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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.