This weekend in Schools rugby was fantastic. From St. Joseph’s amazing win against Trinity to Kingswood’s triumph against favourites Peters, it was a topsy turvy weekend. It is a real shame therefore, that the gloss of those underdog victories had to be outshone by the pathetic goings on at Reid Avenue. More of that later. I like to stick to ...
In the last week I was called a ‘kalakanniya’, by some chap I’ve never met. Hilarious. Gotta love objectivity. That was only one of the polite things I’ve been called. I do the roundup for The Score, so got some brickbats, which I was helpfully forwarded by the Score lads. Why they’d think I wanted to see them, I don’t ...
I was at the club sevens yesterday and saw some fantastic sevens rugby. Not a lot of tries scored in the Cup final but it was a nail-bitingly close game. 14 – 12 in the end to Upcountry Lions led by the finest sevens player in the country, Srinath Sooriyabandara. Soori – or ‘podi’ – to his mates, was outstanding. ...
Today one of my mates had put up and FB status saying ‘Sri Lanka Rugby Fan: Work it! Work it! Support him! Aiyo….” This admirably sums up a large volume of helpful suggestions from the sidelines, especially at school games, when all the u13ers mothers turn coach. To say nothing of the fathers. I was on air with Shaq on ...
Havelock Park was awash with shouts of T-H-O-R-A as the long whistle saw a gutsy S.Thomas’ convincingly beat title favourites Trinity College by 29-15 and wrest back the Canon RS De Saram Trophy after a lapse of four years, in which time Thomian rugby had reached the doldrums conceding 70, 40 and 50 points to the Trinitians in 2010, 11 ...
My mate Jivan Goonetilleka is going to have a busy Saturday. He’s the main trainer at Boot Camp Sri Lanka which now sees the involvement of two STC 1st XV Captains. Jakka from 1998, my sworn enemy and classmate, and Jivan from 2001. Now that we are all in our thirties, Jakka – who now lives in Malaysia – has ...
I haven’t been this excited about a Sri Lanka game since about 2007. The Tuskers play Kazakhstan in just over 24 hours time and it looks like it’s going to turn out to be a scorcher. And I don’t mean just weatherwise. Sri Lanka have improved with each of the two games they’ve played so far in the HSBC A5N ...
Let it be known that Richie McCaw is not only the best flanker the world has ever seen, and one of the greatest rugby players ever produced. He is also – more importantly, in fact – a salt of the earth nice guy. So Richie actually leaving a bad taste in anyone’s mouth (metaphorically, I’ve never met his girlfriends) is ...
So yesterday my mate was kind enough to offer me a ticket to a seminar by Mahela. It was a leadership seminar for corporates, and it was titled ‘Leading your Team when the Chips are Down’ or something generic like that. I’ve heard MJ speak on this stuff before, and he’s always been very good, so I went along. He ...
I love weekends like these. It’s what I live for, it really is. Schools Rugby Started off on Friday at the Joes v Kingswood and game and it was a scorcher. Was on comms for thescore.lk and it was a pulsating game to call. Joes got off to an early lead but Kingswood’s traditional broken field running strength was always ...
At the time of writing, there are two cricket matches going on which I’d rather be at. But I’m diligent. And work hard. Really. Sri Lanka are playing Bangladesh in Galle, and what were the chances that Kumar Sangakkara wouldn’t score a hundred? Dimuth Karunaratne scored 41, will be nice to see him getting some big ones though – have ...
Lasith Malinga has never been the most eloquent guy in the world. He likes to let the ball do the talking, and in front of a camera he will be the first to admit that he’s a bit out of his depth. I interviewed him for Adoh Magazine when he was big enough to be the Next Big Thing, but ...
Went to see my physio today. She’s having a baby soon. And I promised I’ll get her the entire box set of Sesame Street. No child I have any direct or indirect influence on is going to grow up watching that prehistoric purple homo. So I’ve been quiet. Tings agwan, as they say in the Windies. It’s patois for ‘things ...
It’s good to be back, after all the Carnage. Have you missed me? The Sanath Jayasuriya headed selection committee raised many an eyebrown when it was appointed. Several people – fans, administrators and cricketers themselves – said that it was going to be a disaster, given Sanath’s recent political and social history. Several other quarters have also screamed ‘conflict of ...
The recently concluded Test series was, unfortunately, Mahela Jayawardena’s last as captain. There’s a part of me though that is not entirely unhappy with this. The respect the team have for Mahela is unquestionable. So his influence on and off the field, tactically and in terms of fairness and integrity, will always remain. What it might do though, is make ...
Happy New Year. The usual anticipation brought on by the renewed 365 day cycle has not arrived, sadly. At least not on the cricketing front. After the coal-in-the-stocking aftertaste left by the Boxing Day test match, the New Year test in Sydney doesn’t really warrant the early morning alarm. Nevertheless, for all the charm of the SCG I probably will ...
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views. Click here to see the complete report.
Yes. So like the compulsive fool that I am I woke up this morning to watch the Test as well. In case you missed the day’s play Australia are 440/8 in reply to SL’s 156. It’s looking like an innings win because Sri Lanka are down to three bowlers with Welagedera pulling a hamstring, and Prasanna won’t bat again because ...
Christmas is coming, and it’s not the goose that’s getting fat. It’s me. Bad scene. Need to get some exercise this week as everything’s closed and everyone’s on holiday. And there’s going to be a bit of eating. Perera and Sons yule log makes my Christmas. It’s just one of those feel good, childhood comfort things. Which reminds me I ...
The danger with the retirement of Ricky Ponting, and a game immediately afterwards in his hometown of Hobart, is that any replacement is going to want to cement his place in the side, especially on the old warrior’s turf. Given Sri Lanka’s recent history of kabbo forming, this could be just what the doctor ordered for a new boy coming ...
