Australian’s have always been suspicious of Sri Lankan pitches. There was the 2011 Galle pitch which the ICC rated as Poor. And many of the Australian batsmen who played in Pallekele in 2016 said they saw what appeared to be demons residing under the grass.
Of course, the Sri Lankan’s have always been accommodating to these worries ever since the Ceylonese National Team prepared a pitch two yards short when the Australians played them in 1948.
Hey, it can happen to anyone.
In 1999, Steve Waugh ran into Jason Gillespie.
Not on purpose.
Waugh broke his nose. Gillespie his foot.
Waugh claims to this day that it was this incident that allowed him to have his lesser known, but marginally successful, run on Broadway.
Waugh played the Phantom of the Opera.
Sri Lanka Cricket is proud and honoured by Sri Lanka’s first Test win over the mighty mighty Australians!!!
in 17 years.
When Sri Lanka kept losing Test series after Test series in the last couple of years it was the SLC that stood by them. It was the SLC under the Hon. Thilanga Sumathipala that launched the One Team-One National campaign that successfully brought in 25 people to the Pallekele ground to witness this historic win. An improvement of 454% from the previous Administrations crowd attendance figures.
It was under the continuous attempts of Hon. Thilanga Sumathipala and his committee but mostly Hon. Sumathipala, like a 99.5% to 0.5% breakdown between Hon. Sumathipala and the committee that saw the Test Mace successfully hidden from Angelo Mathews and his team. We strongly believe that Hon. Sumathipala doggedly fighting the ICC over the Mace is what enabled Sri Lanka to approach the game with a clear mind as they had no idea they were facing the Number 1 Test side in the world.
It was also Hon. Sumathipala’s dogged determination to keep playing Rangana Herath well into his 30’s that has seen him take all those wickets. Sandakan too, that is all Hon. Sumathipala. It is not a coincidence that Kusal Mendis scored his maiden Test century under the reign of Hon. Sumathipala. The SLC would like to reiterate that there is always two sides to every wicket and run scored. And the other side is that Hon.Sumathipala had a role in it. Like he is always does.
The SLC would also like to state that contrary to the unfortunate perception amongst the general public and the media, the SLC had no involvement in the shameful collapse in the first innings by Sri Lanka. Hon. Sumpathipala was not even in the country at the time those wickets fell like dominoes walking on fire.
Also the SLC are delighted that their collaboration with the Sri Lanka Meteorological Department was able to successfully keep bad light and rain away on that glorious Kandy 5th day. Hon. Sumpathipala wishes to state that “it just feels like everything I touch turns to gold. Every idea I have is a win. It’s a god-like feeling.”
In any case, the SLC and Hon. Sumathipala are proud to have played such a key role in helping Sri Lanka achieve their FIRST TEST WIN OVER AUSTRALIA,
Pokemon, Trains, England, Selections, Captaincy. It’s all there.
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