England win but Moeen is left in a spin by versatile bowler Mendis
ENGLAND came up against one of the rarest sights in cricket during their first tour match in Sri Lanka — ambidextrous spinner Kamindu Mendis — but everything else about their comfortable win was firmly by the book.
Mendis (20) was lining up for a strong Sri Lankan Board XI in Colombo and showcased his incredible ability to deliver both right-arm off-breaks and slow left-armers, happily switching from one to the other mid-over with no discernible dip in quality.
Having already made a confident 61, the Galle native (above) proved himself a true all-rounder with his display of versatility but his eye-catching eight-over stint was not enough to distract England skipper Eoin Morgan or Joe Root.
The pair put on an unbroken stand of 174 for the third wicket, finishing not out on 91 and 90 respectively when bad light arrived to bring a 43-run victory via the DLS method.
England had earlier kept a home side featuring nine full internationals to 288 for nine, with spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to the fore.
Moeen claimed three for 42 as he reeled off 10 consecutive overs in sapping heat at the P Sara Stadium and is more than happy to stick to bowling with one action. “I’ve never seen someone do that live but it’s great and fantastic for the game,” he said of Mendis.
“It’s amazing he was so accurate with both arms and really it will be the way cricket is going to go. I’ve tried bowling left-arm but I was so bad... you just don’t have that same feel.
“You hear rumours about these guys being around but for him to bowl to that standard and be that good is fantastic.”
There was a first look at Olly Stone in a senior England shirt but despite showing good signs of pace and bounce his six overs were a peripheral part of the tale.
FROM next summer, Sunday afternoons just won’t have that familiar feeling that greeted the viewer whenever they tuned in to watch The Sunday Game, the flagship GAA programme that chronicled the Championship on RTÉ.
After 35 seasons and 77 All-Ireland finals, Michael Lyster will not be in the presenter’s chair, his last official duty being September’s All-Ireland final between winners Dublin and runners-up Tyrone.
The gig now belongs to Joanne Cantwell, and Lyster himself couldn’t be happier. This is not a man who is going to have to be escorted from his desk, sobbing.
“I am not going to do nothing going forward. Do I have a plan? Not really, no. I don’t,” he says in answer to suggestions he already has a presenting gig lined up once he is a free agent.
At 64, he is at retirement age anyway, but recent health issues have left him relishing the chance to turn off.
“In 2012, I suffered heart failure,” he recalls.
“What that means is your heart is in trouble and it is running out. After that event, I made all the changes that were required at the time in lifestyle and diet, exercise, I lost some weight and all that sort of thing.
“And then in 2015 when I had cardiac arrest, when that event happened, I can say to you that I was fitter than I had been for 20 years. And I was healthier than I had been for 20 years. So really, where do you go from there?”
Perhaps the most controversial moment in broadcasting came in 2013 when he found himself trying to calm pundit Joe Brolly down while mid-rant about a foul carried out by Tyrone’s Sean Cavanagh.
Reflecting on it now, Lyster felt it was off the wall.
“Brolly was right in the sense that it was a very cynical foul, all that kind of stuff. A bit shameful,” he explains.
“But then he went on a further rant, like, ‘Sean Cavanagh is not a man’, all this kind of stuff. What is that supposed to mean?
“So this was part of it. This was the balancing act between what was said and what happened.”
He continues: “You get into these difficult situations then. You are not trying to defend the action by confronting Brolly about it. What you are trying to do is confront his excessive analysis of it, if you like.
“That’s part of sport. That’s what it’s all about. If those kind of things didn’t happen, then people are not going to be half as interested in The Sunday Game. And let’s face it, people enjoy that kind of stuff.”
Married to Anne, Lyster has four children. Son Mark (30) works for the Revenue Commissioners, Rebecca (26) works in childcare and Helen (23) works for a hospitality company in England, while the youngest,
❝ I’m going to take a step back. I need the time after working through some tough health issues
Jack, is 22 and is in the Air Corps.
Lyster started off as a cub reporter in the Tuam Herald doing the usual rounds of obituaries, council meetings and so on, until they established a highly-successful music column that brought him wider attention.
“Not too many provincial newspapers in the ‘70s were doing something like that and it got traction a bit and became popular with both the readers and the record companies because they didn’t have the same outlets to promote music as they have now,” Lyster says.
From the Tuam Herald, he went straight to RTÉ. He started off doing the sports bulletins for 2FM and became a bit of a serial gig man, at one point covering the All-Ireland Disco Dancing Championships in Cork Opera House, until he vowed to dedicate himself to his new role as host of The Sunday Game, a role he inherited from Jim Carney, whom interestingly he replaced in the Tuam Herald.
Trying to assemble a ‘Match of the Day’ Sunday night highlights package was a helter-skelter experience.
“We didn’t have satellite links so if we covered a Munster Championship match, or the Connacht football final, the tape had to be flown back by helicopter,” he explains. “We used to go by helicopter, and