Ranatunga opens his big mouth

[Cooldude]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072718234.html

Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan skipper and chief Australian antagonist, has labelled Ricky Ponting's touring squad "unimpressive" and Shane Warne a potential liability, should the veteran leg spinner be named in the Test squad tomorrow.

Furthermore, Ranatunga believes Australian sides can be susceptible to capitulating when sledged by other teams - a tactic he claims to have used to great effect during his tenure as Sri Lankan captain.

When asked his thoughts on the current Australian squad, the rotund former batsman was blunt.

"I feel that they will struggle, especially under these conditions," Ranatunga said yesterday. "The present Australian team are unimpressive, when you look at the teams they used to have with the Waughs and Glenn McGrath.

"Sri Lankan sides are quite good with spin . . . and Warne might have an issue here.

"The Australian spin attack is not impressive at all when you see that we have Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) and others on our side.

"Warne has been out a long time and he might struggle to get through the Sri Lankan batting line-up.

"I don't know about this team, but we used to feel when we gave it (verbally) back to the Australians they would crumble. I was one person who was always against sledging, but that was how it seemed. I'm not sure what this (Sri Lankan) team will do."

Now a Colombo-based politician, Ranatunga is set to commence campaigning for the April 2 election - a ballot he believes is among the most important in his country's history. After two years of violence, political in-fighting and allegations of corruption, the Sri Lankan parliament was dissolved on February 8 and an election date set.

Though adamant the Australian team would be in no physical danger during the campaigning period, Ranatunga said a Sri Lankan victory in the one-day or Test series would greatly boost the morale of his weary country.

"This is a very crucial time in our country," Ranatunga said. "People are looking for a change because the last two years have been very bad. Now over the next couple of months we have the opportunity to get this country right.

"I think (a Sri Lankan cricket victory) would help . . . the cricket-loving public would be very happy to see their side win."

[Jim Boy]

Well you could hardly expect him to be saying Australia are going to be unbeatable. Anyway, he is probably pretty close to the mark where it comes to the bowlers. Warne is an an unknown and we would definitely be a better side with McGrath in the team. Not to mention the fact that this is being played in Sri Lanka, not a scene of some of Australia's greatest triumphs.

[norwester]

Little Johny Howard would be wrapt to have to have this guy on the front bench, gee only one series win to get the countries moral up?What next, the chucker is not a cheat, umpires dont matter and im running this game, not you.Take your ball and go home you rotund little man!

[harry_hawka]

Why is he a tool for saying these things? Sure, I don't like the guy either, but I agree with every single word written in that article. It's no secret Sri Lanka play spin well, and it's no secret that Warney will have a very hard task ahead of him, should he be picked in the test side. Also, there's many people who would agree that Australia's team isn't as strong as it used to be, what with McGrath injured and the Waughs retired.

If anything, I think Ranatunga has been leniant (to an extent) in this article. Saying that Warne MIGHT struggle is a very light way of putting it; if he was a tool he would've said that Warne has no hope of success. And lastly, I think he's in a fair position to comment on the way Australian's react to sledging. He sledged them on many occasions and would've seen the effects.

I think he's a tool, but by no means do I think he's a tool because of this article.

[Cooldude]

Originally posted by harry_hawka
Why is he a tool for saying these things? Sure, I don't like the guy either, but I agree with every single word written in that article. It's no secret Sri Lanka play spin well, and it's no secret that Warney will have a very hard task ahead of him, should he be picked in the test side. Also, there's many people who would agree that Australia's team isn't as strong as it used to be, what with McGrath injured and the Waughs retired.

If anything, I think Ranatunga has been leniant (to an extent) in this article. Saying that Warne MIGHT struggle is a very light way of putting it; if he was a tool he would've said that Warne has no hope of success. And lastly, I think he's in a fair position to comment on the way Australian's react to sledging. He sledged them on many occasions and would've seen the effects.

I think he's a tool, but by no means do I think he's a tool because of this article.

He's always a tool, not just because of this article, but saying this Aus squad is "unimpressive" is just pure stupidity when they're the #1 ranked ODI team in the world, Ranatunga has always been a self-indulgent, arrogant brat, this article proves that.

And I'm not surprised he kept saying Warnie would struggle, regardless of whether or not he's right, him and Warnie don't have a great history, and would love Warnie to take wickets in the tests and shove it up that little c*nt's mouth

[harry_hawka]

Originally posted by Cooldude
He's always a tool, not just because of this article, but saying this Aus squad is "unimpressive" is just pure stupidity when they're the #1 ranked ODI team in the world, Ranatunga has always been a self-indulgent, arrogant brat, this article proves that.

And I'm not surprised he kept saying Warnie would struggle, regardless of whether or not he's right, him and Warnie don't have a great history, and would love Warnie to take wickets in the tests and shove it up that little c*nt's mouth

Don't get me wrong, I too think he's a self-indulgent, arrogant brat, but I just think his comments in this article are fairly justified. Perhaps the "unimpressive" taunt is a bit much, but he was comparing that to previous sides, which were definitely better than the current line up. The article does prove that he's a cocky prick, and that his past rivalries with Warney and others haven't gone away, but I think this is only mild considering the tripe he has said in the past.

[Cooldude]

Originally posted by harry_hawka
Don't get me wrong, I too think he's a self-indulgent, arrogant brat, but I just think his comments in this article are fairly justified. Perhaps the "unimpressive" taunt is a bit much, but he was comparing that to previous sides, which were definitely better than the current line up. The article does prove that he's a cocky prick, and that his past rivalries with Warney and others haven't gone away, but I think this is only mild considering the tripe he has said in the past.

Well can't think any previous One Day sides can be better than this one, not talking about test squads, just One Day squads. This current ODI side is clearly the greatest of all time, and then he says it's "unimpressive"?

[Jimmy]

the lazy fat arrogant piece a crap that he is was never the captain of sri lanka, he considered himself the dictator of the team!!!

what he said went, or else!!!!

that is why sri lanka lost the services of asanka gurisingha and chandika haturasingha (the latter to a lesser extent) and a whole bunch of other cricketers too!!!

he was a prick, and not just to other countries teams, so i am not surprised about his comments!!!

stuff him - lets win em all!!!!!!!!!!

[noodnuts]

in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.

[Becker]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.

I've read some crap in my time, but this has to be in the top three. Stood up to a racist ICC? In case you haven't noticed, Sri Lanka have benefited by the racist attitudes of the ICC.
Fear Ranatunga? Don't think so ... he was an overweight joke who nobody ever took seriously.
BTW ... I loved the way he says he never took part in sledging .... I will possibly stop laughing in about an hour from now.
Rantaunga .... you are an idiot.

[DIG]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.

there's not one line in this post that i agree with. What a load of bollocks.

[Cooldude]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.



LMAO!!!! HAHA, this post has made my day.... :) :D :) :D

You're obviously a Sri Lankan, since at the other thread you think Murali's the greatest spinner of all time :) Your country are all self indulgent and call anyone else racist if anything doesn't go your way, and need cheats like Murali and Ranatunga to even compete at the highest level.

If you ain't a Sri Lankan, then you're some bloke that needs his brain checked out.... though I appreciate the laughter you brought me :D :D :D :D

[GOALden Hawk]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.

Biggest load of tripe to appear on the cricket board. Ever.

Feared Ranatunga? The only people that feared Ranatunga in Australia were the all you could eat restaurants.

Average batsman who relied on his more skilled teammates such as De Silva and Jayasuriya to hide his deficiences (such as he was a fat **** who couldn't run). In 12 Tests against Australia he could manage only 1 century. And even in the match he scored that ton he went out for a duck in the 2nd innings to help contribute to Sri Lanka's collapse and shock loss in Colombo.

Yes, what a great captain. Racially abusing the Australians, leading his side off because they didn't agree with the umpires decision, ball tampering. Fantastic leadership. :rolleyes:

And he so mentally disintegrated the Aussies didn't he.

Let's have a look at Ranatunga's record as captain against Australia:
Tests
P: 7
W: 0
D: 3
L: 4

ODIs
P: 22
W: 8
L: 14

Arjuna Ranatunga was an average cricketer with a big mouth and an even bigger gut.

[Rodion]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player, and this is no exception. judging by the antagonistic posts against ranatunga, it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.

and who could blame them, because ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all time. no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefully as ranatunga, no one else has so completely mentally disintegrated the aussies.....supposed hard men of world cricket.

and most importantly, no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. vale ranatunga, i dips me lid to you.

Arjuna Ranatunga was, and remains, a fat, arrogant tosspot. As a player he could clobber the ball a bit but had to have a runner because he was always "injured", ie. too fat to move. As GOALdy pointed out, he never played in a winning test against Australia so why exactly should we fear him?

Loathing and contempt do not require fear. We hate the bastard because he is a conceited cheat.

[DaveW]

Originally posted by Jim Boy
Well you could hardly expect him to be saying Australia are going to be unbeatable. Anyway, he is probably pretty close to the mark where it comes to the bowlers. Warne is an an unknown and we would definitely be a better side with McGrath in the team. Not to mention the fact that this is being played in Sri Lanka, not a scene of some of Australia's greatest triumphs. Oh please. If McGrath was likely to be picked and Warne was left at home, he would say McGrath is an unknown and Warne's absence weakens the side.

[pazza]

Ranatunga opens his big mouth...

And puts on 20 kilos after sticking his foot in it.

And all of you missed such a golden opportunity for a one liner...shocking:D

[scmods]

Originally posted by noodnuts
in any sport, the fans always hate the opposition's best player
let me see... who are some of my favourite players... Lara, Tendulkar, Jayasuriya...
it's obvious that aussie cricket fans feared him.
Fear?? No. Total lack of respect?? Certainly.

ranatunga will go down in history as the greatest cricket captain of all timeer, no. he won't even go down as Sri Lanka's greatest.

no one else has imposed his personality and will onto a match as forcefullythe way he "imposed" himself was not something to be proud of.

no one else has stood up to corrupt umpires and the racist icc attitudes like ranatunga. care to provide some examples? all i can think of is walking off when he didn't like the umpires decision. and even then he didn't have the courage to go through with it.

[IceTemple]

:D :D :D priceless reading, especially noodnuts :D :D :D

[Cooldude]

Originally posted by IceTemple
:D :D :D priceless reading, especially noodnuts :D :D :D

Yep, after writing that post, noodnuts should change his nick to numbnuts

[Jim Boy]

Originally posted by DaveW
Oh please. If McGrath was likely to be picked and Warne was left at home, he would say McGrath is an unknown and Warne's absence weakens the side.

Of course he would and he would be right, as it's simplay a fact that Australia with a fit and in-from McGrath and a Warne who is known to be in form is a much tougher prospect than a team with no (or just returned from injury) McGrath and a Warne who may or may not regain his former touch.

Personally I'm pretty confident we will win and win well through sheer bludgeoning of runs, but I'd be even more confident if we had a our former strength in bowling.

[ViperV10]

Originally posted by pazza
And all of you missed such a golden opportunity for a one liner...shocking:D

At least we know he wont be running for president.....:D :D :D

[Ray Nolan]

Originally posted by GOALden Hawk
And he so mentally disintegrated the Aussies didn't he.
Let's have a look at Ranatunga's record as captain against Australia:
ODIs
P: 22
W: 8
L: 14


That record means nothing really because he did mentally disintegrate the Aussies in the one game that counted though didn't he? If I recall correctly Ranatunga and his men gave Australia a hiding on that night in Lahore ...

[Cooldude]

Originally posted by Ray Nolan
That record means nothing really because he did mentally disintegrate the Aussies in the one game that counted though didn't he? If I recall correctly Ranatunga and his men gave Australia a hiding on that night in Lahore ...

Who cares, we went on the win the next two WCs, and what happened to Ranatunga at the 99 WC? Ha, that fat joker

[EagleBlue]

RANATUNGA RETURNS SERVE

FORMER Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga – a long-time sparring partner of Australian leg spinner Shane Warne today hit back at the Victorian for making fun of his size and eating habits.

"Arjuna, he's probably slotting himself around at 150 kilos at the moment, is he? Swallowed a sheep or something like that," Warne said at a recent press conference.

Speaking from his home in Colombo, Ranatunga returned serve.

"If I swallow a lamb or a goat, it is none of his business," Ranatunga said.

"But I must tell him that I don't swallow those pills and blame my mother for it," Ranatunga added, referring to Warne's ban last year for taking a banned diuretic.

Warne is back in Australia's Test team for the Sri Lankan cricket tour, 10 days after returning from a one-year suspension.

He is scheduled to arrive in Colombo on Friday.

Warne, 34, tested positive for a diuretic on January 22, 2003.

He said he was given the tablet by his mother Brigitte.

"I am fine and fit at 95 kilograms," Ranatunga said.

"It is better to swallow a sheep or a goat than swallow what he has been swallowing."

Ranatunga, who retired from international cricket in August, 2000, won a seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament in the 2001 elections.

He is re-contesting his Colombo seat after the Parliament was dissolved and new elections ordered for April 2.

"I am certainly going to meet him," he said of Warne's visit to Sri Lanka, where he will join the Australian squad as it contests three Tests from March 8 to March 25.

"I may even invite him to attend one of my campaign meetings. Though I know I may risk losing some votes.

"I, however, respect Warne as a player. He is great."

Ranatunga played 93 Tests and 269 one-day internationals after his debut in 1982, scoring 5105 and 7456 runs, respectively.

He also led Sri Lanka to win the 1996 World Cup.

Warne, who has not played a Test match since December 2002, is Australia's leading all-time wicket-taker 491 dismissals in 107 tests.

[EagleBlue]

Originally posted by EagleBlue
RANATUNGA RETURNS SERVE

FORMER Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga – a long-time sparring partner of Australian leg spinner Shane Warne today hit back at the Victorian for making fun of his size and eating habits.

"Arjuna, he's probably slotting himself around at 150 kilos at the moment, is he? Swallowed a sheep or something like that," Warne said at a recent press conference.

Speaking from his home in Colombo, Ranatunga returned serve.

"If I swallow a lamb or a goat, it is none of his business," Ranatunga said.

"But I must tell him that I don't swallow those pills and blame my mother for it," Ranatunga added, referring to Warne's ban last year for taking a banned diuretic.

Warne is back in Australia's Test team for the Sri Lankan cricket tour, 10 days after returning from a one-year suspension.

He is scheduled to arrive in Colombo on Friday.

Warne, 34, tested positive for a diuretic on January 22, 2003.

He said he was given the tablet by his mother Brigitte.

"I am fine and fit at 95 kilograms," Ranatunga said.

"It is better to swallow a sheep or a goat than swallow what he has been swallowing."

Ranatunga, who retired from international cricket in August, 2000, won a seat in the Sri Lankan Parliament in the 2001 elections.

He is re-contesting his Colombo seat after the Parliament was dissolved and new elections ordered for April 2.

"I am certainly going to meet him," he said of Warne's visit to Sri Lanka, where he will join the Australian squad as it contests three Tests from March 8 to March 25.

"I may even invite him to attend one of my campaign meetings. Though I know I may risk losing some votes.

"I, however, respect Warne as a player. He is great."

Ranatunga played 93 Tests and 269 one-day internationals after his debut in 1982, scoring 5105 and 7456 runs, respectively.

He also led Sri Lanka to win the 1996 World Cup.

Warne, who has not played a Test match since December 2002, is Australia's leading all-time wicket-taker 491 dismissals in 107 tests.


30-15. Ranatunga on serve :D

[Cooldude]

Who knows what Ranatunga swallows? Maybe something similar to what Warne swallowed, but we'd never know, would we? His country don't even have drug tests, and knowing Ranatunga's powers around the place, it'd be covered up pretty nicely.

But Ranatunga would certainly want what Warnie swallowed. 95 kilos!!!! Holy cow! Give your mouth a rest or you'd get a heart attack, fat dude.

[The Candy Man]

Originally posted by ViperV10
At least we know he wont be running for president.....:D :D :D

The only time we've seen Ranatunga running for anything, it was the dinner bell.

[Freo Big Fella]

"You don't get a runner for being a fat c*nt." - Ian Healy


Says it all about Arjuna really:D.

[thewhippersnapper]

the rotund former batsman

lol.

Ranatunga is an idiot, and knows nothing about the Australian team. Our team is un impressive? Then what are they? SHIAT.

Any other country in Cricket would love some of our players in there team.

[pazza]

He's a parliamentarian?

Wouldn't want to be near the dining room!

[The Candy Man]

Originally posted by pazza
He's a parliamentarian?

Wouldn't want to be near the dining room!

Now I know what they mean when they say parliamentarians have their snouts in the trough :D :D

[Foxtrot]

Originally posted by Cooldude
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072718234.html

Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan skipper and chief Australian antagonist, has labelled Ricky Ponting's touring squad "unimpressive" and Shane Warne a potential liability, should the veteran leg spinner be named in the Test squad tomorrow.

..."Sri Lankan sides are quite good with spin . . . and Warne might have an issue here.
..."Warne has been out a long time and he might struggle to get through the Sri Lankan batting line-up.

I hope for his party's sake Arjuna's political instincts are more finely tuned than his cricket previews are these days!

[Brett Li]

Come on mate, hardly unique stuff at the start of a series. Strange that you get all snotty just because he's trash talking the current aussie side, when a number of your leading personalities are famous for the very same thing.. Campo, Ian Chappell, Lillie and Thommo, Bobby Simpson, Bob Dwyer, Eddie Jones, Phil Gould, etc...

At least the bloke played a fair few tests and internationals and has been a world champion, which can't be said for anyone living in my street........

[Becker]

We can all look forward to Arjuna's next article on how Sri Lanka failed to handle an unimpressive opponent and their inability to cope with a "liabilty" in Shane Warne.

To Brett Li, Arjuna did nothing to endear himself to the Australian public and will therefore always cop criticism from us .... especially when he is wrong, as he usually is.

[Foxtrot]

Originally posted by Brett Li
Come on mate, hardly unique stuff at the start of a series. Strange that you get all snotty just because he's trash talking the current aussie side, when a number of your leading personalities are famous for the very same thing.. Campo, Ian Chappell, Lillie and Thommo, Bobby Simpson, Bob Dwyer, Eddie Jones, Phil Gould, etc...

At least the bloke played a fair few tests and internationals and has been a world champion, which can't be said for anyone living in my street........

Don't worry Brett - I happily concede Australia has more than it's fair share of current and ex sporting big mouths and I am just as amused when they put their foot in it.

I can assure you I'm not "getting all snotty" about it.

I might also add that the guys in your street probably have a similar ammount of experience in predicting the future as me, Arjuna and the other clowns on your list.

[Joffaboy]

Rule No 1 - never listen to a racist, and this ex captain of Sri lanka fits into that category. Damned by his own words in 1999.

[NICK THE PIE MAN]

Originally posted by Cooldude
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072718234.html

Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan skipper and chief Australian antagonist, has labelled Ricky Ponting's touring squad "unimpressive" and Shane Warne a potential liability, should the veteran leg spinner be named in the Test squad tomorrow.

"Warne has been out a long time and he might struggle to get through the Sri Lankan batting line-up.


Yeah great call mate.