Sports
Chandrishan Perera; rugby great and media legend
by Rex Clementine
Former Sri Lanka rugby captain Chandrishan Perera passed away at the age of 60 after being ill for a while.
We leave the rugby experts to talk about his exploits on the field in that sport and discuss here his time with the cricket board.
In 1999, when Thilanga Sumathipala launched Sri Lanka Cricket’s first ever media unit, he chose Chandrishan Perera to head the new entity. It was quite a success.
This writer’s first meeting of Shan, as he was popularly known, was at the old Galle press box in 2001 during the England Test. There was no lift in Galle 20 years ago and walking up the stairs, you could hear two gentlemen arguing at top of their voices.
BBC’s Jonathan Agnew was threatening Shan. Agnew showed his mobile phone, something rare those days, and said, ‘If I dial this and speak, the whole world will hear the treatment SLC is giving BBC.’
Now it was Shan’s turn. He showed his phone and shouted. ‘Here’s the f***ing phone mate. Tell the world BBC’s days are over!’
Test cricket was only supposed to be a tough affair for players. Not for a reporter, who was covering his third Test match.
It was quite intriguing too. Who is this local guy shredding to pieces world’s leading media entity and a former Test player?
Later, it emerged that BBC were at fault. Cricket telecast and broadcast had been always BBC’s right in England, even after Kerry Packer had emerged down under. But these were changing times. SLC had sold the broadcasting rights to Talk Sport and BBC had contravened terms of their accreditation. Shan chased Agnew to the Galle Fort. Yes, the exact place SLC had chased us local reporters during the England Tests early this year in Galle.
Later, you also got to know that Agnew and Shan actually knew each other pretty well having played cricket in England.
Shan’s tenure at SLC was quite successful. Since then more than a dozen Media Managers have come and gone but the initiatives and traditions he started still remain.
Shan was also a brilliant commentator. Educated in London his command of the English language was classy. He also had stints as a fitness trainer with Sri Lanka Cricket in the early days. Later, players who had issues with fitness privately hired him. Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya, one of the fittest guys to play the game, used the services of Shan regularly.
Shan returned to Sri Lanka Cricket as Media Manager in 2016. Sri Lanka toured England that year and at the end of the Test series, two of us were behind Lord’s pavilion waiting for Shan to bring along one of the players who had come for the limited over series. This was going to be The Island’s last copy on the tour as we were not going to cover the limited overs series having exhausted our budget.
Shan brought Upul Tharanga. As we were chatting, it started raining. We had enough cover and weren’t getting wet, but the rain was so heavy that we knew that there will be trouble with interview’s audio. So Shan appealed to the steward to let us in to the Lord’s pavilion. The steward politely informed that nobody is allowed inside the Lord’s pavilion without a jacket and a tie. We reporters rarely wear those luxury garments.
Shan then called up an office staff at Lord’s explaining that an exemption must be made as the game is over and no harm in breaking the rule when no one is there to pick a bone with you. We were allowed in. First time at Lord’s pavilion was an unforgettable experience. Thanks to one and only Shan.
After the interview, as the two of us were leaving, Shan called up yours truly, put his arm around and said, ‘The President is making you an offer that you can’t refuse. Stay back for the ODIs.’
The offer was politely turned down. Not because of being a paragon of virtues, but married men need to get their priorities right.
Rest well Shan.
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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