Hello Paul, I’ll respond to your other question about Mickey Arthur. I believe he was on a short-term contract to head coach of the Sri Lankan team. Mahela Jayawardene has succeeded him as the head coach now, and we all know what an inspirational figure he has been for Sri Lanka

Hello ozinsa, thanks for your feedback! Strong argument you raise there, and on the surface, yes it certainly seems like a fluke. however if you dig a bit deeper you will find Sri Lanka have done a lot of hard work to get to where they are. At the start of 2021 they actually got thrashed by England at home, and could only achieve a draw against the West Indies in the West Indies. It was only after Mickey Arthur was appointed as coach that Sri Lanka began to dramatically improve, featuring an above-average showing the T20 world cup.

Yes they are 7th right now and although it seems like that’s where they belong, don’t forget that Sri Lanka plays fewer Test matches than the other Full-Member nations now. They are lucky to even get a 3-Test series now, where as for the big three it’s the norm. This type of discrimination by the ICC doesn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause, and keeps them languishing at the bottom of the table despite showing glimpses of high performance. If they had more opportunities, I am confident we will see Sri Lanka go up the rankings. I will not say that Sri Lanka will definitely be WTC winners but I am cautiously optimistic of their chances.

G’day Paul, great to hear from you again! Yes good pick up on Sri Lanka’s upcoming series against Australia and India. Formidable opponents certainly however the series against Australia will be played at home so the Sri Lankans will have a sizeable advantage given their plethora of spin options available and recent history between them and the Aussies. I also believe the last time Australia played a Test series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, they were thrashed 3-0. In fact, in the first Test of that series, Sri Lanka declared twice at Colombo and bundled out the Aussies for 160 to win by 163 runs. Much of the same players who played in that series are still in the current team now, so this is why I am optimistic of Sri Lanka’s chances. I say that the pathway is ‘comfortable’ because most of Sri Lanka’s tougher opponents are playing them at home.

Sri Lanka are due to play India in India, and although both nations produce similar pitches and have similar styles of bowling attack (ie. spin) Sri Lanka has certainly struggled notch victories against their giant neighbour to the north. To me, India is really the only main threat Sri Lanka has on their path to the wtc final hence why I say that overall their journey should be okay.

Trevine, nice article but watch the length of some your sentences! They are longer than Chaminda Vaas’ full name 😂

Hey Paul thanks for the great feedback! Yeah absolutely. I bet batsmen all around the world are breathing a huge sigh of relief now that Malinga is no longer there haha.

Yeah I don’t think he’s ever had any major off-field issues. He did however used to get into a few conflicts with the Godfather of Sri Lankan cricket, Arjuna Ranatunga. The ’96 World Cup winning captain forced Malinga to get rid of his blonde-tipped hairstyle because he believed it appeared too ‘ungentlemanly’ and wasn’t a good look for cricket.

Instead Malinga just grew out his hair longer and added even more blonde tips in outright defiance of Ranatunga. Talk about giving someone a taste of their own medicine hahaha!

Definitely dungerBob! If cricket needed a proper advertisement to reel in more fans then this game was it!

I should have mentioned the pitches too! They certainly were prepared well to provide a good contest between bat and ball, and also helped to prove that England were not just flat track bullies when they chalked up those massive scores. They definitely are a powerful team now.

Thanks Zozza, hahaha unfortunately I count as a millenial too! Unlucky result for New Zealand

Valid point you raise there Nick, Sri Lankan cricket has traditionally always quite Colombo and Kandy-centric. However, in recent years they have been taking important steps to bring in cricketers from the north and the east as well. The Murali Cup is a tournament played amongst schools in Jaffna and Trincomalee which aims to expose cricket to the outer regions of the island as well. Just recently a Muslim Tamil boy from Jaffna named Mohammad Shiraz was drafted into the Sri Lankan squad for their history making Test tour of South Africa. Of course there needs to be more stories like this however the board has recognised the need to spread cricket across the island to ensure it is an inclusive sport for everyone.

Thanks please ensure you link it back to the proper author which is me, thank you

Yeah it’s tough isn’t it? For a tropical island paradise Sri Lanka has certainly copped a lot of flak, and they’ve quite frankly had enough. Which is an even greater reason why cricket is so important to them, it gives them something positive and uplifting to look forward to. Thankfully Sri Lanka is safe again now and life is back to normal. Let’s hope their cricket team can find that same momentum too!

Thanks for the lovely feedback Paul, really appreciate it mate! And yes I think cricket serves a big purpose in uniting a country where it’s people come from differing backgrounds, religions and races. South Africa too is another one that uses cricket as a unifying force, given where it’s been post-apartheid. Although I heavily doubt Sri Lanka will get far in this world cup, I hope they do put on a good show for their fans given how vulnerable this country has felt in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings.

G’day Aligee, it’s the author of the article here speaking. I’m still amused that you see this write-up as an attack on men. Wasn’t my intention at all. If you read carefully I wasn’t playing down men. I was just expressing my disappointment at the lack of honesty and sportsmanship in the men’s game. If it was the other way around I would still say the same thing. Hence no irony.

Also deaf, blind and wheelchair cricket has predominantly been played by men which I highlighted as well in my article so not sure why you think I’m attacking men lol. Don’t forget I am a heterosexual male too.

If both genders displayed equal amounts of genuine sportsmanship then I would again be the first to highlight this. Sadly, it hasn’t been the case, hence that excerpt you eloquently cited from my article stays true.

Remember when Shane Warne grabbed Marlon Samuel’s shirt in that 2013 BBL? Or when Ramnaresh Sarwan almost got into a fistfight with Glenn McGrath? Or when Sunil Gavaskar once refused to walk after being given out LBW in a Test match? BALL TAMPERING? I can rattle off heaps more examples.

I actually researched a fair bit to see if there were any occurrences of women displaying unsportsmanlike behaviour on the cricket field. ‘Unfortunately’ for you there has been none. Therefore, that excerpt you quoted remains factual and is a statement devoid of my opinion. I was just stating facts lol.

Does that mean I think all women are angels who are immune to human error? Absolutely NOT. To appease you maybe I’ll write an article on how much I dislike Serena Williams arrogant and childish behaviour on the tennis field, or how evil and cunning Hilary Clinton truly was as a politican. There are also women who use feminism to their advantage to marginalise innocent men as well. So I’m well aware of both sides of the issue here mate.

History is rife with horrible females too, but thankfully on the cricket field we have not seen that. And that should be celebrated, acknowledged and applauded.

As for criticism of my writing style, I’ll definitely take it as constructive feedback and ensure that next time I write I’ll use fewer buzzwords and include more basic vocabulary to appeal to Neanderthals like yourself.

Perhaps the only irony I can think of is the fact that I forgot to include readers who share the same viewpoints and opinions such as yourself, and this article was supposed to be about social inclusion. You got me good there mate. Have a great day.

Interesting find there Brainstrust! I think it is a bit more than 10% to be honest, especially if we look at how much the likes of Elyse Perry, Mithali Raj and other more high profile womens cricketers are earning through sponsorship deals and whatnot.

But yes in the past they earned next to peanuts. Even smaller cricketing nations like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were quite poor before the 2000s.

Did you know that prior to the 1996 World Cup final, Aravinda De Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana would often share a bedroom together at Arjuna Ranatunga’s house when they weren’t training? Or that the sum of the total assets of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board prior to winning that 1996 World Cup came to just under $6,000 USD?

Cricket was not just backwards towards women, but even more so towards cricketers of colour and non-English speaking backgrounds. Thankfully things have now changed for the better.

Wow that is so unfortunate to hear! I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Sledging of that nature is borderline bullying. I hope you had better experiences of playing cricket regardless. It looks like we still have a long way to go.

That is amazing to hear Downsey, and so they should. Hopefully we see more exciting young female cricketers from WA make it to the big leagues soon!

JimboJones I’m pretty sure I was. I cited a number of articles and almost all agree that it was a woman who most definitely birthed the idea of bowling overarm, albeit unknowingly.

Are you also going to label me claiming the first women’s world cup in 1973 as a ‘creative feminism’ too?

No dramas at all there mate. I don’t like golf, be it male or female, I even despise lawn bowls, curling, American football (way too slow in my opinion), baseball, badminton and even Olympic handball.

Guess we can’t please everyone hey?

yeah brilliant final that was! I was only two years old when Sri Lanka announced themselves so emphatically on that fateful day, the 17th March 1996. Aravinda De Silva’s match-winning hundred was a beauty and it is still one of the all-time great world cup centuries.

It’s fantastic that you support your daughters in their sporting aspirations, nothing wrong with that at all.

Going by your first comment Aligee you simply said ‘men are bad, women are good’ which kind of shows your inner resentment and lack of understanding to what I’m saying.

My point was not to paint us males as the bad guys. I just want simply want cricket to be a level playing field where the spirit of cricket is upheld always. The fact that we see it so prevalently in women’s cricket doesn’t mean there is suddenly this big divide between men and women, or that women are suddenly ‘better’ than men. If there was something important lacking in women’s cricket which we were seeing more of in men’s cricket I would happily call that out too.

You may question the article as much as you want my friend and voice your opinion but I’ve also got a right to question why hold that particular opinion if that is the train of thought you want to adopt.

Propaganda? Pretty sure I supported each argument and claim with valid and accurate evidence. I do not know you personally but evaluating you purely on your comment I am disappointed that as a potentially ardent cricket fan that you may be, you’ve seen this piece as a direct attack on all of us males.

My purpose for writing this article was not to offend or annoy, but rather to inspire, educate and encourage us all to reflect and appreciate what women have done for the game over the years.

Yes, there have also been numerous accounts of incredible acts of sportsmanship, bravery and camaraderie in men’s cricket. Graeme Smith walking out to bat with a broken hand to save that Test match against Australia in 2008 is one such incident that comes to mind. Despite Mitchell Johnson bowling absolute heat in that spell to poor Graeme Smith, the great Aussie quick later congratulated and paid his respects to the Proteas captain, hailing it as one of the greatest acts of bravery seen on a cricket field.

So JimboJones please do not think that I am oblivious to the amazing acts of humanity and sportsmanship we have witnessed in the men’s game too. It’s just compared to women’s cricket it is few and far between. I’m often impressed and delighted to see how clean and corruption-free the women’s game is, and it is not something we ought to feel threatened or dishevelled by at all. We should in fact, as cricket fans and players, aspire to achieve the levels of sportsmanship and honesty that is so commonly prevalent within the women’s game.

No gender is better or superior to another gender. Cricket is for everyone. However if one group or organisation of players within this institution is displaying a fundamental facet of this game at a higher level than another, then that group ought to look at them for guidance and support. That way we can make the game better for everyone, no matter what level we play.

I’m pretty sure I kept a balanced argument. Cricket still has a long way to go on many socio-economic and political factors, not just in the women’s game. To explain that would require me to go into detail that may turn this into a phD report. I thought it was appropriate to highlight this aspect though simply because cricket has done a lot to tackle these issues, and also because I was quite inspired and uplifted by the International womens day event I attended at the MCG.

and you know what Aligee, I’ll be honest and transparent with you. Even I initially thought women’s cricket was a bit of a funny and weird concept. Even I held very sexist and patronising attitudes towards it.

No one cares about women’s cricket, I said. It lacks intensity, I mocked. Nobody wants to watch girls play the gentleman’s game, it’s not competitive enough, I jeered.

But how wrong, naive and insensitive I was. After digging deep and doing a bit of research I realised we ought to elevate and promote the women’s game almost at the same level as the guys. Cricket was initially seen as a women’s game did you know that? and you know what’s even more incredible? They often played at an intensity and excitement that matched the guys.

Here’s an excerpt from the British newspaper The Mercury that reported on that women’s cricket match back in 1745. They literally said

“The greatest cricket match that was played in this part of England was on Friday, the 26th of last month, on Gosden Common, near Guildford, between eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon, all dressed in white. The girls bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do in that game.”

What this shows is that our women always had the capacity, tenacity and the skill levels to play an attractive, exciting and entertaining brand of cricket right throughout history. We just simply haven’t given them a decent chance to flourish. And thankfully now, it has been realised. The biggest thanks must in fact go to Australia who have gone to great lengths to promote the women’s game more than most other cricket playing nations.

Glad to hear it mate. Education and awareness is what I’m all about

Thanks mate!