Archives

Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from England

LONDON, Sunday - A bat signed by Arjuna Ranatunga's World Cup winning side fetched six times the amount offered for a bat signed by the present Sri Lanka team led by Sanath Jayasuriya at the dinner dance organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka's (BCCSL) UK dance committee held at the Radisson Portman Hotel here on Friday.

The bat signed by all the members of the World Cup 1996 winning team fetched 1200 pounds sterling while the bat with the signatures of the Sri Lanka team currently touring England went for 200 pounds sterling. A couple of airline tickets also went up for sale and a total of 4000 pounds sterling was made on the auction.

The dinner dance held in honour of the Sri Lanka team and attended by over 500 people, mainly Sri Lankan expatriates living here and some distinguished guests, was an overwhelming success.

It was a feather in the cap of UK BCCSL committee and dance committee chairman Dr. Daya Pandita-Gunawardena and the rest of his committee members comprising Alan Wahab, Iqbal Cader, Indran Duraisingham, Charmaine Jayatilleke, Patrick Sonnadara, Asitha Jayaweera and Sarath Abeysundera. Among the distinguished guests were Sri Lanka Foreign Minister and one time BCCSL president Tyronne Fernando, Sri Lanka High Commissioner in UK Faiz Mustapha PC, MCC president and former England captain Ted Dexter, MCC secretary and chief executive Roger Knight, the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) cricket operations director John Carr and marketing manager Stuart Robertson, and the BCCSL's chief executive Anura Tennekoon, marketing director Jayantha Kudahetty, and director of pitches Anuruddha Polonowita.

The occasion provided members of the cricket team to meet their well-wishers in the UK. The cricketers mingled with the guests both young and old and took to the dance floor once the music beat changed to the baila. Fast bowler Chaminda Vaas showed his versatility by taking over the microphone and dishing out some favourite Sinhala numbers much to the delight of the guests.

The occasion also gave Mahela Jayawardene an opportunity to promote his Hope project to collect funds for cancer victims. A suitable contribution will be made by the UK dance committee to this fund from the profits they accrued from the dinner dance.

There was a sour note added to the dinner dance when an expensive floral arrangement resembling a wreath was sent to Sri Lanka team manager Chandra Schaffter signed by the well-wishers of Sri Lanka cricket UK with a condolence message deeply sympathizing with his team's poor performances and to return home if they cannot perform. The message was not revealed to the manager until the end of the dinner dance. According to members of the dance committee this was the second such wreath the manager had received during the present tour. 

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager