No country has produced more innovative and exciting cricketers than Sri Lanka in the past twenty years. Although the island has a highly structured cricket program in school and club cricket, the heart of the sport remains impromptu games on the street, parks, gardens and the beach. From these unrestrained beginnings cricketers and characters have emerged to reinvent the century old MCC script of the how the game should be played.
Tillakaratne Dilshan has a shot named after him the 'dilscoop' an audacious flick over his head. Ajantha Mendis has the 'carrom ball' flicked from the middle finger. Lasith Malinga bowls with an action garnered on southern beaches playing with a soft ball, that he has managed to replicate with a hardball and is feared by batsmen the world over. For a country the size of Ireland to produce such a diverse range of players, is astonishing.
Mahela Jayawadena and Kumar Sangakkara are the islands poster boys, and provide a vivid contrast in their classical stroke play with the unorthodoxy and sometime rank madness that surrounds them. All these wonderful cricketers learnt their cricket on grounds and beaches where you can play. The game is the nation's pride and joy, as ubiquitous as sunshine, palm trees, smiles and tea plantations. For a lover of cricket there is no more heart warming country to visit or better place to view and play the game in its most spectacular form.
To wet your appetite here are some snapshots of what has made Sri Lanka the neutrals choice.
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No one gave the Lankans a second thought, when it came to potential winners. Arjuna Ranatunga, the aggressive captain with no time for time wasters thought differently. Seeing the new law of two men inside the fielding circle for the first fifteen overs allowed ample room to hit over the top, he unleashed mayhem in the shape of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. The established powerhouses were made to look old fashioned and in some cases idiotic as they tried to catch on and one day cricket would never be the same again. in its most spectacular form.
No one gave the Lankans a second thought, when it came to potential winners. Arjuna Ranatunga, the aggressive captain with no time for time wasters thought differently. Seeing the new law of two men inside the fielding circle for the first fifteen overs allowed ample room to hit over the top, he unleashed mayhem in the shape of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. The established powerhouses were made to look old fashioned and in some cases idiotic as they tried to catch on and one day cricket would never be the same again. in its most spectacular form.
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Sri Lanka even though world champions were only given one Test by England at the tail end of the 1998 season. Arjuna Ranatunga was not amused and demanded his team defeat their former colonial masters. They did more than this, they absolutely destroyed England. Led by the wizardry of Murali, who left the English batting in tatters, they sent a pulse of excitement through the English cricket watching public.
Murali twirled, close fielders gobbled up chances, Sanath Jayasuriya played an innings of brutal dominance and Aravinda de Silva made a brilliant century. All this was done at breath neck speed and with smiling faces combining individualistic flair and an attitude towards the game that showed no regard to coaching manuals or any semblance of fear. Workmanlike English pros looked like they were playing a different game. Once again Ranatunga and his merry men had stuck the proverbial two fingers up to the games old world rulers.
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Murali the countries favourite son needed eight wickets to reach the unprecedented mark of 800 Test scalps in his last Test. The ground was heaving, a cauldron of noise, bands and hysterical school children. The walls of the fort were rammed, work stopped in Colombo and hordes of people peered into electronic shop windows, trying to catch a glimpse on the televisions.
In the first innings Murali picked up five wickets, two more quickly followed in the second. Then there was a gap, furrowed brows and sweaty palms. Bang, Ojha nicked to Murali's great mate Mahela Jayawardene, a record breaking slip/bowler combination and cue utter chaos. A huge outpouring of emotion, the president appeared, people danced on the streets of Colombo. Sri Lanka takes huge pride in its national team, and this was a display of raw emotion that perfectly encapsulated the deep love for the game.
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