Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

West Indies` tour of Bangladesh, which begins with a Twenty20 on October 11, will be the first international series under the ICC`s revised playing conditions, which are effective from October 1. The amendments are only applicable to international cricket.

The ICC`s cricket committee had made the recommendations after its meeting in London in May and they were passed by the executive board at the annual general meeting in Hong Kong in June.

Geoff Marsh has taken on a tough assignment, one likely to test his skills to the utmost. If he emerges from his stint as Sri Lankan coach with his reputation enhanced, he will have surpassed all reasonable expectations. Coaching Sri Lanka requires a rare mixture of wisdom, patience, vigour, diplomacy and thick skin. Marsh has many fine qualities, including durability, common sense and a certain humility, but nothing in his record indicates that he has the exceptional qualities demanded by the task that now presents itself.

When it comes to travelling long haul, the best value can be found in Sri Lanka, according to a report into prices and currencies.
Prices are down by a third on the Indian Ocean island, making it an ideal destination for budget-conscious travellers seeking winter sun.

The drop in prices makes Sri Lanka 38 per cent cheaper than Thailand, its nearest rival on the list of affordable long haul holiday spots.

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2011 during the ICC Awards ceremony in London. Sangakkara also won the ICC People`s Choice Award, capping a memorable evening for him.

`It`s a great honour first of all to have been nominated for this award [ODI Cricketer] and a great honour to have actually won it,` said Sangakkara, who was not in London because of the ongoing home series against Australia.

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga was unaware he had become the first player to take three one-day international hat-tricks until after the match against Australia on Monday.

Malinga, nicknamed `Slinger Malinga` due to his distinctive round-arm action, ripped out Mitchell Johnson, John Hastings and Xavier Doherty in an explosive burst which set up Sri Lanka`s four-wicket victory in the fifth match of the series.

Sri Lanka have dropped promising batsman Dinesh Chandimal, allrounder Thisara Perera and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath from the squad for the final two one-dayers against Australia, who led the series 2-1. Seekkuge Prasanna, the 26-year-old legspinner, has been called up and has to fly back from England, where he was representing Sri Lanka A.

The other major news was that vice-captain Angelo Mathews, who missed the third ODI due to an injury is fit for the remaining matches. `He should be alright for the rest of the series,` Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. `He could have even played on Tuesday, but we didn`t want to take a risk. If something had happened he would have been ruled out for two months. He has got three more days to recover from the injury. Angelo is a key member of our side and when he goes out it`s a big loss.`

New Delhi: A flurry of flattering headlines yesterday greeted Pakistan`s 34-year-old first woman foreign minister.

Hina Rabbani Khar`s picture adorned the front pages of most Indian newspapers.

`Pak Puts On Its Best Face`, said The Times of India, the biggest-selling English-language daily, while mass circulation Hindi newspaper Navbharat Times said India was `sweating over the model-like minister`.

QUOTE OF THE CENTURY....

We all love to spend lots of money on buying new clothes, but never realise that the best times are enjoyed without clothes !!!

GEN ASHOK K MEHTA

Not only did the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) comprehensively defeat the LTTE insurgency - the first such victory in the 21 century, but it also returned the country to a high growth rate path of 8%. That`s the judgment Central Bank of Ceylon governor Ajith Cabraal made during the international conference last month at Colombo.

Ajantha Mendis turned tricks beyond the grasp of six Australian batsmen as Sri Lanka completed an eight-run victory for a 2-0 sweep of the Twenty20 series at Pallekele.

Playing his first, but surely not last, match against the Australians on this tour, Mendis plucked 6 for 16, the best figures in international T20 history, including three of the four wickets to fall for four runs in a frenzied 16-ball phase in the middle overs. All this after Shane Watson`s belligerent 57 from 24 balls seemed to have set the visitors up for a series-levelling victory.

Sydneysiders witnessed an unusually large and strident protest demonstration against anti Sri Lanka, pro LTTE reporting by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The protest by Sri Lankan Australians and their friends, numbering over a 1,000 was staged right in front of the ABC Head Office in the Sydney city. ABC is one of the two Australian Government funded media institutions, the other being the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

In a large green field, its grass finely cropped, young cricketers are training in the late afternoon sun.

The youngest form a circle in one corner doing fielding practice while, in the middle, about 25 older boys get expert coaching in batting and bowling.

This ground has come a long way from its previous incarnation.

Here at the former headquarters of the Tamil Tigers, their leader, Prabhakaran, used to deliver his annual war speech on what was called Heroes` Day.

The selection panel of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) headed Dulip Mendis today named a twenty-man Sri Lankan cricket pool for the One Day International and Twenty20 series against Australia which kicks off on August 6.

However SLC are yet to appoint a captain for the home series against Australia which begins with a Twenty20 International in Pallekele, Kandy.

As a Tamil domiciled in Australia I served the Tamil community by editing the only Tamil community newspaper, UTHAYAM. I ran it for 14 years My experiences in dealing with the Tamil community, both in Australia and in Sri Lanka, make me feel sad about the callous way in which the media is exploiting the suffering of our Tamil people for self-serving ends. I think I could speak as an independent voice with no allegiances to the politics of either community or political parties. My main concern has been to help our Tamils in Sri Lanka who had to face the brunt of all attacks from the Indians soldiers, Sri Lankan forces and, above all, the so-called Tamil liberators, the LTTE. I have just completed building a small hospital in the island of Eluvaitivu, in which I grew up and, sooner or later, I plan to go back to serve our Tamil people who are desperately in need of help.

SRI Lanka`s most famous cricketer, and Tamil, Muthiah Muralidaran, does not share the view expressed by almost 3000 people in an Age poll that Australia should boycott its impending tour to the island nation for moral reasons.

The Australian tour will go ahead as scheduled, but since the screening on Four Corners of a graphic Channel 4 documentary about atrocities committed at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war and its aftermath, unease has been privately expressed by some players (though not players likely to be selected for the tour). Judging by the poll results, that unease is replicated in some sections of the community. Of the 3527 votes lodged in response to The Age online poll question, ``Should the Australian cricket team tour Sri Lanka``, 81 per cent (2856) voted ``no``.