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Mathews unhappy for lack of test matches for SL

Former skipper Angelo Mathews is unhappy with the amount of Test cricket Sri Lanka are scheduled to play in 2023.
Sri Lanka is only due to play five Test matches this year, with two Tests in New Zealand, one Test at home against Ireland – a side not involved in the World Test Championship – and two Tests in Pakistan.
By contrast, their white-ball schedule is full, with 11 ODIs, six T20Is, the Asia Cup and the Cricket World Cup locked in for the remainder of the year.
However, they can still qualify for the 2023 World Test Championship final at the Oval provided they defeat New Zealand 2-0 in their ongoing series and Australia avoid defeat to India in the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Mathews said: “[It’s] unfortunate that we are not playing too many Test matches this year – it’s as few as five. We are coming off a long layoff; the last Test was six months back.
“Everyone’s talking about Test cricket dying, but we’re not doing any good for Test cricket playing only five Tests a year. Hopefully, we’ll get more matches this year. Five feels like not enough.”
The World Test Championship table perfectly illustrates the unequal distribution of red-ball internationals. England, for example, has played 22 matches during the 2020-23 cycle while Sri Lanka has only played 10.
The majority of series which count towards the Championship is only two matches. However, the big three – Australia, England and India – frequently play four or five-match series against one another.
West Indies international Jason Holder recently expressed his grievance with the lack of Test cricket for nations outside the big three, commenting: “The way world cricket is going now, apart from the big three, every team is barely even playing Test cricket.”
ශ්රී ලංකාවට ටෙස්ට් තරග නොමැතිවීම ගැන මැතිව්ස් නොසතුටෙන්
2023 වසරේ ශ්රී ලංකාව ක්රීඩා කිරීමට නියමිත ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් ප්රමාණය පිළිබඳව හිටපු නායක ඇන්ජලෝ මැතිව්ස් නොසතුට පළ කර තිබේ.
ශ්රී ලංකාව මේ වසරේ ක්රීඩා කිරීමට නියමිතව ඇත්තේ ටෙස්ට් තරග 5ක් පමණක් වන අතර, නවසීලන්තයේදී ටෙස්ට් තරග දෙකක්, අයර්ලන්තයට එරෙහිව එක් ටෙස්ට් තරගයක් – ලෝක ටෙස්ට් ශූරතාවලියට සම්බන්ධ නොවන කණ්ඩායමක් – සහ පාකිස්තානයේ ටෙස්ට් තරග දෙකක් ඇත.
ඊට වෙනස්ව, ඔවුන්ගේ වයිට්බෝල් කාලසටහන පිරී ඇති අතර, එක්දින තරඟ 11 ක්, T20I තරඟ හයක්, ආසියානු කුසලානය සහ ක්රිකට් ලෝක කුසලානය වසරේ ඉතිරි කාලය සඳහා අගුලු දමා ඇත.
කෙසේ වෙතත්, ඔවුන්ට තවමත් 2023 ඕවල් ක්රීඩාංගණයේ පැවැත්වෙන ලෝක ටෙස්ට් ශූරතා අවසන් මහා තරගයට සුදුසුකම් ලැබිය හැක්කේ ඔවුන් දැනට පවතින තරගාවලියේදී නවසීලන්තය 2-0ක් ලෙස පරාජය කළහොත් සහ ඕස්ට්රේලියාව බෝඩර්-ගවස්කාර් කුසලානයේ අවසන් තරගයේදී ඉන්දියාවට පරාජයෙන් වැළකී සිටියහොත් පමණි.
මැතිව්ස් මෙසේ පැවසීය: “[එය] අවාසනාවකට අපි මේ වසරේ වැඩිපුර ටෙස්ට් තරඟ ක්රීඩා නොකිරීමයි – එය පහක් වැනි සුළු ප්රමාණයකි. අපි දිගු දොට්ට දැමීමකින් ඉවත් වෙමු; අවසන් ටෙස්ට් තරඟය මාස හයකට පෙරය.
“හැමෝම කතා කරන්නේ ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් මැරෙන එක ගැන, නමුත් අපි ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් වලට කිසිම ප්රයෝජනයක් කරන්නේ නැහැ වසරකට ටෙස්ට් තරග පහක් පමණක් ක්රීඩා කරනවා. බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා, අපිට මේ අවුරුද්දේ තවත් තරඟ ලැබේවි. පහක් මදි වගේ දැනෙනවා.”
ලෝක ටෙස්ට් ශූරතා වගුව රතු-පන්දු ජාත්යන්තර තරඟවල අසමාන ව්යාප්තිය මනාව විදහා දක්වයි. නිදසුනක් වශයෙන්, එංගලන්තය 2020-23 චක්රය තුළ තරඟ 22 ක් ක්රීඩා කර ඇති අතර ශ්රී ලංකාව ක්රීඩා කර ඇත්තේ 10 ක් පමණි.
ශූරතාවලිය සඳහා ගණන් ගන්නා බොහෝ තරඟාවලි තරඟ දෙකක් පමණි. කෙසේ වෙතත්, විශාල තිදෙනා – ඕස්ට්රේලියාව, එංගලන්තය සහ ඉන්දියාව – නිතර තරඟ හතරක් හෝ පහක් තරඟාවලියක් එකිනෙකාට එරෙහිව ක්රීඩා කරයි.
බටහිර ඉන්දීය කොදෙව් ජාත්යන්තර ජේසන් හෝල්ඩර් මෑතකදී විශාල ත්රිත්වයෙන් පිටත ජාතීන් සඳහා ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් නොමැතිකම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය දුක්ගැනවිල්ල ප්රකාශ කළේය: “ලෝක ක්රිකට් දැන් ගමන් කරන ආකාරය, විශාල තිදෙනා හැරුණු විට, සෑම කණ්ඩායමක්ම යන්තම් ටෙස්ට් ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩා කරන්නේ නැත.”
இலங்கைக்கு டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகள் இல்லாததால் மெத்யூஸ் மகிழ்ச்சியடையவில்லை
இலங்கை அணி 2023ல் விளையாடவுள்ள டெஸ்ட் கிரிக்கெட் போட்டி குறித்து முன்னாள் கேப்டன் ஏஞ்சலோ மேத்யூஸ் அதிருப்தி தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.
நியூசிலாந்தில் இரண்டு டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகள், அயர்லாந்திற்கு எதிராக உள்நாட்டில் ஒரு டெஸ்ட் – உலக டெஸ்ட் சாம்பியன்ஷிப்பில் பங்கேற்காத ஒரு அணி – மற்றும் பாகிஸ்தானில் இரண்டு டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகள் கொண்ட இலங்கை இந்த ஆண்டு ஐந்து டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகளில் மட்டுமே விளையாட உள்ளது.
இதற்கு நேர்மாறாக, அவர்களின் ஒயிட்-பால் அட்டவணை நிரம்பியுள்ளது, 11 ODIகள், ஆறு T20Iகள், ஆசியக் கோப்பை மற்றும் கிரிக்கெட் உலகக் கோப்பை ஆகியவை இந்த ஆண்டு முழுவதும் பூட்டப்பட்டுள்ளன.
இருப்பினும், 2023 ஆம் ஆண்டு ஓவலில் நடக்கும் உலக டெஸ்ட் சாம்பியன்ஷிப் இறுதிப் போட்டிக்கு அவர்கள் இன்னும் தகுதி பெற முடியும், அவர்கள் நியூசிலாந்தை 2-0 என்ற கணக்கில் தங்கள் தற்போதைய தொடரில் தோற்கடித்து, பார்டர்-கவாஸ்கர் டிராபியின் இறுதிப் போட்டியில் இந்தியாவிடம் தோல்வியைத் தவிர்க்கலாம்.
மேத்யூஸ் கூறினார்: “[இது] இந்த ஆண்டு நாங்கள் அதிக டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகளில் விளையாடாதது துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமானது – இது ஐந்து போட்டிகள் மட்டுமே. நாங்கள் நீண்ட ஆட்குறைப்பில் இருந்து வருகிறோம்; கடைசி டெஸ்ட் ஆறு மாதங்களுக்கு முன்பு நடந்தது.
“எல்லோரும் டெஸ்ட் கிரிக்கெட் அழிந்து வருவதைப் பற்றி பேசுகிறார்கள், ஆனால் நாங்கள் டெஸ்ட் கிரிக்கெட்டுக்கு ஒரு வருடத்திற்கு ஐந்து டெஸ்டுகள் மட்டுமே விளையாடுகிறோம். நாங்கள் இந்த ஆண்டு அதிக போட்டிகளைப் பெறுவோம் என்று நம்புகிறோம். ஐந்து போதாது என்று உணர்கிறோம்.”
உலக டெஸ்ட் சாம்பியன்ஷிப் அட்டவணை சிவப்பு-பந்து சர்வதேச போட்டிகளின் சமமற்ற விநியோகத்தை மிகச்சரியாக விளக்குகிறது. எடுத்துக்காட்டாக, 2020-23 சுழற்சியில் இங்கிலாந்து 22 போட்டிகளில் விளையாடியுள்ளது, இலங்கை 10 போட்டிகளில் மட்டுமே விளையாடியுள்ளது.
சாம்பியன்ஷிப் தொடரில் பெரும்பாலானவை இரண்டு போட்டிகள் மட்டுமே. இருப்பினும், பெரிய மூன்று – ஆஸ்திரேலியா, இங்கிலாந்து மற்றும் இந்தியா – அடிக்கடி ஒன்றுக்கொன்று எதிராக நான்கு அல்லது ஐந்து போட்டித் தொடர்களை விளையாடுகின்றன.
மேற்கிந்தியத் தீவுகளின் சர்வதேச வீரர் ஜேசன் ஹோல்டர், பெரிய மூன்று நாடுகளுக்கு வெளியே உள்ள நாடுகளுக்கு டெஸ்ட் கிரிக்கெட் இல்லாதது குறித்து தனது குறையை சமீபத்தில் வெளிப்படுத்தினார்: “உலக கிரிக்கெட் இப்போது நடந்துகொண்டிருக்கும் விதம், பெரிய மூன்று அணிகளைத் தவிர, ஒவ்வொரு அணியும் டெஸ்ட் கிரிக்கெட்டை கூட விளையாடுவதில்லை.”
Football
Stafford vs. Colombo International: The Second Edition of the Big Match Kicks Off!
Football fever returns as Stafford International School and Colombo International School gear up for the second edition of their highly anticipated Big Match! This year, the rivalry intensifies with four matches across different age and gender categories:
✅ U15 Girls
✅ U15 Boys
✅ U20 Girls
✅ U20 Boys
🏆 Stafford International’s Rising Stars:
- U15 Girls: Defending TISSL U14 and Colombo SLSFA District champions, featuring standout players like Keshalee Ranatunga and Sonja Ratanayake (just 10 years old!).
- U15 Boys: All-Island U14 runners-up out of 462 schools, led by goalkeeper Yash Amarasekara, who was named Best U14 GK in Sri Lanka.
- U20 Girls & Boys: Both teams finished as TISSL runners-up, boasting stars like Raya Rikaz, Yumna Safraz, Adnaan Ameen, and Nidurshan Mohan.
🏆 Colombo International’s Key Players:
- U15 Girls: TISSL U16 runners-up, featuring top defender Khadeeja Niyas and striker Ozra.
- U20 Girls: TISSL U20 runners-up, with Fioni Dedhia named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
- U20 Boys: Defending Big Match champions, looking to retain their title behind stars like Krishwen and Habib.
👀 Who will come out on top this time? Watch the action LIVE at the link below! 🎥👇
#BigMatch2025 #SchoolFootball #SriLankaFootball #StaffordVsCIS #RivalryRenewed
Cricket
Shammi Silva Re-Elected as Sri Lanka Cricket President for Fourth Consecutive Term
Shammi Silva has been re-elected as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president for the 2025-27 term, marking his fourth consecutive tenure at the helm of the nation’s cricket governing body. Silva secured the position uncontested at the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo on Monday.
A Controversial Yet Dominant Tenure
Silva’s leadership has not been without controversy. His previous term saw a high-profile clash with former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, which led to an interim committee being appointed after Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the ICC ODI World Cup. This move resulted in ICC suspending SLC, which led to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the U19 Men’s World Cup, which was later held in South Africa.
Despite these setbacks, Silva regained control after a court ruling reinstated his administration, and he was later appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in December 2023, replacing Jay Shah.
Challenges & Future Outlook
Sri Lanka Cricket has long been seen as a powerful and influential body, with internal politics often shaping its leadership. With financial mismanagement concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report, Silva’s administration faces the challenge of restoring credibility and ensuring better governance.
With the ICC ban lifted, Sri Lanka looks to rebuild its cricketing structure and improve performance on the international stage. The focus now shifts to upcoming bilateral series, the Asia Cup, and preparations for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka Cricket and the latest in the world of sports!
Cricket
Stephen Fleming Defends MS Dhoni’s Batting Position Amid Criticism
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has defended MS Dhoni’s late entry in the batting order, stating that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman cannot play an extended innings at full intensity due to lingering knee concerns.
The 43-year-old Dhoni faced criticism after coming in at No. 9 during CSK’s 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 30, 2025, he batted at No. 7 when CSK required 54 off 25 balls but managed just 16 off 11 as his team fell short by six runs.
Fleming’s Explanation on Dhoni’s Role
Fleming emphasized that Dhoni carefully assesses the match situation before deciding when to bat.
“It’s all about timing. MS judges his body and situation. His knees aren’t what they used to be, so he can’t bat for 10 overs at full intensity. He will step in based on the game’s demands,” Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.
The CSK coach reiterated that Dhoni remains too valuable to the team for his leadership and wicketkeeping and that sending him in too early could be a strategic misstep.
“From around the 13th or 14th over, he assesses the situation and decides. He trusts other batters early on but steps up when needed.”
CSK’s Struggles in the Powerplay Cost Them the Match
Fleming also pinpointed CSK’s poor powerplay performance as a key reason for their loss against Rajasthan Royals. While RR blasted 79/1 in the powerplay, CSK only managed 42/1,
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