC was 262-9 against their hometown rivals Sebastianites at De Zoysa Stadium in Moratuwa. All matches will continue today.

• At Welisara: Navy SC 139 (45.5) and 61-2 (26) at close (Vindika Chandrasiri 21 n.o.)
  Panadura SC 64-5 contd 114 (34.4) (Kasun Bodisha 20, Sattambi Chamika 5/58, Sudeera Karunadasa 3/21)
• At Thurstan Cricket Complex: Lankan CC 129 (42.1) and 39-0 (14) at close.
  Seeduwa/Raddoluwa 94-3 contd 266 (88.2) (Geeth Kumara 70, Sujith Nikethana 31, Manjula de Silva 76, Mangala Kumara 33, Thamara Abeyratne 3/61, Gayan Sirisoma 2/64, Praneeth Jayasundera 2/52)
• At Police Park: Singha SC 172 (56.3)
  Police SC 47-1 contd 212-5 (83.3) at close (Malinda Abeyratne 47, Tharindu Weerasinghe 25, Harsha de Silva 57, Aruna Priyantha 26 n.o., Mahesh Kumara 2/29)
• At Moratuwa: Moratuwa SC 130-4 contd 262-9 (117.3) (Indrajith Perera 74, Nalin Wijesinghe 55, Charith Fernando 36 n.o., Milindu Fernando 24 n.o., Suwanji Madanayake 4/60, Pasan Wanasinghe 3/62) v Sebastianites. - [MNA]

Asian Athletics Championships

By Samiddha Rathnayake
Sri Lanka settled for 10th position in the medals tally winning Gold and a Silver out of 38 countries at the Asian Athletics Championship which ended at Guangdong Olympic Stadium, Guangzhou, China yesterday. It was not the result that the local athletic officials expected, but thanks to high jumper Manjula Kumara (Gold medal) and team captain and 1500m runner Chaminda Kumara (Silver medal) the Lankans managed to preserve some sort of a dignity.
On the fifth and the final day of the completion local athletes took part in two events. The much expected men’s 4x400m was the event of the day for the locals. But they failed to live up to the expectations as they came 5th in the event with a timing of 3:07.99mins. Japan won the gold while China won the silver. India managed a bronze after a close finish with Saudi Arabia. The Sri Lankan team comprised of Prasanna Amarasekara, Kasun Kalhara, Uditha Gayan and Rohitha Pushpakumara.
Priyangika Madumanthi came 9th out of 14 competitors in the women’s high jump event achieving a height of 1.75m which was far below her personal best of 1.85m achieved this season. Xing Juan Zheng of China claimed the Gold with a leap of 1.93m.

1st Twenty20 International

Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman hit four sixes each as South Africa raced to 97 inside nine overs, but rain descended at 127-3 and England had done enough.
Despite the unsatisfactory conclusion, even the sternest critic of the 20-over format could surely not have failed to enjoy that spectacle.

In addition to the 18 sixes - nine by each team - there were fluctuations galore as England began the competitive aspect of the tour in style. It appeared their total was hugely challenging, but the Wanderers ground is always conducive to big-hitting with its high altitude, and was the scene of South Africa’s famous world record run chase of 438 in the 50-over version of the international game in 2006.
Scores: England 202-6 (20) (J Trott 33, P Collingwood 57, E Morgan 85 n.o., R McLaren 3/33)
South Africa 127-3 (13) (G Smith 41, L Bosman 58) [BBC]