Each player, of course, matters in every match. Jayasuriya is the most-capped one-day cricketer in history, a flamboyant opening batsman whose fearless stroke play can give an innings unstoppable momentum, and a useful spin-bowler as well. Vaas is the master of new-ball bowling who can destroy an opponent’s innings almost before they start. Murali is the unorthodox wizard of spin who bamboozles the most gifted, in-form batsmen.
Their importance on Saturday also rests on their presence in a match played 11 years ago: They are the three survivors of the team that beat Australia in the 1996 World Cup final in Lahore, Pakistan.Link
When: Tomorrow, 4/28, at 12:30
Where: Eight Mile Creek, NYC
Why: To watch SRI LANKA KICK ASS!!
The game starts around 9am EST, and a Sri Lankan crew will be there, holding it down, if you don’t want to miss a minute.
FYI: Eight Mile Creek is an expat Australian bar/restaurant, so we’re taking the meetup into enemy turf. Should be a screaming, cheering, hair-raising good time. Come ready to show your colors!
oh man!! that sounds well good, wish i was in NY, have a good one who ever goes. goooooooooo sri lanka!!
Blegh. I will be out of town, but at Eight Mile Creek in spirit. Have a fabulous time.
I have a friend in the Bay Area who wants to go watch the match – any ideas as to where he should go?
I wish I could help, but I have no idea. California does have a surprisingly large Sri Lankan population, so there must be something near him. I’d check here: http://cricket.meetup.com/17/
Ennis, I know this sounds crazy but one of the biggest salas clubs in SF is owned by Sri Lankans – Cafe Cocomo.
Your friend could call and see if they would be showing it there or if they know of a place that Sri Lankans are gathering…
What? Karl Rove’s been fired?
Have fun tomorrow folks.
Anybody know of places showing the final in central Orange County? Been looking on the web with no luck!
Mr. Kobayashi, you’re not coming?
Frayed knot Cica. Have to help a friend move. Next time.
Is it just me or is tomorrow 4/18 and not 4/17?
I must be really confused — I meant to write 4/28 and not 4/27.
aagghh! My bad! Fixed!
Bechtel International Center inside Stanford Univ has been showing all the cricket matches it seems…
Does anyone know what the mix on the SL team is between Sinhalese and Tamil? Is there tension or not really?
Duh, sorry, just found my question answered in the previous post.
My guess is that there is more tension regarding various beauracratic issues (corruption, corporate sponsorship, cricket oversight board, etc) than inter-ethnic rivalry. I don’t want a threadjacking so staying away from commenting further on the Sinhala-Tamil “ethnic war” issue, but basically, Sri Lanka is a very diverse cosmopolitan country and most people get along very well in their daily lives.
The team looks to be mostly Sinhala Buddhist, but there are at least 3-4 Tamils, who may be Hindu or Christian. One is definitely Mulim (Muslims identify as Tamil in Sri Lanka because they speak Tamil. The LTTE doesn’t see them as Tamil however) and there may be Sinhala Christians in the mix as well. I’m just going by last names, which are an indicator but never a definite thing. The ethnic thing is dropped cold when it comes to cricket – people really do just admire a great player.
and I spent too long trying to answer 😉
Random Trivia: Murali’s wife is from Chennai.
As you are going into enemy territory I thought as your compadre who used to live across the ditch from the dark side of the force, I’d give you a couple of chants from their side that you may like to modify and surprise them with:
There is: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie … Oi, Oi, Oi”
And my personal favourite: “Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies? You fat b#^tard, you fat b#^tard, you ate all the pies”
Obviously you can have “Lanka, Lanka, Lanka … Oi, Oi ,Oi” and possibly “Who ate all the kottu?” – but I’m sure you will be able to come up with an appropriate replacement.
Good luck, will be with you in spirit …
Oh and before I forget, you could really annoy them and ask why they’re flying the NZ flag … ok, that’s probably only going to be funny to me … forget it. Have great time!
Thanks Sonal 😉
Yeah, the enemy territory thing seemed amusing at first, but reading about Aussie behaviour on the previous thread is a bit nervous-making. I hope we don’t get our asses kicked (though I’m really good in fight. No, seriously. Why doesn’t anyone blieve me!) and wonder if we should change venue.
We could hang out in Queens, basking in West Indian love, as another mutineer suggested…
Eh..fuck it.
I’m not a rabid cricket fan and the frisson of tension between opposing fans could be sort of fun, yeah? And where the fun in winning if you can’t gloat over the loser’s supporters? However secretly on the inside 😉
If you’re going to watch it with Aussies, be prepared for the stupefying attitude of entitlement and incessant self-adulation. At least you can leave them at the bar. Some of us have to go to work on Monday…
The preferred Lankan chant is ‘Go Lanka, go Lanka, Go.” Ans yes, please do ask them why they have the union jack for a flag…or better still, the Kiwi flag.
I think Murali and Arnold are the only Tamils on the team, if anyone cares to count. I’ve never heard of any tension between players but i’m only a casual fan.
There’s been a discussion of the game influencing the conflict, but how about the conflict influencing the game…
and then there’s amnesty international‘s attempt to use the cup to bring attention to the sl gov’s behaviour in the conflict
ok im done, hope sri lanka wins tomorrow anyway, go lanka
Just over an hour to go! My favourite Watering Hole has given the evening off for their Bar-staff and Kitchen-staff, who are all Sri Lankans. Also, they’ve put up a special “big screen†for them to watch the match. This means the European management will be working behind the bar tonight. Awwww nice, innit? Let every bar in every land reverberate with the war cry: Go Lanka, Sri Lanka, Copara Thenga:) I’m off now; have fun everyone.
P.S: Sri Lanka owe a lot to India if they win; all Indian strategies, I tell you;)
WTF, RAIN????????? What, with all the sponsorship money they couldn’t even bribe the weather gods??? $^#&%()$)#)%&!!!!
Wonder if they’ll reduce the number of overs if the rain stops within an hour or so, or if there’s enough daylight time in W.Indies.
Nevermind, Cricinfo has the answer as usual: “Rules for the final are the same as with earlier rounds, so a late start means that overs are docked off, even though we have a reserve day. So the ICC could have their Twenty20 final a few months early if this carries on.”
Aussie fans, in my experience (and i watched the India Astrualia series where India won at Eight Mile Creek), are drunk, rude, unforgiving and blatantly jingoistic. They also appreciate great sport and are very gracious losers. Nothing to worry about.
Found this on the bbc board:
“Aubrey Joachim, the Bard, composes for us all”
It’s 96 all over again!
The year the Lankans cricket did reign It’s time to stop and watch once more The Sri Lankan Lion begin to roar!
While cricket is a gentleman’s game The cup final is but brawn against brain With the Aussies flexing their brutal might The Lankans brains will gently fight!
While woodchopper Ponting will cut and swing Gentle Mahela with his bat will sing Ricky will spit, and chew and weep When Jayawardene’s bat will paddle and sweep
McGrath will charge in cursing and swearing Murali will spin them laughing and smiling Symonds brades are certainly no match When swinger Malinga’s locks all eyes will catch
Sangakkara will, with legal ease Outsmart Gillie with taunt and tease Jayasuriya will cut, drive and chop Leaving Hayden in a heap of flop
With the sign of the cross, Vaas will start The Australian batting to take apart Tharanga will surely leave young Bracken Torn, tattered and oh so broken
So let cricket’s battle royal begin May the best team on the day win Let’s play the gentleman’s game in good spirit Let not cursing, swearing and sledging wreck it!
Play to start in 15 mins apparently (10:15 EDT).
Australia win the toss and will bat first. That’s annoying, especially for those of us who were looking forward to an afternoon of watching Malinga maul and Murali mystify mofos into frustration. Now my day is all messed up!
where is Mahroof? why is fernando there???
Siddhartha wins the alliteration World Cup!
Chin up friend. Overcast skies are good for Vaas and Malinga.
GO WARNAKULASURIYA PATABENDIGE USHANTHA JOSEPH CHAMINDA VAAS!
Good grief. Poor Chaminda must be quite befuddled when he has to fill in forms with only one line for his name.
damn! missed the unofficial SM meet up. someone take awesome pix like anna did.
good luck to the sri lankans.
The bar was mobbed with SM fans — they’re not letting any more people in…
Pictures! I demand pictures!
killed ’em. smashed them. completely took Lanka and the game to pieces.
I feel like becoming all Fukuyama about this and calling it the end of cricketing history as we know it.
well done boys!
Re: Shodan’s comment (#35) : Vov! I totally heart the W’s in the Sri Lankan names. BTW, would that indicate that Vaas is Christian? I am trying to understand whether it is part of the common pattern of Christians using local names in addition to Christian ones.
damn sri lanka lost…:(. But hey india sucked c–k this time so i guess its not all bad. 😀