Sports

The tide of fortune has swung in opposite directions for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka, the winners of 1996 World Cup and for long a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket, had a dismal 2017 where they lost 23 out of 29 matches. Bangladesh, on the other hand, emerged as a tough opposition with the team making it to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy in England.

And the things don’t seem to be changing for the sides in 2018 too. In the ongoing tri-nation series, which also features Zimbabwe, Bangladesh have won both their games while Sri Lanka have suffered defeats in their two games so far. The latest match of the series was played on Friday where Mashrafe Mortaza’s side thumped the Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lanka by 163 runs to register their biggest ODI win in terms of number of runs.

Thisara Perera feels Chandika Hathurusingha needs time and support from Sri Lanka players in order to make a difference.

The contrasting mood of the two camps was evident in the way their captains spoke after the match.

Thisara Perera defended the team’s newly appointed coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who recently held a special camp with the ODI squad besides making some changes in the team. Hathurusingha had earlier worked with Bangladesh and was considered instrumental in changing the fortune of the Tigers.

“Having Chandika Hathurusingha is a plus point for us, because he is one of the best coaches in the world. Previously I have worked with him in the Sri Lanka A team as well. But he needs time. No one can do miracles. I think it is time for the team to step up, with this new coach,” Perera was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo after the match.

Thisara underlined batting failure as the reason behind Sri Lanka’s loss and urged his team members to step up in the remaining games.

“This was definitely a 300-run wicket - our batting just didn’t click. When we look at the last match against Zimbabwe, we have a lot of positives to take from our batting, but in this match, we couldn’t execute our batting plans,” he said.

“No one can say when we will rise up. I have faith that we can go far with our new coach,” he said.

Shakib Al Hasan, on the other hand, had not much to worry and the all-rounder was mighty pleased with the performance of his team. He was also excited seeing a healthy competition among Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and himself. On Friday, all three players slammed a fifty each to fashion Bangladesh’s huge win.

“Everyone has their own expectation but it is good for the team that three of us are competing against each other. Of course we don’t wish each other bad. But each of us is trying to score more runs than the other two and it is a good practice. The more we can do this it will give us more chance to score runs,” he said.

Shakib chose not to answer questions on the team’s former coach Hathurusingha who is now with Sri Lankan side. He, however, was all praise for the present support staff of the team.

“Those who do our planning, they have had a change in their mindset. We have had a change of coach, so the new person in charge has his own thinking. I won’t say we played without freedom in the past but now we are also playing freely. At the same time, we are also taking our own decisions. This is a big advantage for everyone to be involved. Khaled Mahmud, Sujon bhai and Richard Halsall know what we need; they have been providing and we have been utilizing it,” he said.

(Hindustan Times)

Head coach of the national team Chandika Hathurusinghe has been assigned the role of selector on tour as part of a plan to give him more authority in team selections, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Thilanga Sumathipala said yesterday.

Sumathipala said that the SLC executive committee had adopted the move at the extraordinary general meeting.
Sri Lanka's sports law of 1973 however, does not permit the coach to be a national selector.

"He will be able to pick the final eleven while on tour with the manager of the team and the captain also acting as co-selectors," Sumathipala said.

However, the coach will not be able to serve in the national selection committee when the squads are picked.

With the new arrangements, Sumathipala said it would not be necessary for selectors to travel with the team.

Chandika Hathurusingha on Sunday welcomed the challenge of coaching a deflated Sri Lanka back to form after their worst year in international cricket, marked by humiliating defeats and few wins.

The freshly-appointed head coach took the bruised national side to Bangladesh over the weekend ahead of their first international series of the year.

Hathurusingha said Sri Lanka “have a lot to improve” but he was optimistic they could turn the corner after a dismal year of losses, leadership changes, injuries and scandal for the former World Cup winners.

 “I am excited to take up the challenge. I am excited with the talent and skills available with my team now,” Hathurusingha, 49, told reporters Sunday.

A tri-nation one-day international tournament starts Monday with a contest between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka’s first match of the event is against Zimbabwe Wednesday, before they face Bangladesh two days later.

It is familiar ground for Hathurusingha, who quit as Bangladesh head coach in the middle of their disastrous tour of South Africa to return to his native Sri Lanka.

The islanders are licking their wounds after their worst performance since 1987. Sri Lanka won just five of their 29 ODIs, with injury and scandals also plaguing the side on and off the field.

Angelo Mathews stood down as captain in July amid the turmoil but just six months later was reappointed skipper for limited-overs cricket ahead of the 2019 World Cup. Sri Lanka were the final team to qualify for the tournament they won in 1996.

Hathurusingha resigned as Bangladesh coach in October after a largely successful stint helping the side claim several high-profile wins and reach seventh in the ODI rankings.

He ruled out being “emotionally attached” to his former side, but wished Bangladesh well in the tri-nation series.

“I worked with them closely and got to know them really well. At the same time, I want Sri Lanka to do well,” he said.

Mathews, 30, said he was pleased to return as skipper. “I never expected it, but I am looking forward to it,” he said.

Four powerlifting players from Delhi were killed when the car they were in hit a road divider and crashed into a pole on the Delhi-Chandigarh highway today morning. Two other players who were in the car, including a world champion who bagged the title for India in Moscow last year, were injured.

The six athletes were going from Delhi to Panipat in a Swift Dezire compact sedan, carrying their powerlifting kits, when they met with the accident at 4 am near Alipur village, close to the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana.

The force of the impact was so high that the car rolled over several times and its roof got completely blown off before the car hit the pole, police said.

A senior police officer said the speed of the car was very high, adding there were some bottles around and the possibility of drink driving cannot be ruled out.

Powerlifting world champion Saksham Yadav and another player identified as Bali have been admitted to Max Hospital in north-west Delhi Shalimar Bagh.

Police said the players who died in the accident have been identified by their first names as Harish, Tikam Chand and Suraj, while the fourth person's identity is not known yet.

 Source: NDTV

Jason Roy hit the highest one-day international score by an England player with a sublime 180 to help England beat Australia by five wickets in the first ODI at the MCG.

Roy surpassed Alex Hales' previous mark of 171 before the opener was caught late on as England eased to the highest successful run chase at Melbourne.

 Joe Root made 91 not out in a stand of 221 with Roy as England reached 308-5.

Aaron Finch's 107 saw the hosts post 304-8 after being put in to bat.

England started rapidly in reply, only to lose Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales in quick succession before Roy and Root rebuilt from 60-2 to dominate Australia's bowlers.

Despite the late dismissals of Roy, captain Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, England calmly secured a 1-0 lead in the five-match series in an impressive start following the 4-0 defeat in the Ashes.

Source : BBC

Australian based performance psychologist, Dr. Phil Jauncey who was invited by Sri Lanka Cricket to help raise the performance levels of the national cricket team, started his stint with the Lankan team on Wednesday, 03rd January, 2018 at the SLC headquarters.

Dr. Phil Jauncey conducting his first session with the players, while Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha looks on.

President of SLC Thilanga Sumathipala said that Dr. Phil Juancey was "invited to work with us at the request of our New Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who wanted us to bring him here to work with our players.”

Accordingly, the performance psychologist is currently working with the Sri Lankan national side, where he will focus on identifying the personality traits of each player, the best communication and learning method suited for each player and also of the coaching staff.
Jauncey, who holds a Masters and Doctorate in Counselling and Educational Psychology, has lectured at Mt Gravatt CAE (now Griffith University), QUT and the University of Queensland in areas such as educational psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, counselling, marketing and multicultural psychology.

He currently works as the psychologist of the Australian Baseball team among many of his other engagements. Jauncey has also worked with the Queensland Bulls Cricket team. He has been the mental skills coach with the Brisbane Lions AFL team from 1994 until 2008 and sports psychologist with the Brisbane Broncos NRL team.

Jauncy has authored a series of books such as ‘Understanding Ourselves and Others’, ‘Management Education’, and ‘The Power of Positive Doing’ among several other works.

Uncapped fast bowler Shehan Madushanka has been selected for the upcoming ODI Tri-series in Bangladesh. Test captain Dinesh Chandimal and attacking top order batsman Kusal Mendis also find a place in the ODI squad.

Angelo Mathews
Upul Tharanga
Danushka Gunathilaka
Kusal Mendis
Dinesh Chandimal
Kusal Janith Perera
Thisara Perera
Asela Gunaratne
Niroshan Dickwella
Suranga Lakmal
Nuwan Pradeep
Dushmantha Chameera
Shehan Madushanka
Akila Dananjaya
Lakshan Sandakan
Wanidu Hasaranga

The team is due to depart to Bangladesh on the 13th of January, 2018.

ESPN Cricinfo reports that Sri Lanka's ODI captaincy may pass back to Angelo Mathews, barely six months after he resigned from the position, or it may go to Dinesh Chandimal, who has not consistently held a place in the XI.

SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala said that the Chairman of selectors has informed him that they are considering appointing either Angelo Mathews or Dinesh Chandimal to be appointed as captain of the national side.

The final decision is set to be announced on January 9 - before the team departs for the ODI tri-series in Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Tuesday reappointed all-rounder Angelo Mathews as their limited-overs captain after Thisara Perera led the team during their disastrous tour of India late last year.

Mathews, who returned to the job from which he had resigned six months ago, was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo, “When I stepped down I never thought of taking over the captaincy again.

With Chandika Hathurusingha taking over as head coach, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) wanted the limited-overs teams to progress under a new direction. As a consequence, Perera was sacked from the white-ball captaincy.

Although Chandimal was also in contention for the leadership role in ODIs and T20Is, his inability to seal a place in the team in the two formats seems to have gone against him. Subsequently, the pathway has ostensibly been cleared for Mathews to return to limited-overs captaincy for his second stint.

On a recommendation by Sri Lanka’s new coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, Sri Lanka Cricket hired the services of Brisbane-based sports psychologist Dr. Phil Jauncey, who is due to arrive in Colombo today.

Australia’s most successful coach John Buchanan who himself hired Dr. Jauncy for Cricket Australia said that the Sri Lankan players will benefit greatly when they interact with their new psychologist.

“Dr Phil Jauncey or “Mozz” as he is affectionately kanown by many was very helpful for me as a coach as well as our support staff to have someone listening to what we were discussing about players and whether we were on the right track or could approach it differently”.

“As a head coach, it is very important to find one or two people whom you can trust and confide in away for the team as there will be issues, either personal, or that cannot be aired with others, that need resolution. When these circumstances arose, Dr. Jauncey was one of those persons to whom I could turn”, added Buchanan.

President of Sri Lanka Cricket Thilanga Sumathipala says Sri Lanka Cricket is in the right direction towards achieving the twin goals of sporting and financial success.

Addressing the employees of Sri Lanka Cricket, while commencing work for the year 2018 at the SLC, Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala said within two years of his election, he along with the SLC employees was able to turnaround Sri Lanka Cricket’s financial position from poor to strong.

“When we took over two years ago, SLC was indebted for a sum of Rs. 5 billion and we were in a quandary as to how we are going to turn around SLC, now, after two years, I am happy to say we are making profits”.

Mr. Sumathipala said, when he entered the fray, ICC has only allocated US$ 80 million for the members during its paying cycle, but with the efforts he made to strengthen the relationship with other members yielded a collaborative effort to increase it to US$ 120 million, thus raising the SLCs revenue drastically.

He says Sri Lanka Cricket is now financially stable with a steady flow of revenues coming from different sources, while the organization has ensured that financial accountability is maintained at every level, with prudent mechanisms put in place for monitoring.

Formation of an Asset Management Firm

Mr. Sumathipala said plans are underway to establish an asset management firm as a subsidiary of the Sri Lanka Cricket to better manage cash flows of SLC's major assets. He said, the money generated out of the SLC asset management operations will be utilized to finance the maintenance of SLC facilities across the country, which as of now incurs millions and is borne out by the revenues generated by the SLC.

 Development of the Game

According to Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala, SLC has taken several steps to ensure the development of the game. Among those steps are, decentralizing of powers to the District and Provincial Associations to run the game in their respective regions.

“When we took over, SLC was controlling 132 clubs, now we have brought them down to 24 and decentralized the power to provincial and district associations, thus giving them the decision making powers,” SLC President said.

He also said, steps were taken to bring in the age level cricket starting from under 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23, from both district and provincial level cricket under the direct supervision of the SLC to ensure that grassroots level cricket development stays in line with SLCs vision.

SLC President also said, steps were taken to enhance the knowledge level of local coaches by sending selected coaches for overseas training programs.

Player Focus

Mr. Sumathipala said, Sri Lanka Cricket has taken all the required steps to ensure that players of the national team are looked after well. He said, the introduction of a strong insurance cover for the national players, which is on par with any other international cricketer, introducing a performance based bonus system for players and providing contracts for 70 first class cricketers, apart from the contracts given for the national players are among the steps taken to ensure the sustainability of the players.

New Sri Lanka cricket coach Chandika Hathurusingha pledged to get tough with the under-performing national team — including banning music in training — while demanding “full control” over selection.

With the 1996 World Cup winners coming to the end of their worst year in international cricket, Hathurusingha said he would impose strict discipline to make sure they are ready for the 2019 World Cup.

Asked about reports that players were admonished for listening to music in practice, Hathurusingha said after his first training session with the team on Thursday: “If they are interested in music they will have to go home.”

Sri Lanka, who tour Bangladesh next month, have been severely criticised over whitewash defeats by India at home and in India in the past six months.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said in June that many players were “too fat” and that none chosen to play a series against Zimbabwe had passed international fitness standards. A special diet was later imposed.

Hathurusingha, a former Sri Lanka batsman who quit as Bangladesh coach to help his home country, also signalled a tougher line with the government, which gets the final say in team affairs.

Jayasekera recently stopped the Sri Lankan T20 team from going to India because he did not agree with the selection.

The chief coach is not an automatic member of the selectors’ panel and Hathurusingha wants this changed — even if it means a new sports law.

“I need full control and responsibility to pick the playing eleven,” Hathurusingha said.

“According to the sports law the coach can’t get involved in selections. They are considering my request to be a selector while being the coach,” added the 49-year-old.

After giving up playing Hathurusingha has become a top coach, earning plaudits for pulling Bangladesh up the world rankings.

Hathurusingha has also been in charge of the New South Wales team in Australia, and he said he would bring in sports psychologist Phil Jauncey who worked with him in New South Wales and Bangladesh.

“I want to see him make visits from time to time to work with the players,” Hathurusingha said.

In 57 internationals across all three formats in 2017, Sri Lanka lost 40 and won just 14.