Early on his career, Lasith Smith, realised he was often called a slinger because of his peculiar round arm action he had. So he changed his last name to Malinga so he could get a rhyming nickname. Perhaps no other bowler in history has constantly made the umpires change their appearance to make it easier for batsman to see the ball. Took four wickets in four balls once, Sri Lanka lost that game. Doesn’t seem to bowl anywhere near as fast as he used to. Has realised that his action is perfect for T20 cricket, as have the Sri Lankan selectors, who now rarely seem to call him up for anything else. Malinga’s hair is not orthodox.
cricket with balls
just another bullshit cricket blog
Tagged with lankans …
Finally, Tillakaratne Dilshan on a motor bike
For some reason the Dilshan pic disappeared from the last post, but that is because he is so cool, so here it is.
My name is Tillakaratne Dilshan, and I’m cooler than you. Here I am riding a motorbike wearing a shirt and tie, yet, I’m still cooler than you, deal with it. If i was dressed as a pirate, I’d be even more cooler than you.
Sri Lanka pictorial
I went to Sri Lanka, and I took a camera.
I couldn’t possibly show you every photo that was cricket related, but these are my favourites, they’re unedited, because I can’t be bothered.
Every night Mahela and I drink coke together, you could be this happy if you drink coke. Look how happy we are. Really happy.
Hey man, what’s happening, yeah, coke man, i love it, I’m so fucking high right now, I know you can’t tell, cause I pull it off well, but really I am high. But I look normal, don’t i. I’m not, I’m high. Let’s go to white castle.
Not enough countries have cricket graffiti. This is a win for Sri Lanka.
A rare photo of Saddam Hussein and Murali.
Dude, buy coke for your family. Sugar and caffeine rock.
A free book for the person to correctly name these 4 New Zealand cricketers. Yes that is a trick question, no one can correctly name kiwi cricketers. Nathan McCullum is on the left, ladies.
Look at these dudes working and sitting on trucks while a cool photo of Malinga is in front of them.
I saw these guys at Dambulla. I hope they all fail. Lazy bastards.
I also have more photos of Dambulla, but this is enough for one day, surely.
balls profile: Ajantha Mendis
No one has got more famous for inventing ball that pretty much goes straight. Before being worked out he was the most dangerous bowler in world cricket. Now he is Chris Harris, without the impressive hair. Bowls faster than most spin bowlers, and has never really mastered flight. Anyone who can control as many deliveries as he can should surely be able to adapt. If not, he should go to County cricket and be the first bowler to take One Million first class wickets. Is a second lieutenant in the Sri Lankan Army, in second life he sells sneakers to movie stars and on world of warcraft his avatar is a Tauren druid named Carrom.
balls profile: kumar sangakkara
Being that it is hard to combine his life as a cricketer with that of being a trainee Lawyer, he often takes out his work to the middle and leaves it with the umpire. While at the non-strikers end he can often be seen looking over a contract or engaged in research for some litigation. His batting is like being in a bath full of butter. He is the king. His captaincy is a bit more like leaving the butter out on a hot day and forgetting about it. One day he will be so famous the world over that you will be able to get post cards that just have a close up picture of him and the words ‘Kumar Sangakkara – Sri Lanka’.
Welcome to Sri Lanka
Many countries have pictures of their head of states in the airport.
It’s pretty fucken useless, no one cares, and it makes the leader look like a dodgy dictator.
At Colombo airport they might do that, but I didn’t see it.
What I saw was much better.
As you come through immigration, the king.
Much better than a picture of some politician.
Murali set to retire
No one ever just retires anymore. They are always set to retire.
And Murali is set.
Sources close to him have set him, and so have the Sri Lankan website, so it can’t be long before he confirms that the Galle test against India is his last.
Murali has been slipping for a while now, in 09 he averaged 46 in test matches, which for someone as machine like as him had to be a sign.
He can still bowl, but test cricket might just be a touch too far for the 38 year old.
8 wickets are what he needs to be the first bowler to 800 wickets. If he gets there it will be an amazing last test considering his recent test form.
As for me, I never truly warmed to Murali.
I was there when he was first called.
While I appreciate his ability to bowl so many overs and the size of his eyes, no one else is allowed to bowl with that action. And that bothers me.
Most of the shit wasn’t his fault anyway, the dude just did his job, others campaigned for and against him, and he was used to change a flawed system for the better, even if it is still not perfect.
I already get the feeling that this will set off the debate on Warne Vs Murali, which will probably end up as boring as it is pointless.
Murali may not have been my favourite cricketer, but politics and elbows aside what a servant he was for Sri Lanka.
Some days it felt like he would bowl unchanged for the entire day, add to that living through the whole chucking shit, the boy had guts, so I may not love him, but I do respect him.
balls profile: Angelo Mathews
No player has changed his name mid tournament with more aplomb than Mathews. Mathews could be one of the greatest all rounder’s of his generation or a medium paced hack who slaps the ball around a bit that people forget before they finish their bottle of wipe out. There has always been a rumour that he doesn’t exist.
the world t20 team report card
Afghanistan – Turned up with a bowling unit that most Minnows would be proud of, but their bowlers also ended up being their batting.
They were very loud, but showed real aptitude, but were kicked out of the library after being caught urinating on the technique books.
Australia – Finally selected a T20 team and got a test player to captain it. Took the gamble on 3 front line bowlers and it worked until their batsmen bottled it in the final.
Bullied their way around the schoolyard, and everyone sucked up to them. Next time they should stay focused until the end of the day.
Bangladesh – Tried hard at times but never had the firepower to scare Australia or Pakistan.
Truancy is a problem, if Tamim isn’t around the rest of the boys lose confidence. Perhaps they were promoted too quickly and could do well if they were to repeat this grade a few times.
England – Was the best performed and coached side in the entire tournament, Wright at six was a gamble, but their middle order stuck around and they deserved to win.
Polite, courteous, well mannered and simply a delight to teach. About time too, before this they were a disorganized bore that should have been spanked daily.
India – Arrived with a hangover, played like they were in a coma, picked the wrong side and then performed like their entire family had been killed by drunk drivers.
Spank them, send them to bed without their dinner, cut all extra curricular activities and make sure you give them a curfew.
Ireland – Showed yet again that they are a plucky yet largely untalented bunch. Bowling display against England was a masterclass in bowling slow seam.
Since Eoin has moved classes the Irish boys have looked slightly stupid, it might be time for remedial studies, again.
New Zealand – At times it felt like they were in the tournament, but that they also weren’t. They beat 2 of the Semi finalists, but not in the semi finals.
A very eager student who would do extra work than required, it was just that their best work was only just a pass.
Pakistan – Were shocking, brilliant and wonderfully insane, just like Pakistan should be. Need a captain, not an excitable poodle.
Were truant at the start of the semester, then came in late doing lots of work to try catch up. They almost passed but it wouldn’t be fair to students who turned up all the time, like M Hussey.
South Africa – had one of the bowlers of the tournament in Charl Langeveldt, and almost no one else. Picked the wrong team, stayed with the wrong teamand then failed to actually chase Pakistan’s total.
These boys are clearly too old for schooling, and didn’t look interested either. Perhaps getting them into the workforce would benefit them.
Sri Lanka – Surfed the wave of Mahela all the way to the finals, but outside of him and some isolated performances they were pretty ordinary.
Had one mature age student who was of no use, a cool student who didn’t seem interested and some experimental student who produced very little. Very disappointed in them.
West Indies – Teams who host these tournaments are usually useless, the West Indies proved that rule.
The entire class sit around waiting for Chris Gayle to do the work, and he can’t always be bothered. Andre Fletcher needs private tuition or home schooling.
Zimbabwe – Had a great array of spinners and almost entirely nothing else. Played good honest cricket, but are missing several components.
They seemed to be driven by fear of being spanked by their parents, but are generally a very poor academic group. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Ray Price is surely too old to be at school, and I think I saw him beat up the Lunch Lady.
