Latest 50 comments
- Dias on 1996 Cricket World Cup Final – Extended HighlightsEnjoyed that!
- Stormy on End of the road for Malinga? KJP in the pipelineIf this was the case (i.e. KJP is the next captain) why didn't we let him captain the sides against the visiting Eng and WI teams. Instead we gave the captaincy to Tharanga and Thiriman - two guys not going to play a captaincy role for SL.
- Stormy on 25 වියැති කුසල් මෙන්ඩිස්ගේ දක්ෂතා පිළිබඳ පසු විපරම | Review of Kusal Mendis’ performance at age 25I am not sure if this yet another attempt to discredit Mendis but in SL terms there is no debate to be had - the guy is ahead of some of the SL greats at 25. From an international perspective, he is up against Kholi, Kane and Root who are the best in the world. I presume we are all aware that we don't belong in the same league and certainly not a manner to say drop him - something even the selectors did not so long ago! Why don't we look at 25 year old's from SL say after Anji - speaking of which where is Anji on this list? The point being, its time to get off this guys back and give him a chance while accepting that we have a huge problem of cultivating talent from an awfully poor first class system.
- Stormy on Sri Lanka’s poor first class standards exposed againWhat is SLC waiting for? How long have we been saying the system has to change? Never mind us keyboard hero's there are all out experts (unlike the morons at SLC) been saying for years, the system has to change. We are now one of the poorest white ball teams in the test playing world (despite winning both 50 over and t20 WC's). We are doing better at test cricket but struggling to find a spinner - a spinner!! It's time to change and now is the time.
- Stormy on ECB faces legal battle with Sri Lanka after postponement of seriesReplay the series and get on with it - this cannot be settled in court.
- Stormy on Sri Lanka Cricket officials to profit through award of TV production contract?This is the honey pot that all politicians are greedily lining up for at the door of SLC. This is why the game has become all too political and as with everything, where politicians are involved - there will be looting and a few will profit and the people and country usually lose. This is what we call modern politics - it's just unruly thugs shamelessly stealing in plain sight.
- Stormy on Paranavithana becomes first to score 400 runs in Sri Lankan school cricket historyWow! 400? Seriously...that is insane and what a champ. Hope we see him move to the next level.
- Stormy on No need to panic we are on the right track, says chief selectorYou may not be panicking Mr De Mel but we panicked years ago and copped the hit and said this would happen! Yes we cannot match the Windies power hitting but we also won the WC without any power hitting - it was plain smart cricket. Of course talent helps of which we have a major issue right now.
- Stormy on 'Sri Lanka need to stay up with new trends in World Cricket' – Mickey ArthurWe sure do and have been saying this for years - we are playing outdated cricket even in our preferred format - white call cricket! The best example is the what Eng have done - remember the days they looked like a bunch of losers at white ball cricket with Cook and Bell in the top order and we used to thump them silly and keep point out how England are playing outdated cricket - which they were - but they changed - and won the WC! We have now been playing outdated white ball cricket for years. We have asked Dimuth, a noted test player, to open the batting while other countries are setting targets over 300. We stuck with Chandi for ages and still messing around with Anji - these guys play an outdated brand of white ball cricket, yet we keep going back to them. We need to learn from us - just look at what we did in the past.
- Stormy on Test discard Thirimanne to lead SLC President’s XI against EnglandUnless SLC reckon Thiri is going to lead SL in the future we should be using these opportunities to let other potential future leaders captain the A team against visiting international teams. We did the same by asking Tharanga to lead against the Windies - we could not find a limited overs leader (or test) before we threw Dimuth and he we are going to guys like Thiri and Tharanga who we know are repeat failures! Need to wake up SLC, you can continue to loot but atleast look after the talent for us.
- Jehan on End of the road for Malinga? KJP in the pipelineNo one should accept captaincy. If the team loses then captain is blamed and sacked. Who will want to do this job? Crazy!!!
- Jehan on England’s Joe Root ‘relieved’ over cancelled Sri Lanka tourSri Lanka is safer than UK!!!
- Jehan on England-Sri Lanka Test series called off due to coronavirus (COVID-19) threatWhy are they panicking and cancelling all these sports events??
- Susantha Jayawardena on Instant Update SLCBP XI vs England four day matchSCORECARD (Ist days play) https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19627/scorecard/1204855/sri-lanka-board-presidents-xi-vs-england-tour-match-england-in-sri-lanka-2019-20
- Stormy on Interview with Chandimal (Part 2) – නායකයා තමාට පෙර රට ගැන සිතිය යුතුයි | Untold Stories with Dinesh ChandimalGreat story and humble down to earth guy but he has been kind of lost in the last two years and I don't think SLC have been fair to him after dropping him unfairly. He still averages in 40's and has 11 test hundreds and has a good 6 years ahead of him. He can still be a solid pillar in the batting for us and also don't forget the investment we made in this guy over the years. We must let him settle in the batting order and let him do his thing. I don't think he has a role in white ball cricket unless he changes his game plan which not is too defensive for 300+ scores. Also, with Dimuth, Anji and DDS in the 50 over team, there is simply not spot for Chandi to set 300+ targets. His place is in test cricket and needs to link up with Chandi and play the senior pro's role.
- Stormy on Hamstring injury rules out Wanindu Hasaranga for six weeksWhat's with the injuries guys, the man is 22 and a spinner! This is what happens when SLC are sleep - just unable to get the most of the available talent, in this case, unable to get the talent on the park! I understand injuries are part of sports but SL are dealing with more than their fair share due to not being prepared. Just look at the injuries in the last few weeks? Its a continuing trend due to poor preparation.
- AmilaSaman on Live Stream – India Legends v Sri Lanka Legends, Road Safety World Series T20, 2020Remove this as this is no longer working.
- Chanaka Fonseka on Kusal Perera to be compensated half-a-million US dollars over doping fiasco — report500k is not enough. Legal bills and loss of wages is that amount. Another 500k should have been awarded as damages for the damage to his reputation and mental anguish.
- Stormy on Sri Lanka drop Lahiru Thirimanne for England Test series, Kusal Perera includedFinally, Thiri has to make way after years (and years) of failures despite numerous chances. It's crazy this guy averages in the low 20's in test cricket after all these years and still gets picked and still pokes around like a novice. I like that Mickey says about Kusal - he has the x factor! Been saying this for years, even when he was raking up ducks like a chook farmer! He has something few others offer and you don't just find arguments to keep him out but arguments to keep him in. He is now our premier white ball batter and the holder of the "greatest test innings of all time" and we are still wondering if he belongs at test level! Its a classic case of all the talent in the world is of little use in the hand of an idiot.
- Stormy on Sri Lanka’s Mickey Arthur: ‘England can expect some tough cricket’Big series for SL and lots of pressure to beat Eng at home. We have lost a string of series at home and simply cannot be there poor and we need to reverse that trend against the Poms this series. Eng will replicated their plan from last time, which is hit their way to 275+ as fast as possible and wait for our batters to slip on the banana skin. We just need to outsmart them and for once, bat properly at home. You cannot play cricket in a world where you cannot bat at home.
- Stormy on Kusal Perera to be compensated half-a-million US dollars over doping fiasco — reportThis is the least they could do and money helps but surely there needs to action taken against how this happened. You cannot accidentally destroy of professional career and say oops! Surely someone at the ICC needs to be accountable and fired?
- Jehan on Match 2, Australia Legends v Sri Lanka Legends, Road Safety World Series, 2020 – HighlightsHow to watch video: 1. Click play button 2. Read message on video player and it will have a link, click the link. 3. A new window will open and the video can be watched
- Susantha Jayawardena on Instant Update|SLC XI vs England'sSCORECARD https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19627/scorecard/1204854/sri-lanka-cricket-xi-vs-england-tour-match-england-in-sri-lanka-2019-20
- Susantha Jayawardena on ලකුණු 196 ඉලක්කය අපිට හඹා යන්න තිබුනාWe could have won the first T20 if we had included Banuka (in place of Shehan) and Lahiru Kumara (in place of Sandakan). Four of our top order batsmen gifted their wkts as they were unable to handle fast & short pitched deliveries. I am wondering how our top order batsmen will survive in fast /bouncy wkts in Australia during the T20 WC. Other weak point is Slow medium pacers like Udana (even Mathews & Thisara) will be taken to cleaners for sure. We do not have any fast bowler in the tried line up who can bowl always at 140+ & generate extra bounce. That's why Lahiru Kumara should have been tried but due to the incompetency of our selectors he was carrying the drinks in all recently played white ball matches. SLC has been unable to produce upto now a good T20 team for the coming WC as their tried team has many weaknesses. Such as (i) lack of six hitting top order & middle order batsmen (2) No second spinner (Sandakan is not the right choice) & (3) No fast bowler who can bowl at 140+ speed & generate extra bounce.
- Naheen Kj on West Indies prevail in the 1st T20 despite Kushal Perera's heroicsCommon Mr Arthur enough is enough give Shanaka some chance as a skipper Malinga has done enough damage and bring those golden boys like Rajapaksa, Oshada , Kumara, we are gonna play in AUS and pitch will be bouncy like today!!!
- Adeeb Asad on West Indies prevail in the 1st T20 despite Kushal Perera's heroicsThank You!
- Dias on Kusal Perera gets marriedCongratulations!!!!
- Short-Leg on West Indies prevail in the 1st T20 despite Kushal Perera's heroicsGood report! They are much stronger than us in this format. We will be whitewashed.
- Dias on Watch Sri Lanka cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka in new advertisementIs he injured or dropped?
- Dias on Watch Malinga-like Slinga Matheesha Pathirana generating heat in the nets!His short ball looked like it was flying through at an impressive speed right???
- LankanPride on What do you think of Sri Lanka's jersey for the T20 series against West Indies?Looks good with the orange stripe across the shoulder. However, the jersey could benefit with more yellow perhaps with the Lion to make it more visible as it's hard to see. Also, why does the jersey have green near the armpit it would be better if it was just blue.
- Susantha Jayawardena on "Probable XI for the 1st T20I"This will be a well balanced team with six seam bowling and 2 spin bowling options
- Susantha Jayawardena on "Probable XI for the 1st T20I"It looks like the probable team. However Kusal J may open with Avishka to keep the Left & Right hand batting combination. If Dickwella is selected, most probably Dasun will not play. As Dasuin is a more useful power hitter who can more sixes he has more chances to play rather than Dickwella.
- Rajeevah on "Probable XI for the 1st T20I"My playing XI for tomorrow 1. Kusal Mendis 2. Avishka Fernando 3. Kusal Perera (wk) 4. Angelo Mathews 5. Dasun Shanaka 6. Thisara Perera 7. Shehan Jayasuriya 8. Hasaranga De Silva 9. Isuru Udana 10. Lasith Malinga (c) 11. Lahiru Kumara
- Jehan on What do you think of Sri Lanka's jersey for the T20 series against West Indies?Too much red colour. The red makes it ugly.
- Susantha Jayawardena on 20-20 සංචිතය තේරුවෙ කාගෙ උවමනාවටද?Once again this is the most unprofessional act of Asantha, who gave lot of credit to Bhanuka after the Pakistan tour where he admitted that Bhanuka is the only top order batsman who can score sixes at regular intervals and increase the initial RR in this very short format. Now he has other ideas like bring in recently failed players in batting like Thisara & Mathews in to the mix. Even Dasun Shanaka’s confidence level is very low at the moment as he is not getting a continuous run (or not played in the current ODI team) and his batting form is therefore constantly poor. At least Bhanuka should have been selected instead of Dickwella and let KJP open the innings (which he has done in many times). The main issue here is Asantha is so weak in recognizing the true strengths of our batsmen. Hope at least Micky Arthur will intervene at this stage and request SLC to consider Bhanuka as the 16th player which is a real possibility. Otherwise our team balance , specially the top six batsmen’s power hitting ability (mostly scoring sixes) is so weak and WI will definitely capitalize on this weakness as they have many power hitters among the top six batsmen.. Unlike in ODI’s power hitting ability (especially score sixes at regular intervals) of the top six batters is very crucial in T20 format due to very limited number of overs in an inning. Although we have Thisara, and Udana as six hitters they will face only few deliveries . Even Mathews is not a regular six hitter and he will eat up many dot balls. If you look at the six hinting capability of our top six batters (from the last 2 year records) it indicates a very low average sixes percentages when compared with Bhanuka’s average as shown below. KJP (20%), Avishka (13%), Kusal M (28%), Mathews, (played in only 2 matches) but usually he can achieve only 12%-15% I guess. Dananjaya (11%) Dasun Shanaka (27%) BHANUKA (39%) I hope Mickey Arthur will observe this weakness of our T20 team and will take necessary precautions ASAP before we play our first T20 match. SUSANTHA JAYAWARDENA
- Nadun Herath on Sri Lanka name T20 squad for series against West IndiesMalinga has favourites such as Dickwella , Gunatilaka, Mendis. Looks like he doesn't want in architects of Pakistan series win Bhanuka, Dasun given chances. He pretty much plays politics not a good leader. De Mel also like a muppet plays into his hand. Dickwella has become one of a favourite of Micky and foreign coaches also with his fancy talks which is sad to see. Dickwella should only be in T20 squad. Bhanuka is currently one of Sri Lanka's biggest hitters and he should be in the squad. It's simple as that
- Susantha Jayawardena on BHANUKA IS DROPPED AGAIN , What a poor selection criteria of Asantha !!Once again this is the most unprofessional act of Asantha, who gave lot of credit to Bhanuka after the Pakistan tour where he admitted that Bhanuka is the only top order batsman who can score sixes at regular intervals and increase the initial RR in this very short format. Now he has other ideas like bring in recently failed players in batting like Thisara & Mathews in to the mix. Even Dasun Shanaka's confidence level is very low at the moment as he is not getting a continuous run (or not played in the current ODI team) and his batting form is therefore constantly poor. At least Bhanuka should have been selected instead of Dickwella and let KJP open the innings (which he has done in many times). The main issue here is Asantha is so weak in recognizing the true strengths of our batsmen. Hope at least Micky Arthur will intervene at this stage and request SLC to consider Bhanuka as the 16th player which is a real possibility. Otherwise our team balance , specially the top six batsmen's power hitting ability (mostly scoring sixes) is so weak and WI will definitely capitalize on this weakness as they have many power hitters among the top six batsmen.. Unlike in ODI's power hitting ability (especially score sixes at regular intervals) of the top six batters is very crucial in T20 format due to very limited number of overs in an inning. Although we have Thisara, and Udana as six hitters they will face only few deliveries . Even Mathews is not a regular six hitter and he will eat up many dot balls. If you look at the six hinting capability of our top six batters (from the last 2 year records) it indicates a very low average sixes percentages when compared with Bhanuka's average as shown below. KJP (20%), Avishka (13%), Kusal M (28%), Mathews, (played in only 2 matches) but usually he can achieve only 12%-15% I guess. Dananjaya (11%) Dasun Shanaka (27%) BHANUKA (39%) I hope Mickey Arthur will observe this weakness of our T20 team and will take necessary precautions ASAP before we play our first T20 match. SUSANTHA JAYAWARDENA
- Adeeb Asad on Joe Root’s poor conversion rate in Test CricketOkay, will keep in mind. Thank You!
- Hilal Suhaib on Joe Root’s poor conversion rate in Test CricketWelcome to Island Cricket, Adeeb! I enjoyed the read, but please only post content related to Sri Lankan cricket. Thank you.
- Dias on Sri Lanka Cricket apologises to cricket fans over Sooriyawewa assaultFans should join up at take collective legal action against police.
- Dias on 2nd ODI, West Indies in Sri Lanka, 2020 – Extended HighlightsHasaranga is the spinning all rounder we have been waiting for a long time for! Must give him a long chance.
- Dias on 2nd ODI, West Indies in Sri Lanka, 2020 – Extended HighlightsVery good to see new players contributing to wins!
- Dias on Sri Lanka name T20 squad for series against West IndiesBhanuka is an opener or No3 so who will we drop to play him?
- Lankan Roy on Sri Lanka name T20 squad for series against West IndiesDinith, completely agree with your comments. Not really sure why Bhanuka Rajapaksha is not selected. I am not a fan of Showman Duckwella or Lakshan Rundepan , both should have been left out of the side Minod Bhanuka have already proven his ability with the bat and should have been selected. Ramesh and Kamindu Mendis should have been given an opportunity, if selectors are serious about grooming playing instead of keep giving opportunitiesto proven failures. Politics!
- Chanaka Prabath Rajapakshe on Sri Lanka name T20 squad for series against West IndiesBhanuka & Dushmantha Chameera should include to the squad instead of Dickwella & Lahiru kumara. According to the given squad,this should be the Team❤️ #MyOpinion 👍 1) Mathewes 2) A.Fernando / K.Mendis (WK) 3) K.Mendis (WK) / A.Fernando 4) K.Perera (Cap) 5) T.Perera 6) D de Silva 7) D.Shanaka 8) W.Hasaranga 9) L.Sadakan 10) N.Pradeep 11) L.Malinga
- Dinith on Sri Lanka name T20 squad for series against West IndiesBhanuka Rajapaksha should have been considered instead of Dikwella And kusal mendis should focus more on test and ODIs while a player like Minod bhanuka should have been given a chance
- Susantha Jayawardena on SL vs WI 2nd ODI full highlights 2020 | Sri Lanka vs West IndiesSCORECARD https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19745/scorecard/1213872/sri-lanka-vs-west-indies-2nd-odi-west-indies-in-sri-lanka-2019-20
- Stormy on Parliamentary committee calls for Police probe into corruption at Sri Lanka CricketThieves asking the cops to probe the robbers! This joke must come to an end and all politicians need to get out of SLC once and for all. Of course, where there is money the they will arrive like vultures, plunder us blind and then call for a probe. How many probes have we had in the past at the each change in Government with absolutely no action? This joke must stop!
- Cric Guru on ‘The team spirit is outstanding’: Sri Lanka coach Mickey ArthurMy XI for the 2nd ODI 1.D.Karunaratne 2.A.Fernando 3.K.Perera 4.D.De Silva 5.A.Mathews 6.D.Shanaka 7.T.Perera 8.W.Hasaranga 9.L.Sandakan 10.L.Kumara 11.N.Pradeep Mendis's free ticket in the XI needs to end. He needs to start racking up 100s. He has nothing of substance to show so far coming into his 75th ODI if he plays tomorrow. His average which stands at 28 drops further to 25 against good bowling attacks, which is pathetic to say the least. The only worthwhile ODI Innings I remember to date is the 80 odd he got against India in the Champions trophy. Some serious competition needs to be created for his no. 4 spot, preferably with DDS who is a more capable batsman than Mendis in my opinion, who has been constantly hard done and made to bat in positions which aren't suitable for him. Further proper match winners like Avishka and Dasun Shanaka need to be given extended runs with proper security for their places in the team and given the freedom to play freely but not recklessly. I have absolutely no idea how Arthur came upwith the absurd choice to make thisara and shanaka compete for the no. 7 spot. Shanaka is a must have in the XI until he's given a proper extended run in the team. Same goes to Avishka. Though Sandakan was absolutely horrible in the first ODI, I think he should be given another go in the 2nd. He needs to work on his control for starters. He can't keep bowling like someone who's bowling for the first time or someone with a cake of soap in his bowling hand. Kumara needs to be given an extended run as well and needs to be rotated together with Udana.And I sure hope the selectors won't be banking on Udana's batting skills going forward.