The General Secretary of the Public Service Sports Club,Kandy Walter Ranasinghe is an Old Boy of Dharmaraja College and an outstanding Sportsman who has done Judo, Karate and Boxing in School. He said that due to Covid-19 epidemic almost all the sports activities were postponed but due to the timely intervention of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa it was well controlled and the whole country is steadily coming to a normal situation and everything will be normal very soon.

Walter Ranasinghe is a hard working person and he was able to make vast Improvements to the Public Service Sports Club which was originated in 1946 by the then Government Agent,Kandy Sir Richard Aluvihare. Walter Ranasinghe became the General Secretary from 2005 and since then he was able to arrange regular cricket tournaments, Walking races, Bridge, Carrom & Snooker tournaments etc. to the Members and their families for relaxation and to have cordial relationships with each other.Walter is a Brown belt in Judo and boxed at the Stubbs Shield Meet and also the Junior National Boxing Meet along with Gunathilake Brothers, Jayasundera brothers, Ananda de Alwis and A.Moonamale to name a few.

At the recent Sports Committee Meeting held at the Club house they decided to have Annual Programmes in November this year to have events such as Six-a-side Cricket tournaments for the Sir Richard Aluvihare Challenge Trophy, Indoor Games such as Carrom, Billiards, Bridge, Snooker tournaments as well as Walking Races for the Members as well as their family members at the Police Grounds, Kandy. Walter Ranasinghe is a willing worker and to further improve the facilities of the Club, he has initiated to have a new Block with the assistance of the present Senior Vice-President, D.D.Palihakkara and the other Committee Members of the Club.

The Annual General Meeting of the Singhalese Sports Club will be held today Friday, August, 14, 2020 at the club pavilion at Maitland Place Colombo 7. The highlight of this AGM will no doubt be the Election of Office Bearers and the Executive Committee to positions for which there is a keen contest.

Former Thomian Captain, the Cricketing Great and Corporate Magnate Ken De Alwis if elected as Hony General Secretary will be assisted by the incumbent Assistant Secretary and Team mate and hero of the Royal Thomian centenary match Mahinda Halangoda. Ken De Alwis will contest the incumbent Secretary W. Vasantha for the position of Honorary General Secretary whilst the position of Assistant Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer will remain uncontested.

As the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way businesses operate, many are getting creative so that they can continue to serve their customers. And in Florence, several are taking advantage of old technology to keep everyone protected. Italy, which was hit early by the pandemic, quickly shut the country down in early March.

This meant that only delivery or, in some areas, take away was available. Luckily, a trick from the day of the plague helped some business owners get by. Wine windows, or buchette del vino, date back to the 1630s and were used when plagues ran rampant throughout Europe. Even at that time, merchants understood that disease could be spread by contact and these small openings allowed them to sell wine without fear of infection. To collect money, they passed a small metal pallet through the hole, which was then disinfected with vinegar after the transaction.

Unique to Tuscany, there are still over 150 wine windows scattered about and some shop owners are using them to continue business while social distancing. The Buchette del Vino Cultural Association, which works to preserve the remaining wine windows, documents this phenomenon on their website. In Florence, the ice cream shop Vivoli uses their wine window to serve everything from gelato to espresso to their grateful clients. And, on the other side of town, Babae sticks to tradition by using their wine window during happy hour, something they began doing in 2019. From this little opening, they dole out glasses of wine and spritz cocktails to the masses.

The use of these wine windows speaks to the resilience and adaptability of the Italian people. As the country was devastated in early waves of the coronavirus, they came together to do what was necessary to flatten the curve. Whether they were singing from their balconies or designing innovative masks, they did what had to be done in order to get things back on track.

My Modern Met

Penetrating the Pakistani tea market with Sri Lanka orthodox tea will be a daunting task at present unless the gap of pricing between the African and Sri Lankan teas are minimized revealed a recent webinar held between the Sri Lanka High Commission and some tea importers in Pakistan.

During the webinar , it was revealed that Sri Lanka can plan to market value-added packet tea to the niche market in Pakistan with their orthodox teas provided that the production cost is bought down to be more competitive and with extensive advertising.

Sri Lankan exporters also may explore the possibilities of blending Sri Lankan tea with cheap CTC tea from East African countries and export them to Pakistan with a competitive pricing.

It was also emphasized during the webinar that Sri Lankan Tea (Ceylon Tea) that had a 75% of the market share in Pakistan in the seventies and early eighties has dwindled to less than point 0.1% at present and Pakistan is one of the highest tea importing countries and also has a very high tea drinking population.

The reason for dominating the tea market in Pakistan in the seventies and early eighties by Sri Lanka was the result of the Indo-Pakistan war in 1917 that halted tea that was brought in to then West Pakistan from its former East Pakistan or now Bangladesh.

With Sri Lanka capturing the Russian tea market of packed tea, the bulk tea prices too in Sri Lanka had sky rocketed, becoming unaffordable to be bought for blending with even African CTC for the Pakistani consumer.

Sri Lanka tea auctions are dominated by tea packers and Sri Lankan packed tea cannot compete with Pakistani packed tea due to their high price.

Even after-tax relief under FTA, Sri Lankan tea is non-competitive in price with East African Teas.

Small quantities of Sri Lanka tea had reached the Pakistan market during the recent years for the purpose of blending when there had been sudden spikes in the pricing of African CTC.

Northern regions of Pakistan consume orthodox teas without milk and Sri Lanka orthodox tea can have a market there if they can compete with the prices of other orthodox teas that are produced in Bangladesh and India.

Dilmah value added teas, that has a great market share in Europe, has not done well in Pakistan.

CTC manufactured by some plantation in Sri Lanka such as Hunnasgiriya had not penetrated the Pakistan CTC market as they are unable to compete in pricing with the East African CTC teas.

Renown Sports Club's hopes of remaining further in the tournament was shattered by New Young Sports Club, Wennappuwa with a 3 goals to 2 win in their inter club soccer encounter played for the “Vantage FFSL President’s Cup” at Race Course grounds yesterday.

After holding the winners to a 1-1 score by the breather, Renown SC players were completely out played by the boys from Wennappuwa, where they booted two goals in quick succession, early in the second half to register comprehensive victory, with a very good chance of qualifying for the quarter finals to be played on 23 and 24 of this month respectively.

New Young SC which drew 1-all in their curtain raiser against Matara CC, put up a much improved performance in this game. It was a well compiled team effort by their players, who played to a certain game plan, with the right combination of players. They started attacking from the start whistle and went on imposing the pressure on their rivals. They surged ahead in finding space to make inroads in the rival defense to do the scoring, which they were pretty successful.

On the other hand, Renown, one of the prominent teams in the football arena suffered their second defeat within four days. They lost their opening match to New Star Sports club 0-1, after a close tussle. Once again their performance was at a lower ebb and failed to capitalize on the given opportunities. They got into rhythm in the dying stages of the game, where they were able to score their second goal, which apparently was too late for them.

Striker Tharindu Dhanushka of New Young SC broke the deadlock by scoring the first goal of the match off a penalty firing a 25 meters kick away from the goal area, after a rival player was penalized from rough play to make it 1-0 by the 20th minute of the first half. Jude Supan of Renown SC equalized with a spectacular goal, firing a 20-meter kick this time, after a rival player was penalized for rough play on the brink of the first half to leave for breather at 1-1.

After the resumption New Young SC boys went all out putting pressure on their rivals. Their ploy worked well to score two goals. Hiruna Senanmayake and Madushanka Karunaratne scored for winners while M.Nidarshan scored for losers in the extra time.

Java Lane beat Blue Star

In the second match, Java Lane Sports Club defeated Blue Star Sports Club by 3 goals to nil under lights. For Java Lane Abdullah Najabdeen, Malaka Perera and Navin Jude scored after leading 1-0 at half time.

Matara City FC hold New Star SC to a nil-all draw

Bernard Perera

Vantage FFSL Presidents Cup 2020 match between Matara City FC and New Stars SC ended in a nil all draw at the Sugathadas stadium last evening. The game evenly contested by both during the 90 minutes play.

Matara SC led by foreigner ADSVS Issac played well in the defense line to halt New Star SC strikers for scoring in the first session of play. Though he was doing a fine job there were many instances that the New Star SC strikers penetrated on many occasions but failed to gain the needed goal to get to the front. This happened mainly due to superlative performances of the goal keeper of the Matara FC. He was a tower of strength for his side.

The tams returned to the dressing room lemons with a blank score sheet.

Second session began with the teams to gain the lead by displaying good soccer through fine display of passing. Matara FC was at its best where passing is concerned but accurate passing did not bring in good results as many shots at the goal by their forwards went astray.

At the same time New Star custodian too came up with brilliant save to halt Matara’s goal hungry strikers.

New Star strikers too broke through the defense line of Matara FC to make many inroads towards the their opponents territory but all their efforts too were not sufficient to give them the much needed goal they were looking.

Their skipper using all his experience moved from defense line and joined the front liners with the hope of scoring. This change saw the New Stars moving back to strengthen defense line to halt Matara SC’s run for goals.

Matara SC did five changes to the original team while New Star SC did only three change inclusive of the player for the Injured Player. Referee had no difficulty in controlling the game and no Yellow cards were issued throughout the game.

Moragasmulla SC defeat Up-Country Lions 3-0 

The second game of the Vantage FFSL Presidents Cup 2020 at Sugathadasa stadium saw Moragasmulla Sports Club Rajagiriya trounced Up Country Lions from Nawalapitiya three goals to nil.

Moragasmulla were in the front at the half time leading one Zero. The defeat will be bad blow for the high riding Up Country Lions in this Championship.

The Nuwara Eliya Golf Club (NEGC) will return to full of activities once again when they host three major events at their Club Course during the weekend, which is set to attract a record number of entries.

The action would commence today (14) with the Annual Graham Sinclair Cup Tournament and the A. R. Aitken Cup which was inaugurated in 1911, will be presented to the Best Nett Score during the next two days of competition.

This will be followed by the Annual Captain’s Cup and the President’s Prize Tournaments, both which are ranked as Board Events with a long and rich history of competition.

Among the leading competitors, 16-year-old golf sensation Haroon Aslam of Trinity College will be the cynosure of all eyes as he attempts to defend the President’s Prize for another year.

Meanwhile, another promising golfer, Chamara Abeyrathne will be determined to retain the Captain’s Cup when the tournament begins on Saturday under strict and safety guidelines.

“The revised stroke indexes at the NEGC will come into play for the first time at these tournaments,” a high-ranking official of the NEGC told the Daily News yesterday.

“All competitors would be tested on their skill and endurance over three days of highly competitive golf with the challenging weather patterns also coming into play,” he emphasized.

“We would like to welcome back our members after a long break for an exciting weekend of golf and want all to experience the many improvements we have made at the NEGC during this period,” the official added further.

London, Wednesday: England's World Cup-winning spinner Laura Marsh retired from all forms of cricket on Wednesday.

Marsh was a key member of the England Women's team that won the 2017 World Cup and played in 103 one-day internationals during her career.

The 33-year-old announced her retirement from international cricket in December and has now decided to call time on her domestic career as well.

"I have made the decision to retire from all forms of cricket," Marsh announced on Twitter.

"With the cancellation of The Hundred competition this year, I feel that it is the right time to hang up the boots. I want to say a huge thank you to all the teams and organisations I have represented over the years."

Marsh made her debut for the Kent Women's team in 2003 before moving to Sussex in 2011.

She also played for the Surrey Stars and took part in Australia's Big Bash League.

AFP

Defenders Sports Club will go out as favourites to maintain their unbeaten record against Saunders Sports Club, while Police Sports Club will take on Sea Hawks Sports Club in their second round fixtures of the inaugural “Vantage FFSL Presidents Cup” at Race Course grounds and Sugathadasa Stadium today.

Defenders after their thumping 4-1 win over Super Sun in their earlier encounter, will be in search of another win against Saunders SC who are struggling to get into rhythm. Defenders completely outplayed their rivals Super Sun SC in all departments. This match will be very crucial for them as a win today will give them a berth in the quarter finals. They are one of the balanced sides which possess several national players in their ranks. Their fitness level has been their key to success and as per their team sources they are likely to retain the side which played the curtain raiser.

On the other hand, Saunders, one of the pioneers in the game is struggling to get into the winning streak. They had a poor performance in their first game but would have done the homework before they take on another strong contender Defenders SC.

Meanwhile in the other game Police Sports Club which outplayed the Ratnam Sports Club 4-2 in their first match, will face an acid test when they take on the Sea Hawks Sports Club. Both teams are equally good in their fitness and the team which plays according to a plan will emerge victorious.

Today's matches:

Serendib SC Vs Ratnam SC at Sugathadasa Stadium 3.30 pm

Super Sun SC Vs Red Stars FC at Sugathadasa Stadium 6.30 pm

SL Police SC Vs Sea Hawks FC at Racecourse Stadium 3.30 pm

Saunders SC Vs Defenders FC at Racecourse Stadium 6.30 pm

Vienna, Wednesday: Five months after 86,000 fans watched the T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, women's international cricket returned on Wednesday -- in the unlikely surrounds of Austria.

The Seebarn Ground to the north of Vienna had the honour of welcoming back women's cricket after the coronavirus suspension caused havoc with the schedule.

Austria hosted Germany -- another country hardly associated with being a powerhouse in cricket -- in the first of five T20 internationals.

Germany, known as the Golden Eagles and ranked 27th in the world, came out on top against their 50th-ranked neighbours by 82 runs.

Oxford University student Christina Gough top scored for Germany with 72 in a total of 165-2 before they dismissed the hosts for just 83.

Germany last played a T20 against Oman in February as part of a 4-0 series clean sweep. Austria were playing for the first time since their quadrangular series a year ago which included France, Jersey and Norway.

"The girls have worked hard in the last few months to stay fit and to up their skills," said Germany captain Anuradha Doddaballapur. Andrea Mae Zepeda, the Austria captain who top-scored for her side with an undefeated 35, said: "Some teams could not take part in this tournament due to travel restrictions, but we are happy those restrictions have been eased between Austria and Germany and we are able to get some international cricket this year." AFP

Southampton, Thursday: Abid Ali made England pay for dropping him twice in the slips as Pakistan captain Azhar Ali rode his luck as the second Test got underway at Southampton on Thursday.

When rain forced an early lunch on the first day, Pakistan were 62-1.

Abid was 33 not out and the under-pressure Azhar 20 not out after they had forged an unbroken stand of 56.

Pakistan, 1-0 down in a three-match series after an agonising three-wicket defeat in the first Test at Old Trafford last week, were soon in trouble at 6-1 after Azhar won the toss.

By his own admission, James Anderson -- England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker -- had not been at his best at his Lancashire home ground.

And he came into this match having taken just six wickets in three Tests this season at an expensive average of over 41 apiece.

But England captain Joe Root said on the eve of this match: "To question Jimmy's ability and his record -- do that at your own peril."

And in humid conditions conducive to Anderson's swing bowling, the 38-year-old paceman brought one back into Shan Masood to have the left-handed opener, fresh from his Test-best 156 last week, lbw for one.

Masood's exit saw Anderson move to within nine wickets of becoming the first paceman to take 600 in Tests. Pakistan should have been 7-2 but Abid, on one, was reprieved when third slip Dom Sibley dropped an edge off Stuart Broad.

Azhar was on seven when, playing defensively at in-form all-rounder Chris Woakes, the ball trickled onto his stumps without dislodging the bails.

Woakes suffered again when Abid, on 21, got an outside edge only for second slip Rory Burns to drop a catch that should have been taken.

It appeared an England cordon missing the absent Ben Stokes was too narrow, with Burns and Sibley getting in each other's way.

Abid glanced a couple of elegant fours while Azhar, who has made just one fifty in 10 innings since becoming skipper in November, square-cut Anderson for his lone boundary in 65 balls.

Pakistan's Fawad Alam, 34, has been recalled for his first Test in over a decade. The inclusion of the batsman and left-arm spinner was the only change to the side as he replaced leg-spinning all-rounder Shadab Khan.

A prolific run-scorer in Pakistan domestic cricket, Alam played the last of his three previous Tests, in which he averages over 41, against New Zealand in Dunedin, back in November 2009.

England, bidding for a first series victory over Pakistan in a decade, made two changes for a match that is once more being played behind closed doors because of coronavirus.

As expected, batsman Zak Crawley returned in place of Stokes after it was announced the star all-rounder would miss the final two matches of this series for personal reasons after travelling to New Zealand to be with his ill father.

Meanwhile fast bowler Jofra Archer was officially "rested", with England in the middle of a gruelling schedule of six Tests in seven weeks following their 2-1 series win at home to the West Indies last month.

Archer's place was taken by left-arm seamer Sam Curran, who has been on the winning side in all his previous eight home Tests and is also capable of scoring runs down the order.

- AFP

Sri Lankan Football was in the newsfor many reasons in the last few years and now it has become the talk of the town for dropping in world ranking to the lowest level in history to be ranked 206 out of 210 football playing countries. It is also ranked 47th, which is the last ranked team in Asia.

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka(FFSL) with a view of developing the game they have obtained the services of Amir Alagic, a Bosnian born coach who holds a European Professional Licence to revamp the national team. Amir arrived in Colombo in February this year just before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in a complete lock-down.Due to this he had no option but to abandon his training camp for National Team for a few months, until it was started end of June

During this locked down period, Amir started analyzing the reasons for down fall of the Sri Lankan national team and why they failed to be competitive . He was also entrusted to take over as the Technical Director to restructure the local set up to be on par with world standards.

Amir says that, Sri Lanka has immense potential to grow and become a top football playing nation, if the affairs are managed professionally and systematically. He says that all aspects of the game and standard of football needs to be addressed individually to suit the needs. Execution of elite football is an area which is lacking in Sri Lanka for last 70 plus years. At the same time, recreational football also needs to be developed in all parts of the country.

There are many areas Sri Lankan Football needs to focus immediately such as to set up a playing pattern for the National Team, Professional football League, Youth Competitions and Coach Education Programme including coaching career pathways for young coaches.

Proposed “Super League”, which is to be launched end of this year is Sri Lanka’s first ever professional football league, is the only way forward to transform the game to higher levels in the country. This will not only attract commercial partners but also will bring back football’s past glory.

Amir also says, he has already designed many strategies for grassroots level, youth football, a common National Football Curriculum, Football Master Plan and Coaching licensing systems. He has also designed a system of sports science where analysts can perform more scientifically. with the assistance of FIFA and FFSL he is already restructuring womens football in the country. He says that “Sri Lanka Football requires fundamental support from the government such as playing fields, a football national stadium, good football grounds in all provinces or at districts without which the game cannot reach the next level.

Support from the commercial partners is another area Sri Lanka needs a big boost for its national teams and for its competitions. Football is a business in all parts of the world and commercial partners shall invest in football and this will pay them back in a bigger way in the near future.”

Amir has many tasks to perform under his responsibility and he says he needs professionals to handle the tasks ahead and the game and all affairs of FFSL shall be managed professionally if the country wants to see the standard of football to be improved in the next five years. He says he is hopeful; that important changes will take place in football in Sri Lanka in the coming years.

Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya posed for a Group Photograph at Thomian Grounds, Mount Lavinia prior to their two day tournament match. Squatting L/R – Janitha Shehan, Vihanga Iranjana, Oshada Sanesh, Malshan Lakshitha, Neluka Heshan, Thushara Madusahan, Abishek Jayawardene Standing L/R – Rithika Dinesh (Head Coach), Risitha Sankalpa, Sasitha Ashan, Kemira Nayanatharu, Likshan Sasanga, Praveen Nimesh (Captain), Rashmika Mevan, Nuwantha Madushan, Sithija Chamod (Vice Captain), Dilip Chamara , Kaveesha Nadun (Asst. Coach), Buddhi Prasanna (Asst. Coach) (Picture by Dilwin Mendis Moratuwa Sports Special Correspondent) 

The fourth year coloursman, all rounder, right hand bat, reserve wicket keeper and occasional right arm off spin bowler Kemira Nayanatharu Wijemayake is tipped to captain Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya in the 2021 first eleven cricket season.

Kemira Nayanatharu Wijemayake

He commenced his cricket career at the age of seven years at Parakrama Maha Vidyalaya, Bandarawatte and first played for the under 13 division two team and first year itself he amassed 896 runs with three centuries and nine fifties with the highest score being against Sandalankawa Central with 128 runs and kept wickets too.

In his second year in the under 13 he played in the division one and scored 996 runs and unfortunately missed the magical 1000 runs and collected two centuries against Mahanama, Panadura and Thurstan, Colombo and scored eight half centuries.

Playing in the under 15 division one in 2015 he scored 422 runs with 6 fifties. During this period he met the head coach of Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya Lal Senaratne and he introduced Kemira to Gurukula Principal Anil Geethalal and he was admitted to his school. In his first year he collected 423 runs with five fifties and got selected to play for the Prima Cup in the Western Province North Outer and he was the vice captain of the Provincial Team and got two fifties. He was selected for the under 15 trials of Sri Lanka Tour to Malaysia and he got a fifty but could not gain a place.

In the following year playing for the under 17 division one he scored 290 runs with three fifties in five outings and captaining the team in 2018 Gurukula came upto finals and he scored 493 runs with six half centuries. While playing for under 17 he got selected for the first eleven team in 2016 and scored 293 runs with two fifties and played in the Big match and the Limited over against their arch rivals Dharmaloka Vidyakaya.

In the next year he scored 576 runs with six fifties and played for the Big Match and the Limited Over too and in 2018/19 he scored 913 runs with two centuries against Maliyadeva and Maris Stella respectively and got eight half centuries and played for the third successive Big match and the Limited over match and he was unbeaten with 98 runs and in the Big match he was 90 not out and scored 696 runs with a century and seven fifties. This year he missed the Big match and Limited over due to Coronavirus Outbreak.

Through out his career in the first eleven he has scored 2478 runs and this is an all time record for his Alma Mater Gurukula and he has another year to represent his school. He was selected for the Western Province North Outer in the District Team in 2016/17 and due to an injury he could not participate but he played in 2017/18 and 2018/19 and for the Provincial Team too.

In the under 19 two day tournament game they beat formidable S.

Thomas College and lost to Mahinda in the one day tournament. In addition he played club cricket and represented Rangers Cricket CLub in division three and scored 354 runs with two centuries and two fifties at an average of 158.0 He played for the Hettipola Sports Club in the Sara Trophy and finished among the first four teams.

Cricket is set to resume in Kandy,, Itis going to be a treat to hundreds of Cricket Fans as Kandy District Cricket Association comes back with a cricket tournament. The 2020 Kandy District Cricket Association limited overs cricket tournament is scheduled to start from August 20, if the weather permits. A few days back at their headquarters at Asgiriya a meeting was held and it was finalized. The number of teams competing have been announced, Twenty nine teams, will be seen in action. All club representatives were present at the meeting and they were happy to resume cricket

The names of the clubs with their representatives who will take part are Kandy Cricket Club - Chinthaka Girihagama, Old Trintians SC - Shamseer Jaleel, Old Antonians SC - Chandra Mawattege, Kandy Youth CC - Anton Perera, Old Rajans SC - Sumi l Ranasinghe, Madawala CC - M. Jazil, Galagedera CC - Amith Wanigasekara, Prisons RC - Viraj Samarakoon, Old Sylvestrians SC - A. Akalanka, Ekamuthu SC - S. Suraweera, Visuvious SC - Lakshman Panditharthne, Saracens CC - Dileepa Wijekoon, Gampola CC - Viranjan Sumanasekara, Southerland SC - W.M.S.T. Bandara, Liverpool SC - H. Haridaran, Zelinicans SC- M.G.A.Malsooriya, Blue Universal SC - A Elvitigala, Kandy Bloomfield SC - Pakitha Tilakasiri, Old Zahirians SC - M. Shiraz, Blackegale SC - Ananda Bandara, Bahuvanns SC - Kanishka Kumara, Onslaught CC - Naddera Rukshan, Kandy Academy CC - Y.B.D.S. de Costa, University Staff SC - Panduka Kamatewatta, Madawella United CC - M.R.M. Riffas, Kandy Doctors CC -Thilina Wijetunga, Kothmale CC - H.G.A.Hewasinghe, University SC - Uvindu Kahagalla, Galhinna CC - M.Imran Khan.

Matches are expected to be played at Prisons grounds Pallekalle, St. Anthony’s College grounds Katugastota,Trinity College Asgiriya Stadium, Dhamararaja College Lake View grounds,Peradeniya Campus grounds and Wickrema bahu College grounds Gampola. The grand final will be played over here in Kandy. The winners will walk away with the KDCA Presidents trophy and the runner-up will get the KDCASecretary’s trophy and a cash award. There will be awards for best bowler, batsman,fielder and the most disciplined team and the best player of the tournament. Limited over’s cricket is always scheduled for completion in a single day, and the teams are allotted one innings each, with fifty over’s per team;

The tournament will boost the local talent by giving them an excellent opportunity to play good cricket under the guidance of seasoned players. The event is one of the most anticipated sports events as it is expected to light the flame of hope and happiness amongst everyone in Kandy who loves cricket. It will be seen as a kick-start to the event that had taken a hit in the last 100 days due to the ongoingCovid19 pandemic. This is going to be the first official big cricket tournament to resume after the lockdown.

At this meeting the happiest were the president of Kandy District cricket Association Roland Perera, Vice President Malcolm Perera Secretary Janaka Pathirana and the rest of the committee members. Addressing the club representatives Roland Perera gave a warm welcome and thanked them for their presence at short notice. He said it was a long due for competition. And Janaka Pathirana assured his assistance and cooperation from the Central Province Cricket Association, where he is the secretary. KDCA will assign Umpires and Scorers from the KDCA panel.

Malcolm Perera the vice president mainly responsible for cricket structure of the Kandy District cricket Association with years of experience in the game explained in detail the tournament format and requested the Club’s to stick to the tournament schedule without any postponements. All clubs were handed over Tournament rules Book, Fixtures list.The Cricket Secretary Anton Perera along with tournament committee chairman Jaliya Jayasuriya will be monitoring the competition.

The sport of cricket in the Kandy city has a long cricket history beginning in 1863. Having originated mainly in the Knuckles-Rangala and Kandy townwhich had the ABCD Club. The first unofficial Test in Ceylon was played ion Kandy at the Bogambara ground in 1889. The Central Province Cricket Association was formed with Dr. Anthonisz as President after a break. The revival of Kandy district cricket took place on August 16, 1946 with Dr.Anthonisz as Secretary and Col. Gordon Pyper as President. The teams that participated were Kandy Sports Club, University Scheme SC, Hatton SC, Gampola SC, KandyPublic Services SC, Nuwara Eliya Public Services SC, Agriculture Department SC,Kandy YMCA, Kandy YMBA SC and Kandy YMMA SC. The inaugural tournament was won by Kandy Sports Club led by Francis Amarasinghe. In 1947 Central Province Cricket Association participated in the Zonal Tournament conducted by the Ceylon Cricket Association.

The Hyderabad Blues (1966),State Bank of India (1967), MCC (1969), Australia (1979), MCC (1973), India(1974) and Pakistan (1976) played three-day matches against the BoardPresident XI while Joe Lester’s team played a two-day match against the Government Services CA at the Peradeniya Campus ground. This match was hosted by the Government Services Cricket Association. All the matches from 1950 to 1976 were two-day games up to the granting of Test status in 1981.

In 1969 a limited over matchwas played against the MCC, which the visitors won easily. In 1973 the MCC led by Tony Lewis won a limited over game comfortably. In 1974 India met a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at Katugastota, which was a draw. The inaugural first class match at Trinity College Asgiriya was between the Sri Lanka BoardPresident XI and Intikhab Alam’s Pakistan side in 1976.

The Test era began in Kandy on February 9 1982 with a three-day game on February 22 1983 a year later. Asgiriya became the third Test venue in Sri Lanka and the 54th in the world. Since that game almost every team that visited Sri Lanka has played at Trinity College Ground, Asgiriya. The inaugural Test with Australia began on April 22 1983. Then came New Zealand followed by India, Pakistan, England’s Young Cricketers, England B, Bangladesh which was a part of the Asia Cup and Kenya in a World Cup match. So did SouthAfrica, West Indies and Zimbabwe. 

An Old Girl of St.Anthony’s Girls School,Katugastota, W.A.Ruchini Umasha Wijesinghe is an all-round sportswoman who has done Athletics, Basketball, Netball, Cricket, Karate, and Hockey. She says that due to Covid-19 epidemic all these sports activities were at a standstill and now most of the sports disciplines have started slowly and steadily due to the timely action taken by the government as well as the health authorities.

As an Athlete Ruchini won 400, 800, 1500 Metres races at school level and District level and went on to win ‘Army Ranaviru Dana’ Meet for three consecutive years from 2013. This Army Athletic Meet was held annually for all 24 Regiments and children of Army personnel She was in the School Netball team from 2010 to 2017 at Under 13,15,17 and 19 age groups and she played as Centre. She was in the Central Province Under 19 Champion Hockey team in the year 2015. Her Hockey Coach was G.G.Dharmaratne, a Veteran Hockey Coach. She was also in the School Cricket team as an middle order batswoman and she is a Karateka – Brown Belt –two. She captained the School Basket ball team from 2009 to 2017 till she left school representing all age groups i.e. 13,15, 17 and 19. Her Basketball Coach is Sanjaya Sajeewa. At present she is attached to the Union Bank and has continued doing sports. She says that due to lack of grounds and required facilities it is difficult to improve sports and that the authorities should look into this and take timely action. 

The Sea Hawks and Serendib Football Clubs created a major upset by defeating the Police and Ratnam Sports Clubs, respectively, in their inter-club soccer encounter of the Vantage FFSL President’s Cup tournament played at the Sugathadasa Stadium and Racecourse Grounds, yesterday.

The high-riding Police Sports Club's recent winning streak ended as the Sea Hawks defeated them by one point.

After a barren first half, the Sea Hawks bounced back gallantly in the latter stages of the second half to score a goal, which ultimately guided them to seal a memorable victory and to halt the unbeaten record of the Cops.

The first half was filled with some anxious moments, with both sides putting out an enthralling game of football. The much-awaited Police SC, which went out as favourites after winning their first game against Ratnam SC with a 4-2 score, had one of their off-days on the field. They made some valiant efforts to score, but failed to put the much-needed finishing touches.

Sea Hawks FC came to this game after forcing a 3-all draw with Serendib FC in their first game. Consisting of some young players, Sea Hawks tested the rival defence frequently in search of space to find in-roads for scoring. Earlier, they scored a goal which referee Tharanga Pushpakumara disallowed, citing that a player was playing off side.

Striker Mohamed Asmeer scored their solitary goals in the 18th minute in the second half, when he collected a high pass from the midfield player; which Asmeer fired in a 20-metre left-footed kick, which passed the diving goalkeeper.

On the dying stages of the game, a penalty was awarded after their rival player was penalised for rough play in the box area, in which Police goalkeeper Mahendran Dinesh saved Mohamed Meera’s kick.

Meanwhile, at Sugathadasa Stadium, Eveans Asante’s three goals powered Serendib FC to create another upset by ousting Ratnam SC by 6 goals to 2, after leading 3-1 at lemons. The Mawanella lads mesmerised their rivals in all departments.

After a 3-all draw against Sea Hawks FC in their first encounter, they executed their plans perfectly to bring the game under control to notch up a comprehensive victory.

Ratnam’s bad trot again continued after they lost the curtain-raiser to Police SC 4-2. Apart from Eveans Asante’s triple, Mohamed Aasir, D.J.Hemantha, and Riyas Ahamed booted a goal each for them, while Raj Kumar Shanthan and Chitra Kumar scored for the losing side. Saunders fought back gallantly to force a 2-all draw against Defenders Sports Club in the other match at Racecourse Grounds. For Saunder SC, Mohamed Raleen and S. Niresh scored, while S. Mansoor and S.K. Mendis scored for Defenders. Red Star beat Super Suns Sports Club 2-0 after leading 1-0 at the breather at Sugathadasa Stadium. M.H.M. Farhan and M. R. A. Rizmak scored the match-winning goals.

Table leaders CCC would look to consolidate their position when they take on Saracens SC, in their Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Premier Inter-Club Cricket Tournament Tier ‘A’ fixture at the SSC Grounds in Maitland Place commencing today.

CCC, led by Kusal Mendis have already built up a near 20-point lead over their closest rivals NCC and another outright victory would certainly seal the Super Eight title in their favour.

Last week, CCC cruised to a massive innings win over Ragama CC at Katunayake and once again, they are set to collect maximum points and maintain their unbeaten record.

Meanwhile, NCC will be hoping for an improved performance when they confront the BRC in another Super Eight Tournament match at Katunayake commencing today.

NCC will be disappointed for their performances last week where they were deprived of an outright win by Army SC despite scoring well over 400 runs in their first innings.

Colts CC, who are placed third in the points table would start clear favourites when they meet Ragama CC in another Super Eight Tournament match at the CCC Grounds in Maitland Crescent commencing today.

The strength in the Colts CC side is their strong batting line-up where former Sri Lanka Skipper Angelo Mathews will look to compile his second successive century following his last week heroics against Saracens SC at the P. Sara Oval.

Meanwhile, former champions Chilaw Marians CC will face a tough challenge when they take on Sri Lanka Army SC in another Super Eight Tournament encounter at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo commencing today.

Army SC put up a splendid performance last week to force a draw to their game against the NCC, and they would once again look to upset their more fancied opponents.

In the Plate Championship, Negombo CC, Tamil Union and Moors SC are currently involved in a keen contest for supremacy with just three points separating the three teams. As a result, Negombo CC will look to collect the maximum points when they take on bottom of the table Badureliya SC in their fixture at the NCC Grounds in Maitland Place commencing on Sunday (16).

In contrast, Tamil Union will face an acid test when they confront Moors SC in their encounter at the De Zoysa Stadium in Moratuwa commencing tomorrow (16).

In addition, SSC and Lankan CC who are both out of the contention for the title will clash in another Plate Tournament match at the Colts Grounds in Havelock Park commencing on Sunday (16).

The much awaited sports extravaganza for the south, the Hambantota beach games began yesterday at the Hambantota beach amidst a large gathering. Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa & Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Namal Rajapaksa, Chief Organiser Minister Tilak Weerasiinghe and other officials were some of the invitees at the opening ceremony. Here, Ministers Namal Rajapaksa and Chamal Rajapaksa meeting the players before the start of the games and some action from a volleyball match.

Pictures by Sulochana Gamage

Colombo Football Club(CFC) and Blue Eagle Sports Club (BESC) will go all out to notch up their second successive victories and reserve a berth in the quarter finals, when they play their second round fixtures in the inaugural Vantage FFSL President Cup soccer tournament commencing from 3.30 p.m. at Sugathadasa Stadium today.

One of the tournament favourites CFC, registered a comprehensive 3-0 win in the tournament opener against the Sri Lanka Transport Board Sports Club (SLTB SC). With plenty of National players in their squad, CFC possess a well-balanced side. Even though they came out after a long break due to the covid-19 pandemic, they were able to click as a unit to outclass their rivals.

Today’s fixture against Crystal Palace is going to be a crucial fixture if they are to remain further in the tournament which will kick off at 6.30 p.m. A win here will qualify them for the quarter final berth to be played on 23 and 24 of this month. Crystal Palace FC from Gampola lost 1-2 against the Blue Eagles Sports Club in a closely contested match. They fought hard against their rivals until a goal in the latter stages of the game, saw the game slip away from them.

Meanwhile, Blue Eagle SC will meet SLTB SC in the first game at 3.30 p.m. Blue Eagles SC boys from Dharga Town played their hearts out in their curtain raiser against Crystal Palace FC from Gampola, in which they managed to notch up a close 2-1 win. On performance they have the edge over their rivals who are struggling to get into form.

SLTB SC Vs Blue Eagles SC Sugathadasa Stadium 3.30 pm. Crystal Palace FC Vs Colombo FC Sugathadasa Stadium 6.30 p.m.

Sri Lanka Rugby will be delivering it’s 2nd post COVID-19 face to face training workshop on Saturday and Sunday at the Asgiriya Stadium, in Kandy.

The work shop “Rugby L 1 Strength & Conditioning“ will be delivered by educator Mothilal Jayathilaka.

The workshop will be coordinated by the newly elected office bearers of the Central Province Rugby Football Union Presdient Pradeep Basnayake and secretary Kavind Jayasena. The course will be followed by 10 participants from the Central Province.

Some of the partricipants are Kavinda Jayasena, Pradeep Basnayake, Tushitha de Silva, Tharaka Algama, Anuradha Wilawara, Dayasiri Jayawardene and some others will participate as well.

Southampton, Friday: Pakistan's Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan got through an awkward one-hour session in the second Test at Southampton on Friday as they denied England a fresh breakthrough.

At lunch on the second day, Pakistan were 155-5, with star batsman Babar 45 not out and wicketkeeper Rizwan 12 not out.

After rain delayed Friday's scheduled start by 90 minutes, Pakistan were left with 60 minutes to bat in a morning session extended by half an hour until 1:30 pm local (1230 GMT).

They resumed in trouble at 126-5, with no more specialist batsmen left to come in.

Babar was then 25 not out and Rizwan unbeaten on four. But in overcast conditions that, even with the floodlights on full beam, made batting difficult against England's four-man pace attack, the Pakistan duo held firm in Friday's first session that comprised 15.2 overs. Babar also showed his class with the occasional stylish clip through midwicket.

- AFP