Sports
Badminton’s message of hope to war-torn Ampara
by A Special Sports Correspondent
Sport is a wise tool to use in reconciliation activities. It comes in handy when participants are less affluent and have physical and mental scars; in this instance due to a civil war that concluded. Representatives of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) were in Ampara a few days ago to conduct a coaching session for coaches, but nothing could stop some children also ‘getting inside’ and participating in the two-day event held at the Ampara Public Indoor Stadium. The camp was held on March 20 and 21.
The coaching camp was organised by the Coaching and Promotions Committee of the SLB. What really caught the eye of the organisers was the physical conditioning of participants. The people present are used to hardships and they commute long distances on foot or by bicycles. “Hence the physical qualities needed for badminton are already there,” said Chintaka Fernando who conducted the coaching programme.
It’s after many years that Ampara is picking up in civil life activities. There is little facilities for sports and this programme was certainly a boost for the people in this town and those who also came from far away areas like Dehiaththakandiya.
Amapara knows more about a civil war than sports. Ampara was once ravaged by the civil war and history reveals how the Gonagala massacre took place in 1999 where 54 people were killed. There were many children among them and the killers were largely women LTTE cadres. But during the war too the town produced gems in the sports field who went on to represent Sri Lanka. Medal winners Damayanthi Darsha and Dileema Peterson are from Ampara and later continued their sports by coming to Colombo.
Once inside the hall and attending the camp the participants were eager to learn new things. It’s not that there was clear tunnel vision for them during the sessions. But according to Fernando what really pulled the heart strings of the participants was the technical part of the game.
According to Fernando the mission of the camp was to create a sports culture in Ampara and to educate coaches so that they know how to impart true knowledge. Thanks to the President of SLB Rohan de Silva sports equipment was distributed to participants. But the most valuable possession they got from the session was the ‘certificate of participation’ which they were entitled to after sitting for a written exam.
Some of the participants at the coaching camp held at the Ampara Public Indoor Stadium on March 20 and 21 pose for a photograph
The message that was given to participants from the SLB representatives was that ‘nothing comes easy before it’s hard’.
Nothing in success comes without the role of volunteers and philanthropists. The camp in Ampara was largely successful because of the contributions of parliamentarian Dr. Tilak Rajapaksa who hails from Ampara. All what he did was to a village where he schooled at initially before shifting to Colombo to continue his studies. Mention must be made of his coordinator Lakshan de Silva and the efforts of Sri Lanka Badminton’s Coaching and Promotions Committee Chairman Deepal Madurapperuma and its Secretary Lalith Perera and Trevor Rackerman the CEO of SLB. For the record this camp was the second in the series following the first one in Colombo.
This is an era where individuals, especially young ones, ask the question ‘what’s in it for me’ before undertaking any venture or project because we are living in a ‘me era’. Individual returns have top most importance and selfishness reigns in life, politics and sports. But many of the organisers who were involved sacrificed a lot, especially their time to stay at home with their loved ones, to give rural fork a real badminton experience.
These folk who participated in the coaching camp needn’t be given lessons on how to make their focus sharp. They are from an area where the human elephant conflict is a daily occurrence. People in the area know the best times to move around and avoid facing the wrath of the jumbos. The organisers of the coaching camp were housed at the Irrigation Bungalow. While at the bungalow these representatives were reminded that there was an elephant corridor close by and no one should park his or her vehicle and block that passage. Not very long ago a van had been damaged because it was parked in a way that it blocked the corridor.
Something that would be a cause for sadness is that there were no Tamil participants at the camp. Ampara has Tamil citizens who didn’t have the best of life due to the armed conflict that concluded in 2009. The organisers of the coaching camp had taken a Tamil citizen, Sivalingam Kethees, who was ready to translate the content in the sports literature that was distributed and what was said by officials at the camp. The absence of Tamils makes the orgnisers of the camp ponder whether there was lack of coordination among the sports officials of Ampara and the citizens of this Eastern Town.
The coaching camp was loaded, but the participants found enough energy and enthusiasm needed to last and absorb the content of the two full days coaching. When the dusk was setting in on the final day and when it was ready to bid goodbye the best thing that the organisers heard from participants, where the majority were coaches and sports officials, was that they would target to produce medal winners at badminton in the future.
They also made a request for the SLB representatives to visit Ampara again; possibly to show results from what they have learned and to strengthen the bridge that Colombo build with the Eastern Province thanks to badminton.
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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