Sports
A benchmark in rugby coaching and a trophy for Petes
By A Special Sports Correspondent
St. Peter’s College made amends for the restricted season in 2022 by bagging the 2023 Dialog-sponsored Inter-school Under 19 Fifteen-a-side League Rugby Tournament under the captaincy of Ashain Madugasge and the coaching of Sanath Martis. The Peterites, before this present winning spree, bagged the league tournament way back in 2010 under skipper Keith Gurusinghe. That year too, the Peterites were coached by Martis.
Last year the school from Bambalapitiya was penalised for fielding an ineligible player, but all that was sent into oblivion when they came back fighting and with a purpose this season to bag the all-important Dialog sponsored league plum with a smashing 28-17 win over Isipatana in a deciding game which was played at their own den on August 19 (Saturday). The game was deciding for St. Peter’s and not for Isipatana because Royal was the second-best side carrying both potential and accumulated points to finish as runners-up even before they kicked off their final game against St. Anthony’s. This game, played in Kandy, eventually went in favour of the boys from Reid Avenue. Isipatana finished third followed by St. Anthony’s Katugastota, which can take a bow for securing a top four finish this season.
The Peterites never created that hype to be title contenders despite an early season shocker in their maiden game for 2023 where they made Royal eat humble pie. Schools like Royal, Trinity and Isipatana saw their fixtures being lined up in such a manner that they were more in the limelight than St. Peter’s. The manner in which Royal and Trinity got mileage for their Bradby Shield encounter and the way in which the media hounded these two schools put the rest of the teams in the competition in a position of being less noticed. Isipatana could be an exception to this thinking, but the crowds that were present at Pallakele for the first leg of the Bradby Shield and for the return leg at Royal Sports Complex this year can dwarf the spectator presence at other important matches this season.
Veteran coach Sanath Martis is a person who is obsessed with result-oriented coaching and helped St. Peter’s strike gold this season. (Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
But the Peterites pegged on during the season securing wins over Dharmaraja (34-7), Trinity (22-10), Zahira (56-7), Science (29-0), Vidyartha (66-10) before smashing the daylights out of St. Anthony’s (39-0) in the first Super Round fixture and later downing Isipatana. Apart from Martis being present on the field in his ‘ship captain’ like style mention must be made of assistant coaches Rajiv Perera and Banuka Nanayakkara for their contributions to the side. Skipper Madugasge will be remembered for leading this champion side which had in their ranks solid players in the likes of Vindya de Mel, Kushan Tharindu, Sudesh Jayawickreme, Dineth Ranasinghe and Yumeth Shihara to name a few.
Royal playing under lock forward Randul Senanayake did well to finish second in the points table. They were coached this season by Dushanth Lewke. Isipatana might not like the manner in which they finished the season because this was a side to watch this year with some incredible players in their ranks in the likes of skipper Nawin Kanishka, Shehandu de Costa, Shahid Zumri, Kalindu Silva, Heshan Randimal, T. Ranaweera, Chamindu Chirath and playmaker Rinesh Silva, who finished the season as the highest points scorer (89).
If one considers the coaches employed this season Martis once again underscored that little valued saying ‘old is gold’. This is an era where the young coaches in rugby are considered ‘laptop coaches’ and are hunting for strategies and information on the internet 24×7. If one takes coaches like Nawaz (S. Thomas’), Fazil Marija (Trinity), Srinath Sooriyabandara (St. Anthony’s ), Lewke and Saliya Kumara (Isipatana) they have played this game at a much higher level than Martis and have age and technology on their side. But this veteran coach marshaled his team in a manner that they maintained consistency and made it to a podium finish. This coaching maestro showed the younger rugby coaches that he still has it in him to see a side through a season and take his chargers to safe port when the season concludes.
This writer remembers the character ‘the old fisherman’ in Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning book ‘the old man and the sea’-first published in 1952 in England. The old man in that book makes one last voyage into the sea and makes a prized catch, but is defeated by the sharks out in the waters. The old man is obsessed with the word ‘luck’ and sees luck eluding him as the curtains come down on his career as a fisherman. Maybe Martis has a few more years to engage in coaching in a manner that people and players around him feel his presence. He can still make the opposite teams shake from their foundations with the way he thinks, coaches and produces results. He could still be the person out there who can set the benchmark for coaches who have made coaching their profession. He will bid adieu one day which is not far away in the future. And when he does he will make people ask “what will life be for Martis when he moves away from the oval-shaped ball, the green grassy fields and children who play rugby union”. This writer asks this question instead, ‘what would rugby coaching in Sri Lanka be without Martis’?
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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