OTHER NEWS Algama removed from SLC UNP General Secretary extends condolences to the members of the bereaved families Dialog Telekom joins Ministry of Sports to Salute Sri Lanka’s Sporting Heroes Sri Lanka seeks reprieve for banned sprinter    Advertisement Print Version | Email to friend Outrageous Moments of Sri Lankan Cricket When Mahanama stepped down as coach Pic by - Johann J (SNNI),by Rex Clementine 11-04-2008 You often wondered whether misfortune and mysterious circumstances closely followed Roshan Mahanama. He’s never been given the due credit that he deserves for helping Sri Lanka to become a force in world cricket from minnows. His sudden retirement after being overlooked for the both forms of the game soon after the 1999 World Cup made all supporters of Sri Lankan Cricket feel sorry for him as he was only 33-year-old at that time. But before long, Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka thought his talent shouldn’t be wasted and contracted him as a coach for Sri Lanka ‘A’ team. But before long, he quit that post too. Once again, retired hurt. It looked as if Roshan Mahanama and Board of Control for Cricket wasn’t supposed to work closely at all. In today’s outrageous moments of Sri Lanka Cricket, we look back at what made Mahanama to quit his coaching post in haste barely a few months into his contract. The appointment of Mahanama as the coach of the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team was welcomed by cricket enthusiasts. He started off in style instilling strict discipline in the team and backed that up by developing great team spirit and getting the players to raise the bar. The ‘A’ team had a bunch of talented players among whom Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene and Rangana Herath were notable players. Mahanama’s first assignment was the series against Kenya national side in February 2002. The Kenyan side had several top class cricketers and some 12 months later the same Kenyan team went onto beat Sri Lanka national side in a World Cup game. Captained by Maurice Odumbe, the Kenyans had players like Steve Tikolo, Thomas Odoya Ravindu Shah and Hitesh Modi. The Sri Lankans made a clean sweep of the unofficial Test series winning 3-0 while the visitors won the ODI series 2-1. The ‘A’ team had several series coming up, but after what had been a successful campaign against such a strong side, Mahanama decided to resign as the coach of the ‘A’ team. It was later revealed that the Sri Lankan board hired Mahanama while still employing Hemantha Devapriya as it’s ‘A’ team coach. The board in the press release announcing the team had named Mahanama as the Head Coach and Devapriya as Coach. Apparently, Mahanama had been under the impression that he was brought into to fill a role that was getting vacant, but he was clueless that he was parachuted in for a role which was being performed by someone else. Being former Nalandians, Mahanama and Devapriya had a greater bond and it hurt Mahanama that without his knowledge he was going to deprive someone else a living. True to form, Mahanama immediately resigned from the post despite board’s request to hang around till they sort out the problem. But he would have any of it. After quitting the board, Mahanama got involved with the activities of Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association. He also had brief stints as a cricket commentator. In 2004, the International Cricket Council appointed him as a Match Referee, when it announced its new panel of umpires that included Alan Hurst from Australia and Chris Broad from England. Courtesy - Lanka Tribune - Award winning UK Sri Lanka Newspaper Print Version | Email to friend

Algama removed from SLC Thu, 01-05-2008 06:00:00 The services of Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) media manager Samantha Algama was terminated last night by the Cricket board President Arjuna Ranatunga. Speaking to media Algama alleged the move was related to a tender controversy and the publicity it got in the media. “If he thinks by terminating my services he can silence the media then he is sadly mistaken.”... |FULL STORY|

UNP General Secretary extends condolences to the members of the bereaved families Sat, 26-04-2008 11:00:00 . UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake deplored the LTTE bomb attack on a packed bus in Piliyandala last evening, saying the terrorists had once again resorted to killing innocent civilians in the face of heavy setbacks on the battlefield. Twenty four persons returning home after a hard day’s work were killed and another 40 including schoolchildren were injured when a fully packed bus bound to Kahapola was caught in an explosion at 6.45 p.m. at the Piliyandala bus terminal.and he extende... |FULL STORY|

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Dialog Telekom joins Ministry of Sports to Salute Sri Lanka’s Sporting Heroes Fri, 25-04-2008 10:00:00 Dialog Telekom, announced , a partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Sports, to initiate the country’s largest ever National Sporting Awards and felicitation programme. Aimed at felicitating national sporting heroes, the felicitation programme will culminate with a National Sporting Honours Awards Ceremony. The event will felicitate 219 sportspersons from across 15 sporting disciplines who hold the distinction of having secured glory and honour for Sri Lanka at... |FULL STORY|

Sri Lanka seeks reprieve for banned sprinter Mon, 21-04-2008 19:00:00 (AFP) - Sri Lanka will ask the world athletics governing body to grant a reprieve to banned woman sprinter Jani Chaturangani de Silva, the sports minister said on Monday. "I have asked the lawyers to compile the facts related to Jani's ban so that I could make a request to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations)," Gamini Lokuge told AFP. Lokuge said he believed there had been technical flaws in the investigation against De Silva, who won silver medals in 100 ... |FULL STORY|

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