Sri Lanka: Premier Championship Review (11 February 1999)
An alarming factor that has emerged from the current domestic season is the spate of charges of dissent, intimidation and bad behaviour brought against players by umpires officiating in the Premier championships
11-Feb-1999
11 February 1999
Sri Lanka: Premier Championship Review
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
Cricket out of control as captains fail to set example
An alarming factor that has emerged from the current domestic season
is the spate of charges of dissent, intimidation and bad behaviour
brought against players by umpires officiating in the Premier
championships.
Top of the list is Hemantha Wickremaratne, the acting captain of
defending champions, SSC against whom three charge sheets have been
submitted by umpires in the matches against Bloomfield, Moors SC and
NCC.
Wickremaratne is acting for the appointed captain Arjuna Ranatunga,
who was away in Australia on national duty. All three matches where
Wickremaratne has been reported had one thing in common - they were
away games and SSC finished on the losing side.
If found guilty, Wickremaratne could face a suspension from two to
three matches and a fine of Rs. 5,000. He could also be suspended for
one whole season if he commits a similar offence within a period of
12 months.
Another acting captain Duleep Samaraweera of Colts has one charge
sheet against him in the match against Bloomfield which his side
lost, while Bloomfield's promising leg-spinner Priyankara
Wickremasinghe has one charge against him in the match against SSC.
Moors SC captain Chandika Hathurusingha was also reported to by the
umpires on his conduct in the match against SSC. He has later, we
understand, apologised profusely for his actions and, indications are
that charges won't be pressed.
Umpires committee chairman A.R.M. Aroos said that all the offending
players along with the umpires will be called up for an inquiry on
February 17.
Last weekend too, there were appalling scenes enacted on the field in
the match between Moors SC and Tamil Union at Braybrooke Place. The
fielding side appealed for a dismissal from the head umpire and when
he had negatived it, the fielders ran to the square leg umpire for a
decision.
Such scenes can be avoided if the umpires stand firm and control the
game without fear of favour. Umpires too must take a fair share of
the blame for allowing the game to go out of control. There has been
several instances where umpires trying to curry favour with players
to gain good reports, find themselves in a tight situation when the
players pressurise them for decisions on the field.
According to the umpires committee chairman, already two umpires have
been relegated to officiating in Segment 'B' matches because of
continual bad reports from club captains, and two others fined 25
percent of their match fee for poor attendance at matches.
Table leaders Moors SC clung on to their position at the top of the
table, but saw their lead over nearest rivals dwindling when they
suffered their second defeat in successive weekends.
Moors SC who at one time enjoyed a lead of nearly 17 points, are
ahead now by only 6.38 points from closest rivals Panadura SC, who
have taken over the runner-up spot by virtue of defeats suffered by
Bloomfield and SSC. The return of the national players from Australia
should see both teams being strengthened to some extent for this
weekend's matches.
After a somewhat indifferent start, Tamil Union are finally finding
their feet. Their away win over Moors, confirmed that they are now
playing with some confidence and they are starting to believe in
themselves. In the absence of captain Muthiah Muralitharan and
vice-captain Upul Chandana, Niroshan Bandaratilake led the side to
notch up two wins in as many weekends.
Despite his success, Bandaratilake has lacked the instinct to go for
the kill and obtain full points when he had the opposition down on
its knees. He has also shown a tendency to over bowl himself at the
expense of costing his side important wickets. Last weekend saw him
playing a responsible role, scoring a useful 41 in a seventh wicket
stand of 58 with Gayan Wijekoon to get Tamil Union closer to the
Moors total of 245, and then capturing four wickets (seven in the
match) to reduce Moors to 96 for 7 in the second innings.
If Tamil Union were to get ahead of the Moors' total, it needed a
swashbuckling knock from one of their top order batsmen. Wijekoon,
the former Gurukula MV cricketer fitted the role like a glove. He
showed immense concentration and application to bat out six hours in
compiling a match-winning score of 85. After he lost Bandaratilake at
182, Wijekoon found an able ally in Mario Villavarayen (30) who
helped him add a further 71 runs for the eighth wicket - a
partnership that saw Tamil Union home.
Wijekoon has immense potential and he is not only a batsman, but also
a useful medium-pacer who can seam the ball around. The national
selectors could do well to take note of this talented all-rounder.
Moors were saved from total humiliation by the broad bat of Asela
Jayasinghe, a former Tamil Union cricketer. Jayasinghe raced away to
the fastest century of the season in 85 balls striking as many as six
sixes and six fours and ironically, the player who helped him stall
Tamil Union's victory charge was none other than Niroshan
Bandaratilake's brother, Charith. Playing in opposite camps, Charith
proved a stumbling block by scoring a defiant unbeaten 28 and helping
Jayasinghe add 112 for the eighth wicket in an unbroken stand.
Last season's finalists SSC and Bloomfield both faltered in their
respective matches and should consider themselves lucky they did not
concede full points to NCC and CCC respectively. Boosted by a double
century (215) opening partnership between acting captain Russel
Arnold (122) and Pradeep Hewage (84), and solid contributions of 83
and 50 from Naveed Nawaz and Ruwan Kalpage respectively, NCC rattled
up an imposing 443 for 9 declared.
SSC were dismissed for 200, falling to the left-arm fast-medium
deliveries of Sajeeva de Silva, the former Sri Lanka bowler, who is
making an attempt to recapture his form after losing his rhythm, line
and wicket-taking ability on the tour to South Africa last year.
Forced to follow on, NCC had SSC down to the last pair, but failed to
force a win due to some poor catching and the defiance shown by
Jayantha Silva and Darshana Gamage, who figured in an unbroken last
wicket stand of 22. Acting captain Wickremaratne was the only batsman
to defy the NCC bowlers in both innings compiling twin fifties.
In a low scoring game at Maitland Crescent, CCC were also placed in a
similar situation having Bloomfield struggling with their last pair
at the wicket, when bad light and rain forced the match to end in a
draw. Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Kumara Dharmasena had a good game
taking five wickets in the CCC second innings and following it up
with a defiant knock of 41 not out when Bloomfield were facing
defeat. Bloomfield leg-spinner Priyankara Wickremasinghe continued
his impressive bowling for the season capturing a match bag of seven
wickets to take his tally near the 40-wicket mark. Bloomfield's
batting in the first innings was knocked over by CCC fast bowler
Indika Gallage, who took his third five-wicket in an innings haul for
the season.
Two clubs from the South, Panadura SC and Sebastianites have done
extremely well largely due to their batting. They have been able to
pile up massive totals and put pressure on their opponents. Both
sides are not strong in their bowling which is clearly indicated from
the bonus points they have gathered. Last weekend, Panadura had the
better of exchanges with Police. Captain Kapila Silva displayed his
all-round prowess by scoring an undefeated 83 and then picking up
four wickets to give his side the first innings win. Manjula Silva
helped Panadura pile on the batting points in the second innings by
scoring an impressive century. For Police, D. Gunawardena took five
wickets in the first innings.
The De Soysa Stadium track continued to favour batsmen as
Sebastianites for the third time this season topped the 400-run mark.
On this occasion, they had three centurions doing the job for them.
Sanjeeva Silva set the pace with a knock of 131, and Manoj Mendis
(139 n.o.) and Nimesh Perera (100 n.o.) followed him. For Perera, who
made a century in the previous weekend as well, the match turned out
to be a personal triumph. He joined the rare band of players who have
scored a century and captured five wickets in an innings when he went
on to take 5 for 91 with his leg-breaks to put out Antonians for 264.
He could not repeat the performance on a wearing pitch when Antonians
were forced to follow-on, taking two wickets.
Fast-medium bowler Ishara Amerasinghe's ten wicket haul was the
difference between Colts beating Havelock Park rivals BRC outright.
Half-centuries from Chaminda Mendis and Indika de Saram gave Colts a
handy first innings lead of 127.
Singha SC were involved in a thriller at Welagedera Stadium where
they edged out Kurunegala YCC by a mere two runs on the first
innings. Chasing the home team's total of 189, Singha collapsed from
120 for 3 to 155 for 9 before Asela Wewelwala (43 n.o.) and last man
Rohitha Kottachi (7 n.o.) took them past the Kurunegala YCC total
amidst much tension. For Singha, Suraj Sanjeeva had a good match
bagging seven wickets. KYCC captain Ajith Ekanayake's brave hearted
bowling effort (6 for 55) turned out to be a futile one.
Another fine bowling effort which failed to produce a win was in the
match between Galle CC and Matara SC. Matara's under 19 fast bowler
Prabath Nissanka took a career best 7 for 76, but his team closely
lost their contest on the first innings to Galle by 22 runs.
Singha in a thriller
Singha SC pulled off a close first innings win over Kurunegala YCC in
a Premier championship match played at the Welagedera Stadium on
Sunday.
Only seven overs were bowled on the second day due to rain.
Scores:
Kurunegala YCC 189 and 105 for 7 at stumps in 36.4 overs (S.
Bakmeewewa 33, C. Gunasekera 20, S. Sanjeeva 4 for 28, Priyankara
Silva 2 for 20)
Singha SC 54 for no loss contd. 191 in 84 overs (J. Kumudu 36, S.
Jayantha 42, A. Wewelwala 43 n.o., A. Ekanayake 6 for 55).
Premier Championship Standings
The following are the Premier Championship standings at the
completion of the sixth weekend of matches on February 7:
Bonus Points P WOR W1st LOR L1st ND Btng Bwlg Pts Moors SC 6 3 1 0 2 0 10.325 9.2 63.525 Panadura SC 6 1 3 0 1 1 13.140 8.0 57.140 Bloomfield 6 1 3 0 1 1 10.165 8.6 54.765 Sebastianites 6 1 3 0 1 1 11.020 7.4 54.420 SSC 6 0 3 1 2 0 11.435 10.3 45.735 Galle CC 6 1 2 1 1 1 8.960 8.4 45.360 Kurunegala YCC 6 1 2 1 1 1 7.805 7.5 43.305 NCC 6 0 3 1 1 1 10.460 8.5 42.960 CCC 6 0 3 1 1 1 9.550 9.1 42.650 Singha SC 6 0 3 0 2 1 9.420 6.1 39.520 Colts 6 1 1 0 3 1 8.950 9.0 37.950 Tamil Union 6 1 1 0 3 1 9.720 7.1 36.820 BRC 6 1 0 4 1 0 9.270 8.7 29.970 Antonian SC 6 1 0 1 3 1 9.475 7.0 28.475 Police SC 5 0 1 0 3 1 7.260 4.9 20.160 Matara SC 5 0 0 2 2 1 5.580 6.5 12.080
(Subject to confirmation)
HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL INNINGS: 203 (n.o.) - Hemantha Wickremaratne, SSC v
Tamil Union at Maitland Place on Jan. 10.
FASTEST CENTURY: 85 balls (94 mts) - Asela Jayasinghe, Moors SC v
Tamil Union at Braybrooke Place on Feb. 7.
BEST INNINGS ANALYSIS: 8/47 - Priyankara Wickremasinghe, Bloomfield v
Moors SC at Reid Avenue on Jan. 30.
BEST MATCH ANALYSIS: 11/108 - Rangana Herath, Moors SC v BRC at
Havelock Park on Jan. 16.
HIGHEST INNINGS TOTAL: 485/4 decl. - Sebastianites v Antonian SC at De
Soysa Stadium on Feb. 6.
LOWEST INNINGS TOTAL: 88 - Antonian SC v Galle CC at Galle Stadium on
Jan. 17.
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)