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	An Advertisement   There is a popular myth in the west that the eating of curries is bad to your system and health, because of the variety of pungent spices and condiments used in the mouth watery traditional Sri Lankan dishes.  On the contrary, curries are actually good for the health, especially digestion, if prepared with the ingredients discovered and used by the ancients.  Most spices and condiments used in curries are reservatives, some have antiseptic value, others are carminatives, and still others are rich in natural oils, vitamins and minerals.  However, incorrect methods of cleaning and cooking, will destroy these food values and also vary the taste of meals.  The food can be made either hot and spicy or very mild, to suit individual tastes.  But the secret to a good curry is the mix that goes in to make the "curry powder" and how and when it is used in cooking. While you are in Sri Lanka,  why not enter the royal setting of a charming restaurant in the city of Colombo itself called " RAJA BOJUN ",  managed by the reputed Ceylinco Hotels Limited.  It will certainly be an unforgettable journey that will remain "down your memory lane",  through a series of traditionally prepared Sri Lankan Dishes which will amaze your taste buds.   It's open from 10 a.m. to 12 mid night on all seven days of the week   Buffet: Lunch Rs. 350/-, Dinner Rs. 475/-   CEYLINCO SEYLAN TOWERS No: 90,  GALLE ROAD.  COLOMBO - 03 Managed by CEYLINCO HOTELS LTD   For early reservations  Telephone:  4716171;  4716169;  2452657;  2452658 Email: chl@tss.lk

	ENGLAND - SRI LANKA TEST SERIES VITAL STATISTICS   l           TEST SERIES  BREAKDOWN:  (a).   England  have  hosted Sri Lanka for a total of  7 TESTS.  England had won 04, Sri Lanka 01 and Drawn 02.  (b). Sri Lanka have hosted  England  for a total of  5 TESTS.           England had won 03 and Sri Lanka 02.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Grand Total    =   12 TESTS have been played between the two   Countries. England had won 07 and Sri Lanka 03. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ·         HIGHEST  TOTAL MADE:  IN  ENGLAND:    England 545 / 10 (1st) at Edgbaston in 2002.     Sri Lanka 591 / 10 (1st) at London Oval in 1998. IN  SRI LANKA:   England 387 / 10 (1st) at Asgiriya in 2001.     Sri Lanka 470 / 5  (1st) at  Galle in 2001    ·            LOWEST  TOTAL MADE:  IN  ENGLAND:    England  181 / 10 (2nd ) at the Oval in 1998                                Sri Lanka (1st) 162 / 10 at Edgbaston in 2002. IN  SRI LANKA:   England 189 / 10 (2nd) at Galle in 2001.       Sri Lanka 81 / 10 (2nd) at the SSC in 2001.     ·            BEST  INDIVIDUAL SCORE:  IN  ENGLAND:    Graham Gooch 174 in England 2nd Innings ( 329 min., 19 x 4s) at Lords in 1991.       Sanath Jayasuriya 213 ( 346 min., 33 x 4s, 1 x 6s) at the Oval in 1998. IN  SRI LANKA:   Robin Smith 128 ( 448 min., 20 x 4s) at the SSC  in 1993.       Marvan Atapattu 201 n.o. ( 684 min., 18 x 4s) at Galle in 2001.    ·            BEST  INDIVIDUAL BOWLING:  IN  ENGLAND:     Muttaih Muralitharan  had  7 / 155 (1st)  off 59. 3 Overs and  9 / 65 (2nd)  off 54.2 Overs at the Oval in 1998 i.e. Match bag of 16 / 220 Philip DeFreitas had 7 / 70 in Sri Lanka 1st Innings at Lords  in 1991 August. IN  SRI LANKA:   Derrick Underwood had 5/28 (1st) and 3 / 67 (2nd) in 1982.  Match bag 8 / 95 John Embury had 6 / 33 in SL 2nd Innings at the P.Sara Stadium in82 Chaminda Vaas had 6 / 73 (1st) in 2001 at the SSC   ·            MOST RUNS IN THE TEST SERIES IN ENGLAND:                                                  IN        R         HS       AV.      100       IN   =  Innings             Aravinda de Silva                 12        455      152      37.91     02      R    =  Total Rns.   Mark Trescothic                   05        354      161      70.80     01      HS   =  High.Scr. Mahela Jayawardena.           07        281      117     40.14     01      AV.  = Av. Alex Stewart.                         08        353      123      44.12     02      100  = No/100s Marvan Atapattu            08      301    ?        37.62   01    ·            MOST RUNS IN THE TEST SERIES IN SRI LANKA:                                                  IN        R         HS       AV.      100       IN   =  Innings            Aravinda de Silva                 07        284      80        40.57     00      R    =  Tot. Rns.   Graham Thorpe.                   06        269      113*    67.25     01      HS = High. Scr. Mahela Jayawardena            05        262      101      52.40     01      Av   =  Average. Mark Trescothic.                  06        248      122      41.33     01      100  = No of 100s Marvan Atapattu            05      219    201*   54.75   01   l      MOST WICKETS IN THE TEST SERIES IN SRI LANKA:                                                              I           R        W         AV.      Sanath Jayasuriya                             06         236       16         14.75    I    =  Innings   Chaminda Vaas.                                06         244       16         15.25    R    =  Runs Darren Gough.                               05        274      14      19.57    W    =  Wickets Muttaih Muralitharan.                       06         421       14         30.07    AV.  =   (R / W) Andrew Caddick.                               05         274       09         25.00   l      HOW THEY FARED IN THE TEST SERIES IN ENGLAND:                                                              I           R        W         AV.      Muttiah Muralitharan                        08         690       29         23.79      I    =  Innings   Chaminda Vaas.                                06         434       04       108.50      R    =  Runs  Sanath Jayasuriya.                       12        276      02     138.00      W    =  Wickets   Andrew Caddick.                               07         227       07         32.43      AV.  =   (R / W)    Darren Gough.                                  03         102       02         51.00

	Complacence has No-Room in Test-Match Cricket.   -- A Bitter Lesson Taught --     What bitter lesson to prove this than what Sri Lanka learnt from the 3rd Tests against England at the SSC Ground in Colombo, with the 5-day test-match finishing dramatically in just three days, 15th, 16th and 17th of March 2001, giving England a 4 wicket victory and also a 2-1 Series win.   DAY 1. Sri Lanka batted themselves into a strong position of 203 / 3.  The middle order then failed to capitalise on this excellent position to frivolously surrender their hard-fought advantage, losing four wickets for 14 runs to finish the day on 221 for seven. Previously in that Test Series, it has been the fast bowlers that have kept England's hopes alive, as they claimed 18 of the 25 Sri Lanka wickets to fall in the earlier first two Test Matches. But at the SSC that day, the spinners finally played their part. Ashley Giles and Robert Croft bowled 58 of the 91 overs, both conceded less than two runs per over and took five precious wickets between them.   DAY 2. England dominated the morning as they efficiently brushed aside the Sri Lankan tail in the first 30 minutes of play.  Sri Lanka 1st Innings:  241 / 10 / 380 min. / 101 overs Mahela Jayawardena     71 (152 min., 188b, 8 x 4s, 1 x 6s)  Robert  Croft  56 / 4 / 32 Ov.   Ashley Giles  59 / 2 / 34 Ov. England then batted until lunch 44 /0, but Sri Lanka's spinners then swung the initiative their way as they took four wickets for 73 between lunch and tea to make them 117 / 4 in 190 minutes at Tea. Finally, Graham Thorpe rescued the innings in the evening, adding 84 runs with Michael Vaughan, to leave England 66 runs behind Sri Lanka, at 175/4. DAY 3. On this frantic third day, 22 wickets fell to give a remarkable three-day victory over Sri Lanka with a 4-wicket win.  It also enabled England to wrap-up their fourth consecutive series win, and their first ever series victory over Sri Lanka. Play didn't begin until 11am as condensation from the covers was found on the pitch. Sri Lanka soon grasped back the initiative that morning, taking England's last six wickets for 74 runs to make them 248/9 at Lunch and soon after bowled them out for 249 conceding only a marginal 8 run lead.  Chaminda Vaas was the chief destroyer in running through the England middle-order with some high quality left-arm swing bowling. England 1st Innings:   249 / 10 / 432 min. / 109.5 overs Graham Thorpe     113 not out (267 min., 330b, 11 x 4s.)  Chaminda Vaas       73 / 6 / 27.5 Overs.   What followed was probably the most exhilarating, exhausting and unbelievable cricket we have known. Hardly a minute went by without something happening that needed serious attention from all TV viewers and especially the spectators at the Ground.   In their second Innings Sri Lanka within a period of 2 hours and 15 minutes, capitulated in spineless fashion on that afternoon. With the new ball Darren Gough trying to take the wicket all the time, proved to be dangerous. His variations the bouncer, Yorker, off-cutter and the reverse swing all made life miserable to earlier batsmen. At first, three wickets fell in nine balls to make them 24 / 3.  They then were deep in the mire as England took four more wickets in that afternoon session of the deciding Test to reduce Sri Lanka to 71 / 7  at tea.  Shortly afterwards they were bowled out for a lowly 81, the second lowest total in Sri Lanka's 19 year Test history, with Ashley Giles the tormentor capturing 4 for 11.  Sri Lanka 2nd  Innings:  81 / 10 / 131 min. / 28.1 overs Sanath Jayasuriya  23    Aravinda de Silva  23 Darren Gough   23 / 3 / 6 Ov.   Ashley Giles  11 / 4 / 9.1 Ov. Ashley Giles made the winning hit soon after 6 p.m. in semi-darkness. England 2nd  Innings:  74 / 6 / 100 min. / 24.3 overs Graham Thorpe       32 n. o. (49 minutes, 65 balls, 2 x 4s) Sanath Jayasuriya   24 / 4 / 8.3 Overs.   Captain Nasser Hussain was not the only person who didn't expect such an unbelievable England victory on Saturday itself. The thousands of English spectators were definitely not expecting to celebrate a Test and series victory that evening.   The fans swarmed around the prize-ceremony after the team had done a mini lap of honour to acknowledge the majority English crowd. The cheering and celebrations continued as the Barmy Army sung their many songs to the English balcony and players threw out their caps and sweaty shirts to the fans below.   The songs were reported to have been heard well into the Colombo night at various drinking establishments around the city. The night began in the simple surroundings of the Ex-Serviceman's Institute with its plastic chairs and bemused locals. It ended in the rather more salubrious comforts of the Echelon Pub in the Hilton where those present were treated to a singing performance by the man-of-the-series, Darren Gough.