We are comfortable playing in Pakistan: Ranatunga

Mumbai: Sri Lanka Cricket Board chief Arjuna Ranatunga gave Pakistan a thumbs up ahead of the important International Cricket Council's meeting at the week-end to discuss security concerns for the Champions Trophy to be held there in September.

"We have no problem in playing in Pakistan or India. Pakistan hosted six teams very well recently at the Asia Cup and I was there for the final. It was very well organised," said the 1996 World Cup-winning ex-Sri Lanka Test and ODI captain at a media conference on Thursday.

"So far the championship is in Pakistan and we have been told we are in the standby position," he added.

Ranatunga was also crystal clear in his views about Twenty20 cricket by saying they were good money spinners and should be used in protecting the sanctity and pre-eminence of Test cricket.

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I am just beginning, says Mendis

Ajantha Mendis stepped into the limelight at the Asia Cup final and it seems he just can’t step out of it. For a full forty minutes Mendis was the centre of attention as he got a taste of how the Indian media treated cricketers at the launch of Travelorg Holidays as official tour operator for the upcoming Indo-Lanka series.

Ever smiling, like that other Sri Lankan spinner, Mendis whispered answers in Sinhala for Arjuna Ranatunga to translate. Mendis, whose only unaided utterance, also in Sinhala, was something to the tune of “come watch us play.”

Ranatunga, never short of words, did more than just translate, generously adding to Mendis’ short answers. “Murali is a legend. He has gone very far and I am just beginning,” said Mendis when the inevitable comparison came his way.

Ranatunga let Mendis go in quick time as the bowler had a return flight to catch. “He took a day’s break from practice and I don’t want him to miss another day,” said Ranatunga. “I’m not too comfortable calling Ajantha a freak but he is a freak bowler. He has five different deliveries and is mastering one more,” said Ranatunga. “You have to be at him all the time. To play against Mendis will be the ultimate test.”

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SLC media manager given the sack

Samantha Algama, Sri Lanka's popular and proficient media manager, has been given the sack by Sri Lanka Cricket's interim committee which is headed by former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga. Duleep Mendis, the board's chief executive, confirmed that Algama had been asked to quit his honorary role with effect from April 30.

Algama, it seems, has paid the price for being too media-friendly. The accusation leveled against Algama was that he had not defended the interim committee when their activities had been criticised in the media. His departure comes two days before the start of the 4th Women's Asia Cup which is being hosted by Sri Lanka, and that is followed by an important tour by India to Sri Lanka in July-August.

Algama who has held the position for the past three years is the second longest serving media manager in international cricket after England's Andrew Walpole. This latest move by the interim committee follows a series of wholesale changes that have been implemented by the Ranatunga administration. They have replaced Dharmadasa loyalists from all other subcommittees since taking over at the beginning of the year.

Mendis said a new media manager would be appointed shortly.

Extracted from,
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Sri Lanka - Reggie Ranatunga sworn in as member of parliament

Reggie Ranatunga, a provincial council governor in Sri Lanka, was Thursday appointed a member of parliament for the ruling coalition to represent the Gampaha district, north of Colombo.

Ranatunga, the father of Sri Lanka's cricket star-turned-politician Arjuna Ranatunga, was sworn in as a member by the speaker of parliament W J M Lokubandara.

Ranatunga fills the parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of Sripathy Sooriyarachchi, also representing Gampaha district, who was killed on February 9 in a motor vehicle accident.

Ranatunga is the governor of the Sabaragamuwa province, south east of Colombo, and has also been a parliamentarian and deputy cabinet minister on a previous occasion.

Extracted from,
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/srilanka/20080221035218.php

India show brotherly love to Sri Lanka

Living up to their status of the regional big brothers, the Indian cricket board has always stood by their counterparts in Sri Lanka. This time, it promises to be no different.

The mandarins at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are already looking at options to help the Lankan board following the request of Arjuna Ranatunga, currently at the helm of Lankan cricket. "There is a possibility of hosting some off-shore matches between us, and we are trying to find out a slot when our cricketers are free," said Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary.

Speaking to Gulf News, Shah said they would work out a solution soon because of the "brotherly relation" that the boards of two countries enjoy. Incidentally, the two countries, alongwith Pakistan and Bangladesh, will host the third World Cup in the sub-continent in 2011.

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SLC offers to host Asia Cup

Sri Lanka has approached Pakistan with an offer to host the upcoming Asia Cup cricket tournament as violence continues to wrack the country, the island's cricket chief said today.

The six-nation limited-overs tournament is scheduled to be played in Pakistan in June, but instability following last month's murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has put sporting fixtures under threat.

“We have written and asked Pakistan if we can host the Asia Cup,” Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief Arjuna Ranatunga said on the sidelines of a news conference to promote tourism.
“It's a sensitive issue, but we will understand if Pakistan refuse us,” said Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 World Cup.

Defending champions Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are due to take part in the tournament, the continent's premier One-Day International event.

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Aussies needed taste of their own medicine, says Ranatunga

Sri Lanka cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga was amused to see the boot on the other foot after Australia complained about the on-field behaviour of the Indian team.

Sledging has become a hot topic in world cricket since the row which erupted after India spinner Harbhajan Singh was found to have racially abusing Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds in the Sydney Test this month.

The actions of the Australians have also come under scrutiny in the wake of the incident with criticism levelled at them for their over-competitiveness and aggression.

Former Sri Lanka skipper Ranatunga was no stranger to the acid tongues of the Australians in his playing days and, while he took some pleasure from seeing their barbs returned in kind, he believes it is time for the International Cricket Council to step in.

"I think this is the first time after I gave it back, that Australia is now being paid back with their own coin," Ranatunga told Sri Lankan newspaper The Island. "Now, even Australia is complaining.

"I think it's important for the administrators to clean up the game. I think they should stop shouting and sledging on the field.

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SLC chief Ranatunga plans more India-Lanka Tests

Sri Lanka Cricket's (SLC) newly-appointed chairman Arjuna Ranatunga on Wednesday said he is keen on increasing the frequency of Tests against India and will take up the matter with BCCI.

"I have just taken over. I am going to hold a meeting with the CEO OF SLC Duleep Mendis and other officials and work out the possibility of having regular exchange programmes regarding cricket matches with India," Ranatunga told.

He said it will be on the lines of regular cricket fixtures that India has with Australia and Pakistan.

The 44-year-old Ranatunga said he was keen that the two Asian nations play regular Test matches.

He said after discussing the matter with the cricket board officials of the Island country on the programme he will hold talks with the BCCI officials and put forth the views of the SLC.

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