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Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Ashraful (মোহাম্মদ আশরাফুল; born 7 July 1984) is a Bangladeshi cricketer, who has represented the Bangladesh men's national team.

Between 2007 and 2009, Ashraful captained his country in 13 Tests, and 38 One Day Internationals (ODIs) of which Bangladesh won eight. Ashraful has scored the fastest fifty in Test and ODI for any Bangladeshi cricketer.

Ashraful also played domestic cricket for the Dhaka Division cricket team in Bangladesh's domestic one-day and first-class competitions, captaining both sides on occasion.

In 2014 the Bangladesh Cricket Board banned him for eight years after he was found guilty of match fixing. The ban was later reduced to 5 years with 2 years suspended. At the end of the suspension, Ashraful returned to playing domestic cricket.

Debut Season 2000-01
Ashraful made his debut on 22 November 2000, playing for the Dhaka Metropolis cricket team. He opened the batting, scoring 41 and 6; Ashraful also claimed five wickets for 59 runs in the first innings with his leg-spin bowling. Three days later Ashraful made his list A debut, again playing for Dhaka Metropolis. Opening the batting, he scored 22 and took two wickets as his team won the match. Ashraful scored his maiden first-class century in his second match, making 101 against the Khulna cricket team. The seven wickets Ashraful took for 99 runs in a match against Chittagong Division in January 2001 remain his best bowling figures. Over the course of the 2000–01 season, he played ten first-class matches – scoring 585 runs at an average of 30.78, including two centuries, and taking 39 wickets at an average of 25.48, including three five-wicket hauls. He also played nine list A matches, scoring 85 runs and taking four wickets.

In November 2006, he set a league record score of 263, against Chittagong Division for Bangladeshi first-class cricket – although this record has since been broken by Raqibul Hasan.

Sonargaon Cricketers, a team in the Dhaka Premier League for the 2005–06 season, signed Ashraful and Mohammad Rafique. The team lost four of its first five games and sought a change of leadership in an attempt to improve its results. He later played for Rainhill CC in a local cricket league in England.

2008-09 Season
On 6 February 2009, Ashraful took part in the player auction for the 2009 Indian Premier League. The Mumbai Indians bought him for his base price of US$75,000, but he only played one game and scored just 2 runs.

2011-12 Season
He returned to domestic cricket in 2011, scoring a century for Dhaka Division in the opening match of the National Cricket League. Dhaka won the one-day competition, and Ashraful, who was the second-highest run-getter with 331 runs, also claimed 7 wickets in 7 matches, and was named player of the tournament.

For the 2011–12 season, the National Cricket League of Bangladesh was expanded from six first-class teams to eight. Dhaka Metropolis and Rangpur Division were the new teams, with Ashraful captaining the former. Although he scored his first first-class century in over a year during the competition, Ashraful was dropped from the ODI squad to face Pakistan in December.

During a match in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in January 2012, Ashraful was involved in an incident with Tamim Iqbal. This led to the latter being banned for one match and fined.

2017-18 Season
He was the leading run-scorer for Kala Bagan Krira Chakra in the 2017–18 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, with 665 runs in 13 matches. He was scheduled to play for Minister Group Rajshahi in Bangabandhu T20 cup.

Dhaka Gladiators
The Bangladesh Cricket Board founded the six-team Bangladesh Premier League in 2012, a twenty20 tournament that was to be held in February of that year. The BCB made Ashraful the 'icon player' for the Dhaka Gladiators. Dhaka won the tournament, and in twelve matches Ashraful scored a total of 258 runs, with an average of 28.66, making him the BPL's second highest run-scorer amongst Bangladeshi batsmen.

During the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League, Ashraful scored 358 runs in 14 matches, with an average of 29.83 per match. He also scored a century (103* off 58) against the Khulna Royal Bengals.

Debut
Ashraful made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 11 April 2001, where he scored only 9 runs and Bangladesh lost the match by 36 runs. He took his first international wicket in the match, that of Andy Flower. Ashraful made his Test debut on 6 September 2001 against Sri Lanka. He scored highest in each inning, and although Bangladesh slumped to an innings defeat, Ashraful scored 114, becoming the youngest player to score a Test century, breaking Mushtaq Mohammad's record. As a result, he was named man of the match. He was the second Bangladesh player to score a Test century on debut after Aminul Islam Bulbul in 2000 during Bangladesh's first Test. Trevor Chappell, a former coach of Bangladesh's national side, commented that: "his determination, commitment and attention to detail would put a mature and an established person to shame. The manner he concentrates on his batting made me believe that the lad is destined to have a long cricketing journey." Following Ashraful's debut century, however, a prolonged string of poor performances resulted in him being dropped from the national team.

2003 - 2005. Patchy form
Ashraful performed poorly in his first World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, scoring 71 runs at an average of 14.20, with Bangladesh being eliminated during the group stage.

In February and March 2004, Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe. At the time, Zimbabwe was without many of their senior players, but the home team still won the Test series 1–0 and the ODI series 2–1. The solitary ODI victory was Bangladesh's first international win since defeating Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup; Ashraful scored 51 runs from 32 balls in the match and was named man of the match. Ashraful played with his team against India in December 2004 and scored his second century, 158 not out, claiming the record for the highest individual Test score by a Bangladeshi. India's team captain, Sourav Ganguly, described the innings as one of the best Test innings he had seen.

In May and June 2005, Bangladesh toured England for a two-Test series against the hosts and a triangular ODI tournament with England and Australia. Although they won just one ODI out of six, their solitary victory against Australia was described by Wisden as "the biggest upset in one-day international history". Ashraful scored 100, which rendered his team victorious, and was named Man of the Match. He scored two more half-centuries in the series, finishing with 259 runs at an average of 43.16, making him third-highest run scorer in the series.

2006 - 2007. Patchy form continues
In 2006 he scored his third century, with 136 runs during the first test against Sri Lanka. Ashraful was selected for the Asian squad in the inaugural Afro-Asia Cup. With bowler Mashrafe Mortaza, he was one of two Bangladeshi players in the 15-man squad. Ashraful played in two of the matches, but failed to score a run. The opening match of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in February and March 2006 was played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, the first international match hosted at that stadium. He scored 136 runs in the first innings, his third Test century; he received the man of the match award, although Sri Lanka won by eight wickets. Bangladesh lost the second Test by ten wickets, with Ashraful managing 37 runs in the match and claiming the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka eventually won the series 2–0.

The West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup in March and April; Ashraful was included in the 15-man squad led by Habibul Bashar. Bangladesh made it to the second stage of the competition and finished seventh place. Along the way, the team tried to knock India out of the tournament. Ashraful scored 87 runs from 83 balls against South Africa in the course of Bangladesh's 67-run victory. His innings was the highest score by a Bangladeshi player in the World Cup and he was named man of the match for his performance. With 216 runs from 9 matches at an average of 36, Ashraful was Bangladesh's highest run-scorer in the tournament.

Captaincy (2007–2009)
Shortly after the World Cup, India toured Bangladesh for two Test matches and three ODIs. During the second Test, which Bangladesh lost by multiple innings and 239 runs, Ashraful scored the fastest half-century in Test cricket history in terms of time (taking 27 minutes), which was also the second-fastest in terms of balls faced (scored off 26 balls). Aside from the 67 innings he scored in one of the fastest half-centuries in Test cricket history, Ashraful managed only five more runs in the series; in two ODIs, he scored 41 runs. After defeats in both series, Habibul Bashar stepped down as Bangladesh's captain; Mohammad Ashraful was appointed the team captain on 2 June 2007. At the time, he had played 35 Tests and 101 ODIs and had some experience with captaincy at the domestic level. Aged 22, he was the second-youngest international captain at the time.

Ashraful and Mortaza took on these roles from the start of the Sri Lanka tour in June 2007. Coach Dav Whatmore had declined to extend his contract and Shaun Williams took over as coach on a temporary basis. Bangladesh lost all three Tests in terms of innings. In the second Test, they registered their lowest score in innings (62). Ashraful scored the most runs (218) for Bangladesh at an average of 43. In the second Test, Ashraful and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim scored 191 combined for the sixth wicket, and Ashraful scored 129 "not out". Bangladesh also lost the three-match ODI series that followed 3–0. In September 2007, South Africa hosted the ICC World Twenty20. Victory against the West Indies in the first round was enough to ensure Bangladesh's progression to the second round, although they failed to win any of the other matches. In the match against the West Indies, Ashraful scored a record-breaking half-century, with 20 ball deliveries. At the time, it was the fastest T20I half-century in terms of balls faced; he held the record for six days before it was broken by Yuvraj Singh in a match against England.

During the first Test match of South Africa's 2007–08 tour, Ashraful dismissed AB de Villiers in an unusual fashion: after the ball left his hand it bounced twice, at which point de Villiers attempted to hit the ball but instead sent it straight up. Ashraful caught the ball and, despite de Villiers standing his ground, umpire Steve Bucknor confirmed the dismissal. The dismissal was legal per Section 6 of Law 24 of the Laws of Cricket, which states the ball must bounce more than twice or roll along the ground to be deemed a no-ball.

After an extended run of poor form and Bangladesh's first-round exit in the 2009 World Twenty20, Ashraful was dismissed as captain in June 2009. He was replaced by Mashrafe Mortaza for the tour of the West Indies, with Shakib Al Hasan as vice-captain. It was hoped that Ashraful could improve his performance in the international game following his dismissal as captain.

Ashraful later captained Bangladesh's team again at the 2010 Asian Games in late November. They played Afghanistan in the final; Bangladesh won by five wickets, securing the country's first gold medal at the Asian Games.

Post-captaincy (2009–present)
Ashraful was dropped when England toured Bangladesh in February and March 2010. He was recalled for Bangladesh's tour of England two months later. He struggled in June's 2010 Asia Cup, and was subsequently dropped; he was recalled for the ODI leg of the England tour due to injuries to the squad. After a poor run of form, Ashraful was dropped from the ODI series against New Zealand in October 2010. Though he was out of the squad, the following month when the BCB announced its central contracts for the coming year Ashraful was one of six players given the highest level of contract (A+).

The West Indies toured Bangladesh in October, but after scoring just two runs, Ashraful was dropped from the Test squad.

Shortly after winning the Asian Games in 2010, Ashraful was recalled to Bangladesh's full squad for the five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in December. Though they lost the first match, Bangladesh went on to win the next three, with one called off due to rain, and defeated Zimbabwe 3–1. Ashraful played one match, scoring six runs.

He was included in Bangladesh's 15-man squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, co-hosted by Bangladesh along with India and Sri Lanka. In three matches, Ashraful scored only 18 runs and was dropped from the squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia that followed.

In and Out from team
In April he captained Bangladesh A on a tour of South Africa and his performance, including striking a one-day century, earned him a recall to the senior squad to face Zimbabwe in August. In the one-off Test, Ashraful scored the most runs for his team with a total of 112, including a half-century, even though Bangladesh was defeated. Bangladesh lost the following ODI series against Zimbabwe 3–2. Bangladesh's batsmen struggled early in the series, and Ashraful scored 23 runs during three matches.

He was retained for the Test side for the Pakistan series in 2012, but was dropped after the first Test, in which he scored only one run. When the BCB announced its central contracts for 2012, Ashraful's A+ contract was not renewed.

In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Chittagong Vikings team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.

Controversies
In March 2008, Ashraful slapped a fan who called him "rubbish" while he was training at an indoor stadium in Dhaka. This took place at a time when Ashraful was being heavily criticised in the media for his poor performance and questionable tactics on the field as captain. The BCB fined him 25% of his salary for the month of March 2008 for violating the Code of Conduct. He later apologised for the incident.

Spot-fixing controversy
Mohammad Ashraful admitted to spot-fixing during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League. The Bangladesh Cricket Board suspended him from the game temporarily until the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit submitted its report on its investigations into the fixing. The alleged fixing involved a match between the Dhaka Gladiators and the Chittagong Vikings during the second edition of the BPL on 2 February 2013. The then-28-year-old Ashraful was allegedly paid about $12,800 to lose the match, but the cheque he was given later bounced, according to the local media. He was also allegedly involved in fixing another match 10 days later, against the Barisal Burners, which his team lost by seven wickets. In June 2014, the Bangladesh Cricket Board found him responsible and banned him for eight years, which was later reduced to five years (with two years suspended).

In August 2016, Ashraful's ban was partially lifted, allowing him to play in domestic cricket in Bangladesh. He became eligible to play in international fixtures in 2018. In 2022, Ashraful played for Lullington Park Cricket Club in the Derbyshire County Cricket League.

title: Mohammad Ashraful


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Naval aviation

Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.

Naval aviation units are typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based aircraft must be sturdy enough to withstand the demands of carrier operations. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy and flexible enough to come to a sudden stop on a pitching flight deck; they typically have robust folding mechanisms that allow higher numbers of them to be stored in below-decks hangars and small spaces on flight decks. These aircraft are designed for many purposes, including air-to-air combat, surface attack, submarine attack, search and rescue, matériel transport, weather observation, reconnaissance and wide area command and control duties.

Naval helicopters can be used for many of the same missions as fixed-wing aircraft while operating from aircraft carriers, helicopter carriers, destroyers and frigates.

Establishment
Early experiments on the use of kites for naval reconnaissance took place in 1903 at Woolwich Common for the Admiralty. Samuel Franklin Cody demonstrated the capabilities of his 8-foot-long black kite and it was proposed for use as either a mechanism to hold up wires for wireless communications or as a manned reconnaissance device that would give the viewer the advantage of considerable height.

In 1908 Prime Minister H. H. Asquith approved the formation of an "Aerial Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence" to investigate the potential for naval aviation. In 1909 this body accepted the proposal of Captain Reginald Bacon made to the First Sea Lord Sir John Fisher that rigid airships should be constructed for the Royal Navy to be used for reconnaissance. This resulted in the construction of Mayfly in 1909, the first air component of the navy to become operational, and the genesis of modern naval aviation.

The first pilots for the Royal Navy were transferred from the Royal Aero Club in June 1910 along with two aircraft with which to train new pilots, and an airfield at Eastchurch became the Naval Flying School, the first such facility in the world. Two hundred applications were received, and four were accepted: Lieutenant C R Samson, Lieutenant A M Longmore, Lieutenant A Gregory and Captain E L Gerrard, RMLI.

The French also established a naval aviation capability in 1910 with the establishment of the Service Aeronautique and the first flight training schools.

U.S. naval aviation began with pioneer aviator Glenn Curtiss who contracted with the United States Navy to demonstrate that airplanes could take off from and land aboard ships at sea. One of his pilots, Eugene Ely, took off from the cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-2) anchored off the Virginia coast in November 1910. Two months later Ely landed aboard another cruiser, USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4), in San Francisco Bay, proving the concept of shipboard operations. However, the platforms erected on those vessels were temporary measures. The U.S. Navy and Glenn Curtiss experienced two firsts during January 1911. On 27 January, Curtiss flew the first seaplane from the water at San Diego Bay and the next day U.S. Navy Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson, a student at the nearby Curtiss School, took off in a Curtiss "grass cutter" plane to become the first naval aviator.

$25,000 was appropriated for the Bureau of Navigation (United States Navy) to purchase three airplanes and in the spring of 1911 four additional officers were trained as pilots by the Wright brothers and Curtiss. A camp with a primitive landing field was established on the Severn River at Greenbury Point, near Annapolis, Maryland. The vision of the aerial fleet was for scouting. Each aircraft would have a pilot and observer. The observer would use the wireless radio technology to report on enemy ships. Some thoughts were given to deliver counterattacks on hostile aircraft using "explosives or other means". Using airplanes to bomb ships was seen as largely impractical at the time. CAPT Washington Irving Chambers felt it was much easier to defend against airplanes than mines or torpedoes. The wireless radio was cumbersome (greater than 50 pounds), but the technology was improving. Experiments were underway for the first ICS (pilot to observer comms) using headsets, as well as connecting the observer to the radio. The navy tested both telephones and voice tubes for ICS. As of August 1911, Italy was the only other navy known to be adapting hydroplanes for naval use.

The group expanded with the addition of six aviators in 1912 and five in 1913, from both the Navy and Marine Corps, and conducted maneuvers with the Fleet from the battleship USS Mississippi (BB-23), designated as the Navy's aviation ship. Meanwhile, Captain Henry C. Mustin successfully tested the concept of the catapult launch in August 1912, and in 1915 made the first catapult launching from a ship underway. The first permanent naval air station was established at Pensacola, Florida, in January 1914 with Mustin as its commanding officer. On April 24 of that year, and for a period of approximately 45 days afterward, five floatplanes and flying boats flown by ten aviators operated from Mississippi and the cruiser Birmingham off Veracruz and Tampico, Mexico, respectively, conducting reconnaissance for troops ashore in the wake of the Tampico Affair.

In January 1912, the British battleship HMS Africa (1905) took part in aircraft experiments at Sheerness. She was fitted for flying off aircraft with a 100 ft downward-sloping runway which was installed on her foredeck, running over her forward 12 in gun turret from her forebridge to her bow and equipped with rails to guide the aircraft. The Gnome-engined Short Improved S.27 "S.38", pusher seaplane piloted by Lieutenant Charles Samson become the first British aircraft to take-off from a ship while at anchor in the River Medway, on 10 January 1912. Africa then transferred her flight equipment to her sister ship HMS Hibernia (1905).

In May 1912, with Commander Samson again flying the "S.38", the first ever instance of an aircraft to take off from a ship which was under way occurred. Hibernia steamed at 10.5 kn at the Royal Fleet Review in Weymouth Bay, England. Hibernia then transferred her aviation equipment to battleship HMS London (1899). Based on these experiments, the Royal Navy concluded that aircraft were useful aboard ship for spotting and other purposes, but that interference with the firing of guns caused by the runway built over the foredeck and the danger and impracticality of recovering seaplanes that alighted in the water in anything but calm weather more than offset the desirability of having airplanes aboard. In 1912, the nascent naval air detachment in the United Kingdom was amalgamated to form the Royal Flying Corps and in 1913 a seaplane base on the Isle of Grain, an airship base at Kingsnorth and eight new airfields were approved for construction. The first aircraft participation in naval manoeuvres took place in 1913 with the cruiser HMS Hermes (1898) converted into a seaplane carrier. In 1914, naval aviation was split again, and became the Royal Naval Air Service. However, shipboard naval aviation had begun in the Royal Navy, and would become a major part of fleet operations by 1917.

Other early operators of seaplanes were Germany, within its Marine-Fliegerabteilung naval aviation units within the Kaiserliche Marine, and Russia. In May 1913 Germany established a naval zeppelin detachment in Berlin-Johannisthal and an airplane squadron in Putzig (Puck, Poland). The Japanese established the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, modelled on the RNAS, in 1913. On 24 January 1913 came the first wartime naval aviation interservice cooperation mission. Greek pilots on a seaplane observed and drew a diagram of the positions of the Turkish fleet against which they dropped four bombs. This event was widely commented upon in the press, both Greek and international.

World War I
At the outbreak of war the Royal Naval Air Service had 93 aircraft, six airships, two balloons and 727 personnel, making it larger than the Royal Flying Corps. The main roles of the RNAS were fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy ships and submarines, attacking enemy coastal territory and defending Britain from enemy air-raids, along with deployment along the Western Front. In 1914 the first aerial torpedo was dropped in trials performed in a Short "Folder" by Lieutenant (later Air Chief Marshal Sir) Arthur Longmore, and in August 1915, a Short Type 184 piloted by Flight Commander Charles Edmonds from HMS Ben-my-Chree sank a Turkish supply ship in the Sea of Marmara with a 14 in, 810 lb torpedo.

The first strike from a seaplane carrier against a land target as well as a sea target took place in September 1914 when the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier JAPANESE SEAPLANE CARRIER Wakamiya conducted ship-launched air raids from Kiaochow Bay during the Battle of Tsingtao in China. The four Maurice Farman seaplanes bombarded German-held land targets (communication centers and command centers) and damaged a German minelayer in the Tsingtao peninsula from September until 6 November 1914, when the Germans surrendered. One Japanese plane was credited being shot down by the German aviator Gunther Plüschow in an Etrich Taube, using his pistol.

On the Western front the first naval air raid occurred on 25 December 1914 when twelve seaplanes from HMS Engadine (1911), HMS Riviera and HMS Empress (1914) (cross-channel steamers converted into seaplane carriers) attacked the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven. The raid was not a complete success, owing to sub-optimal weather conditions, including fog and low cloud, but the raid was able to conclusively demonstrate the feasibility of air-to-land strikes from a naval platform. Two German airships were destroyed at the Tøndern base on July 19, 1918, by seven Sopwith Camels launched from the carrier HMS Furious (47).

In August 1914 Germany operated 20 planes and one Zeppelin, another 15 planes were confiscated. They operated from bases in Germany and Flanders (Belgium). On 19 August 1918 several British torpedo boats were sunk by 10 German planes near Heligoland. These are considered as the first naval units solely destroyed by airplanes. During the war the German "Marineflieger" claimed the destruction of 270 enemy planes, 6 balloons, 2 airships, 1 Russian destroyer, 4 merchant ships, 3 submarines, 4 torpedo boats and 12 vehicles, for the loss of 170 German sea and land planes as well as 9 vehicles. Notable Marineflieger aces were Gotthard Sachsenberg (31 victories), Alexander Zenzes (18 victories), Friedrich Christiansen (13 victories, 1 airship and 1 submarine), Karl Meyer (8 victories), Karl Scharon (8 victories), and Hans Goerth (7 victories).

Development of the aircraft carrier
The need for a more mobile strike capacity led to the development of the aircraft carrier - the backbone of modern naval aviation. HMS Ark Royal (1914) was the first purpose-built seaplane carrier and was also arguably the first modern aircraft carrier. She was originally laid down as a merchant ship, but was converted on the building stocks to be a hybrid airplane/seaplane carrier with a launch platform and the capacity to hold up to four wheeled aircraft. Launched on 5 September 1914, she served in the Dardanelles campaign and throughout World War I.

During World War I the Royal Navy also used HMS Furious to experiment with the use of wheeled aircraft on ships. This ship was reconstructed three times between 1915 and 1925: first, while still under construction, it was modified to receive a flight deck on the fore-deck; in 1917 it was reconstructed with separate flight decks fore and aft of the superstructure; then finally, after the war, it was heavily reconstructed with a three-quarter length main flight deck, and a lower-level take-off only flight deck on the fore-deck.

On 2 August 1917, Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning, Royal Navy, landed his Sopwith Pup aircraft on Furious in Scapa Flow, Orkney, becoming the first person to land a plane on a moving ship. He was killed five days later during another landing on Furious.

HMS Argus (I49) was converted from an ocean liner and became the first example of what is now the standard pattern of aircraft carrier, with a full-length flight deck that allowed wheeled aircraft to take off and land. After commissioning, the ship was heavily involved for several years in the development of the optimum design for other aircraft carriers. Argus also evaluated various types of arresting gear, general procedures needed to operate a number of aircraft in concert, and fleet tactics.

The Tondern raid, a British bombing raid against the Imperial German Navy's airship base at Tønder, Denmark was the first attack in history made by aircraft flying from a carrier flight deck, with seven Sopwith Camels launched from HMS Furious. For the loss of one man, the British destroyed two German zeppelins, L.54 and L.60 and a captive balloon.

Interwar period
Genuine aircraft carriers did not emerge beyond Britain until the early 1920s.

The Japanese JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Hōshō (1921) was the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, although the initial plans and laying down for HMS Hermes (95) (1924) had begun earlier. Both Hōshō and Hermes initially boasted the two most distinctive features of a modern aircraft carrier: a full-length flight deck and a starboard-side control tower island. Both continued to be adjusted in the light of further experimentation and experience, however: Hōshō even opted to remove its island entirely in favor of a less obstructed flight deck and improved pilot visibility. Instead, Japanese carriers opted to control their flight operations from a platform extending from the side of the flight deck.

In the United States, Admiral William Benson attempted to entirely dissolve the USN's Naval Aeronautics program in 1919. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt and others succeeded in maintaining it, but the service continued to support battleship-based doctrines. To counter Billy Mitchell's campaign to establish a separate Department of Aeronautics, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels ordered a rigged test against USS Indiana (BB-1) in 1920 which reached the conclusion that "the entire experiment pointed to the improbability of a modern battleship being either destroyed or completely put out of action by aerial bombs." Investigation by the New-York Tribune that discovered the rigging led to Congressional resolutions compelling more honest studies. The sinking of SMS Ostfriesland involved violating the Navy's rules of engagement but completely vindicated Mitchell to the public. Some men, such as Captain (soon Rear Admiral) William A. Moffett, saw the publicity stunt as a means to increase funding and support for the Navy's aircraft carrier projects. Moffett was sure that he had to move decisively in order to avoid having his fleet air arm fall into the hands of a proposed combined Land/Sea Air Force which took care of all the United States's airpower needs. (That very fate had befallen the two air services of the United Kingdom in 1918: the Royal Flying Corps had been combined with the Royal Naval Air Service to become the Royal Air Force, a condition which would remain until 1937.)  Moffett supervised the development of naval air tactics throughout the '20s. The first aircraft carrier entered the U.S. fleet with the conversion of the collier USS Jupiter and its recommissioning as USS Langley (CV-1) in 1922.

Many British naval vessels carried float planes, seaplanes or amphibians for reconnaissance and spotting: two to four on battleships or battlecruisers and one on cruisers. The aircraft, a Fairey Seafox or later a Supermarine Walrus, were catapult-launched, and landed on the sea alongside for recovery by crane. Several submarine aircraft carriers were built by Japan, each carrying one floatplane, which did not prove effective in war. The French Navy built one large submarine, FRENCH SUBMARINE Surcouf, which also carried one floatplane, and was also not effective in war.

World War II
World War II saw the emergence of naval aviation as the decisive element in the war at sea. The principal users were Japan, United States (both with Pacific interests to protect) and Britain. Germany, the Soviet Union, France and Italy had a lesser involvement. Soviet Naval Aviation was mostly organised as land-based coastal defense force (apart from some scout floatplanes it consisted almost exclusively of land-based types also used by its air arms).

During the course of the war, seaborne aircraft were used in fleet actions at sea (Midway, GERMAN BATTLESHIP Bismarck), strikes against naval units in port (Taranto, Pearl Harbor), support of ground forces (Okinawa, Allied invasion of Italy) and anti-submarine warfare (the Battle of the Atlantic). Carrier-based aircraft were specialised as dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and fighters. Surface-based aircraft such as the PBY Catalina helped finding submarines and surface fleets.

In World War II the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship as the most powerful naval offensive weapons system as battles between fleets were increasingly fought out of gun range by aircraft. The Japanese JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Yamato, the heaviest battleship ever built, was first turned back by light escort carrier aircraft and later sunk lacking its own air cover. During the Doolittle Raid of 1942, 16 Army medium bombers were launched from the carrier Hornet on one-way missions to bomb Japan. All were lost to fuel exhaustion after bombing their targets and the experiment was not repeated. Smaller carriers were built in large numbers to escort slow cargo convoys or supplement fast carriers. Aircraft for observation or light raids were also carried by battleships and cruisers, while blimps were used to search for attack submarines.

Experience showed that there was a need for widespread use of aircraft which could not be met quickly enough by building new fleet aircraft carriers. This was particularly true in the North Atlantic, where convoys were highly vulnerable to U-boat attack. The British authorities used unorthodox, temporary, but effective means of giving air protection such as CAM ships and merchant aircraft carriers, merchant ships modified to carry a small number of aircraft. The solution to the problem were large numbers of mass-produced merchant hulls converted into escort aircraft carriers (also known as "jeep carriers"). These basic vessels, unsuited to fleet action by their capacity, speed and vulnerability, nevertheless provided air cover where it was needed.

The Royal Navy had observed the impact of naval aviation and, obliged to prioritise their use of resources, abandoned battleships as the mainstay of the fleet. HMS Vanguard (23) was therefore the last British battleship and her sisters were cancelled. The United States had already instigated a large construction programme (which was also cut short) but these large ships were mainly used as anti-aircraft batteries or for shore bombardment.

Other actions involving naval aviation included:
 * Battle of the Atlantic, aircraft carried by low-cost escort carriers were used for antisubmarine patrol, defense, and attack.
 * At the start of the Pacific War in 1941, Japanese carrier-based aircraft sank many US warships during the attack on Pearl Harbor and land-based aircraft sank two large British warships. Engagements between Japanese and American naval fleets were then conducted largely or entirely by aircraft - examples include the battles of Coral Sea, Midway, Bismarck Sea and Philippine Sea.
 * Battle of Leyte Gulf, with the first appearance of kamikazes, perhaps the largest naval battle in history. Japan's last carriers and pilots are deliberately sacrificed, a battleship is sunk by aircraft.
 * Operation Ten-Go demonstrated U.S. air supremacy in the Pacific theater by this stage in the war and the vulnerability of surface ships without air cover to aerial attack.

Post-war developments
Jet aircraft were used on aircraft carriers after the War. The first jet landing on a carrier was made by Lt Cdr Eric 'Winkle' Brown who landed on HMS Ocean (R68) in the specially modified de Havilland Vampire (registration LZ551/G) on 3 December 1945. Following the introduction of angled flight decks, jets were regularly operating from carriers by the mid-1950s.

An important development of the early 1950s was the British invention of the angled flight deck by Capt D.R.F. Campbell RN in conjunction with Lewis Boddington of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. The runway was canted at an angle of a few degrees from the longitudinal axis of the ship. If an aircraft missed the arrestor cables (referred to as a "bolter"), the pilot only needed to increase engine power to maximum to get airborne again, and would not hit the parked aircraft because the angled deck pointed out over the sea. The angled flight deck was first tested on HMS Triumph (R16), by painting angled deck markings onto the centerline flight deck for touch and go landings. The modern steam-powered catapult, powered by steam from a ship's boilers or reactors, was invented by Commander C.C. Mitchell of the Royal Naval Reserve. It was widely adopted following trials on HMS Perseus (R51) between 1950 and 1952 which showed it to be more powerful and reliable than the hydraulic catapults which had been introduced in the 1940s. The first Optical Landing System, the Mirror Landing Aid was invented by Lieutenant Commander H. C. N. Goodhart RN. The first trials of a mirror landing sight were conducted on HMS Illustrious in 1952.

The US Navy built the first aircraft carrier to be powered by nuclear reactors. USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was powered by eight nuclear reactors and was the second surface warship (after USS Long Beach (CGN-9)) to be powered in this way. The post-war years also saw the development of the helicopter, with a variety of useful roles and mission capability aboard aircraft carriers and other naval ships. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United Kingdom and the United States converted some older carriers into Commando Carriers or Landing Platform Helicopters (LPH); seagoing helicopter airfields like HMS Bulwark (R08). To mitigate the expensive connotations of the term "aircraft carrier", the Invincible-class aircraft carrier carriers were originally designated as "through deck cruisers" and were initially to operate as helicopter-only craft escort carriers.

The arrival of the Sea Harrier VTOL/STOVL fast jet meant that the Invincible-class could carry fixed-wing aircraft, despite their short flight decks. The British also introduced the ski-jump ramp as an alternative to contemporary catapult systems. As the Royal Navy retired or sold the last of its World War II-era carriers, they were replaced with smaller ships designed to operate helicopters and the V/STOVL Sea Harrier jet. The ski-jump gave the Harriers an enhanced STOVL capability, allowing them to take off with heavier payloads.

In 2013, the US Navy completed the first successful catapult launch and arrested landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aboard an aircraft carrier. After a decade of research and planning, the US Navy has been testing the integration of UAVs with carrier-based forces since 2013, using the experimental Northrop Grumman X-47B, and is working to procure a fleet of carrier-based UAVs, referred to as the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system.

Roles
Naval aviation forces primarily perform naval roles at sea. However, they are also used for other tasks which vary between states. Common roles for such forces include:

Fleet air defense
Carrier-based naval aviation provides a country's seagoing forces with air cover over areas that may not be reachable by land-based aircraft, giving them a considerable advantage over navies composed primarily of surface combatants.

Strategic projection
Naval aviation also provides countries with the opportunity to deploy military aircraft over land and sea, without the need for air bases on land.

Mine countermeasures
Aircraft may be used to conduct naval mine clearance, the aircraft tows a sled through the water but is itself at a significant distance from the water, hopefully putting itself out of harm's way. Aircraft include the MH-53E and AW101.

Anti-surface warfare
Aircraft operated by navies are also used in the anti-surface warfare (ASUW or ASuW) role, to attack enemy ships and other, surface combatants. This is generally conducted using air-launched anti-ship missiles.

Amphibious warfare
Naval aviation is also used as part of amphibious warfare. Aircraft based on naval ships provide support to marines and other forces performing amphibious landings. Ship-based aircraft may also be used to support amphibious forces as they move inland.

Maritime patrol
Naval aircraft are used for various maritime patrol missions, such as reconnaissance, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement.

Vertical replenishment
Vertical replenishment, or VERTREP is a method of supplying naval vessels at sea, by helicopter. This means moving cargo and supplies from supply ships to the flight decks of other naval vessels using naval helicopters.

Anti-submarine warfare
During the Cold War, the navies of NATO faced a significant threat from Soviet submarine forces, specifically Soviet Navy SSN and SSGN assets. This resulted in the development and deployment of light aircraft carriers with major anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities by European NATO navies. One of the most effective weapons against submarines is the ASW helicopter, several of which could be based on these light ships. These carriers are typically around 20,000 tons displacement and carry a mix of ASW helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Land-based maritime patrol aircraft are also useful in this role, since they can operate independently of aircraft carriers.

Disaster relief
Naval aircraft are used to airlift supplies, insert specialized personnel (e.g. medical staff, relief workers), and evacuate persons in distress in the aftermath of natural disasters. Naval aircraft are vital in cases where traditional infrastructure to provide relief are destroyed or overtaxed in the wake of a disaster, such as when a region's airport is destroyed or overcrowded and the region cannot be effectively accessed by road or helicopter. The capability of ships to provide clean, fresh water which can be transported by helicopter to affected areas is also valuable. Naval aircraft played an important part in providing relief in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan.

Current

 * Argentine Naval Aviation (Argentine Navy)
 * Fleet Air Arm (RAN) (Royal Australian Navy)
 * Bangladesh Naval Aviation (Bangladesh Navy)Operação Atlântico 2018 (cropped).jpg
 * Brazilian Naval Aviation (Brazilian Navy)
 * People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force (Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy)
 * Republic of China Naval Aviation Command (Republic of China Navy)
 * Chilean Navy Aviation (Chilean Navy)
 * Colombian Naval Aviation (Colombian Navy)
 * Department of Aviation (United States Marine Corps)
 * Flotilla de Aeronaves (FLOAN) (Spanish Navy)
 * French Naval Aviation (French Navy)
 * Marineflieger (German Navy)
 * Navy Aviation Command (Hellenic Navy)
 * Indian Naval Air Arm (Indian Navy)
 * Indonesian Naval Aviation Center (Indonesian Navy)
 * Islamic Republic of Iran Navy Aviation (Islamic Republic of Iran Navy)
 * Italian Naval Aviation (Italian Navy)
 * Fleet Air Force (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)
 * Air Wing Six (Republic of Korea Navy)
 * Royal Malaysian Navy Aviation (Royal Malaysian Navy)
 * Mexican Naval Aviation (Mexican Navy)
 * Pakistan Naval Air Arm (Pakistan Navy)
 * Peruvian Naval Aviation (Peruvian Navy)
 * Polish Naval Aviation (Polish Navy) Royal Australian Air Force (A47-006) Boeing P-8A Poseidon.jpg the Boeing P-8A flies patrol for naval operations]]
 * Portuguese Naval Aviation (Portuguese Navy)
 * Russian Naval Aviation (Russian Navy)
 * Royal Thai Naval Air Division (Royal Thai Navy)
 * Turkish Naval Aviation (Turkish Navy)
 * Ukrainian Naval Aviation (Ukrainian Navy)
 * Fleet Air Arm (United Kingdom Royal Navy)
 * United States Naval Air Forces (United States Navy)
 * Naval Air Force (Vietnam People's Navy)

Former

 * K.u.K. Seefliegerkorps (Austro-Hungarian Navy)
 * Naval Air Service (Greece) (Greece Navy)
 * Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (Imperial Japanese Navy)
 * Netherlands Naval Aviation Service (Royal Netherlands Navy)
 * Royal Naval Air Service (UK Royal Navy)
 * Soviet Naval Aviation (Soviet Navy)

World War II

 * King, Dan, ed. The Last Zero Fighter: Firsthand Accounts from WWII Japanese Naval Pilots (2012) excerpt and text search
 * Lundstrom, John B. The First Team: Pacific Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway (2005) excerpt and text search
 * Reynolds, Clark G., The fast carriers: the forging of an air navy (3rd ed. 1992)
 * Reynolds, Clark G.  On the Warpath in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers (2005) excerpt and text search
 * Symonds, Craig L. The Battle of Midway (2011) excerpt and text search
 * Tillman, Barrett. Enterprise: America's Fightingest Ship and the Men Who Helped Win World War II (2012) excerpt and text search

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Naval aviation


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Mohammad Rafique (cricketer)

Mohammed Rafique (মোহাম্মদ রফিক, born 5 September 1970) is a Bangladeshi cricket coach and former cricketer. He was the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 100 wickets in Test matches and ODI matches.

Rafique is known for his contribution to Bangladesh Cricket. He played for the World XI in the Super Series against Australia in 2005 and the Asia XI for the exhibition series against Africa XI in 2007. He was named captain of Bangladesh Legends cricket team in 2020-21 Road Safety World Series. On 20 January 2022, Rafique joined Asia Lions along with Habibul Bashar in Legends League Cricket, where he took 2 wickets against India Maharajas.

Domestic career
He started his career as a left arm seamer with the 2nd Division side, Bangladesh Sporting, in 1985. In 1988, he joined Bangladesh Biman cricket team. There, under the influence of the Pakistani allrounder Wasim Haider he converted to slow orthodox spin bowling.

In December 1994, he played for the Bangladesh team in the 2nd SAARC cricket tournament where he had a 3/25 in the Bangladesh win against India "A".

He was a member of the Bangladesh team that won the 1997 ICC Trophy. Overall, in 9 matches, he took 19 wickets at an average of 10.68. His best 4/25 came in the semi-final against Scotland. With his spinning partner Enamul Haque Moni taking 12 wickets in the tournament. In the final against Kenya he had scored valuable 26 of 15 deliveries.

Rafique was banned with 13 professional players for ten years from all forms of cricket by the Bangladesh Cricket Board following his enrollment in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in August 2008, but renounced his ties with the ICL a year later and has since been accepted back into the fold. He is still playing first-class cricket for Dhaka Division and recently starred in the Big Boss T20 Premier League with a match-winning performance for Abahani Limited in the final.

International career
A slow-left-arm orthodox bowler, Rafique was one of the few Bangladeshi players in the ICC bowler rankings' top fifty. He became a permanent fixture in the national team, and was a household name in Bangladesh. He achieved the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs in both formats.

The one of most senior players in the Bangladesh team, Rafique was better known for his abilities in ODIs early in his career. He was nevertheless selected to play in Bangladesh's inaugural Test against India, and showed his promise with three wickets.

His career was almost derailed soon afterwards, when he was reported to the ICC for a suspect action. He was tardy in taking remedial action, and was out of the national team until 2002, when he was picked for the home series against South Africa. His return to cricket was promising, with a six-wicket haul in the second Test against South Africa. He was the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in the home Test series against India, and the second highest during the away tour to Zimbabwe.

Rafique is also known as a handy, hard-hitting lower-order batsman. His 77 versus Kenya in May 1998 at Hyderabad was instrumental in Bangladesh's first ever ODI win against Kenya. With the ball, he took 3/56, and was adjudged the man of the match. He also scored a Test century against the West Indies in Bangladesh's drawn Test. Also he scored 65 against Australia in 2005–6, including six sixes.

He was instrumental in steering Bangladesh to a series whitewash against the Kenyans, and recorded his best match figures in Tests against Australia in a match they only narrowly lost. Rafique had a successful 2007 World Cup, taking eight wickets and helping Bangladesh to win games against India and South Africa.

Rafique announced his international retirement on 7 February 2008. Bangladesh's home series against South Africa was his last for the national team. He became the first Bangladeshi to ever take the milestone of 100 test wickets by having Robin Peterson caught at first slip by Junaid Siddique on 1 March during the second test. Out of 53 players who have scored 1,000 runs and taken 100 wickets in Test cricket, Rafique was the first to have represented Bangladesh.

title: Mohammad Rafique (cricketer)


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Dar Heatherington

Darlene "Dar" Heatherington (born 1963) is a former Canadian politician who was forced to resign her city council seat in Lethbridge, Alberta in 2004 after being convicted of public mischief.

Reports
On May 3, 2003, Heatherington first made Canadian and international headlines when she disappeared from a conference in Great Falls, Montana. Three days later, she was found in Las Vegas, Nevada, alleging that she had been abducted and raped. Police found her report to be inconsistent and lacking evidence, and she eventually recanted. She was charged with filing a false report to police but pleaded not guilty. She continues to allege that the incident happened as reported and that the police coerced her into recanting her original statement.

Previously, Heatherington had filed reports with Lethbridge police that she was being stalked. She was receiving sexually explicit letters from her stalker, but her reports often did not match police surveillance evidence. On June 10, 2003, she was charged with public mischief after police concluded that the stalker did not exist and that Heatherington was likely writing the letters herself. On September 8, she pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.

Charges and sentencing
On June 29, 2004, Heatherington was found guilty of public mischief. Although required by law to resign her council seat following her conviction, Heatherington initially refused to do so. As a result, Lethbridge city council initiated the process of having her removed through the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. On August 9, 2004, Heatherington announced her resignation effective September 10, indicating that she would be using her time to prove her innocence. Two days later, Lethbridge City Council was able to force Heatherington to resign immediately.

On September 10, Heatherington received a 20-month conditional sentence, consisting of eight months of house arrest followed by 10 months of curfew, and 100 hours of community service and counselling.

Post-trial
On February 3, 2005, Heatherington was found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest sentence, although this conviction did not result in any jail time.

On July 27, Heatherington and her husband filed separately for bankruptcy, both citing Heatherington's ongoing legal battle. On August 16, Heatherington dropped her appeal of the mischief charge. Her lawyer stated that Heatherington could no longer afford to proceed, despite earlier claims that the bankruptcy would not affect her appeal.

On November 15, 2005, Heatherington's sentence was reduced to one year from twenty months, by order of the Alberta Court of Appeal.

title: Dar Heatherington


text:
Manjural Islam Rana

Manjural Islam Rana (4 May 1984 – 16 March 2007), also known as Qazi Manjural Islam, was a Bangladeshi cricketer who played six Tests and 25 One Day Internationals for Bangladesh. Born in Khulna, he was a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He played for Khulna Division at domestic level and made his One Day International (ODI) debut in November 2003 against England. Three months later, Rana played his first Test against Zimbabwe. On 16 March 2007, he died of severe head injuries sustained in a road traffic accident at the age of 22.

Early career
Rana made his first-class debut on 22 November 2000, playing for Khulna Division against Barisal Division. His first wicket was that of Towhid Hossain, bowled, but he did not bat in the match. In his next first-class match, against Dhaka Metropolis for Khulna, Rana batted for the first time; he scored 8 and 18 not out. In the match, 19 other players made their first-class debut as this was the first match for both Khulna and Dhaka in Bangladesh's new National Cricket League. Rana made his one-day debut the same month; on 25 November 2000, he played for Khulna against Barisal Division. He scored 22 runs in the match and took three wickets for 20 runs. Once again, Rana was one of 20 people to debut in the match in the new Ispahani Mirzapore Tea One-Day League. In his first season with Khulna, Rana played 10 first-class matches, scoring 299 runs at 24.91 and taking 35 wickets at 20.14. He also played the same number of one-day matches, scoring 70 runs at 11.66 and taking 10 wickets at 26.00.

In the 2001–02 season, Rana played just two first-class and two one-day matches, with little success compared to the previous year. He experienced more success in 2002–03, playing in six first-class and one-day matches respectively. Rana scored 390 runs at 48.75 in the former, including four half-centuries. He took 27 wickets at 20.00 with the ball and in the latter one-day matches, Rana scored 28 runs at 5.60 and took 18 wickets at 9.55. During the 2003 English cricket season, he represented the Old Mid-Whitgiftians in the Surrey Championship. Rana was chosen to be part of the Bangladesh A squad that toured Pakistan in 2003–04.

International breakthrough
Between 30 January 2003 and 8 February 2005, Rana played no domestic cricket. Rana made his ODI debut against England in Chittagong on 7 November 2003, in the first match of a three-match ODI series. Filling in for fellow spinner Mohammad Rafique, he dismissed Michael Vaughan with just his third ball of the match and became the first Bangladeshi to take a wicket in his first international over. Rana played in all three matches as Bangladesh lost the series 3–0; the wicket in his first over of international cricket was his only one of the series and he scored 46 runs at an average of 23.00.

In December 2003, Rana was part of the Bangladesh A squad that toured in Pakistan, playing in both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Patron's Cup and the PCB Patron's Trophy. Rana made his Test debut on 19 February 2004, playing against Zimbabwe as part of Bangladesh's tour of the country. He bowled 20.2 overs in the match, taking two wickets for 66 runs. His first Test wicket was that of Sean Ervine, caught by Tapash Baisya. Rana batted twice in the match, making scores of 35 not out and 32. Bangladesh lost the match by 183 runs and Rana stayed in the team for the second match. He batted once, scoring 39 and bowled just six overs in a match curtailed by the weather. The result of the Test was a draw, ensuring Bangladesh lost the series 1–0 to Zimbabwe. Rana finished the series as Bangladesh's leading batsman, with the most runs (105) and the highest batting average (52.50) for the team.

In April 2004, Rana was given a "rookie contract" with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB); the six-month contract provided him with a basic salary, lower than that of senior players. When Bangladesh toured the West Indies in May–June 2004, he took 3/21 in 10 overs in an ODI in Kingstown, Saint Vincent. In the match, Rana opened the batting and ran out the West Indian wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs as Bangladesh lost by one wicket. He played in all the matches of the three-match series and topped the batting averages for Bangladesh, with 40 runs at an average of 40.00. He also took five wickets at 14.00, putting him second in Bangladesh's bowling averages. On the same tour, Rana played his third Test match for Bangladesh. In the match, which the West Indies won by an innings and 99 runs, Rana made scores of 7 and 35, taking no wickets while conceding 100 runs.

Dropped from the Test team
When Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh in January 2005, Rana was twice man of the match in the ODI series. In the fourth match of the series, he took his career-best figures of 4/34. He played in four matches of the five match series, scoring 37 runs at 18.50 and taking 9 wickets at 15.22, finishing as Bangladesh's lead wicket-taker for the series.

Although he would later represent Khulna in first-class matches, Rana's last one-day match for them was on 9 March 2006.

Return to domestic cricket
After playing his last ODI in March 2006, Rana played four more one-day matches, all for Bangladesh A. At the same time, he continued to represent Khulna Division in first-class cricket. In the Bangladesh 2006–07 cricket season, Rana played 10 first-class matches, in which he scored 571 runs at 35.68, made two centuries and took 34 wickets at 18.85. The 10 first-class matches included one fixture in which he represented Bangladesh A against Zimbabwe A. The last match Rana played was a first-class match against Dhaka Division. He captained his side in the match, which Khulna lost, although he took 9 wickets in the match.

Death
Two months before his death, Rana was involved in a motorcycle crash from which he emerged unharmed. Aged 22, Rana died in an accident on 16 March 2007 in Dumuria Upazila, Khulna, while the Bangladesh cricket team were in the Caribbean for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The accident happened when his motorcycle collided with a microbus and then hit an electrical pole at the side of the road. Sajjadul Hasan, who was a cricketer for Khulna Division, was also killed in the accident. The then Bangladesh captain, Habibul Bashar, said "It's shocking news for all of us, he was a friend and a team-mate. The boys are very upset."

Prior to their first World Cup match, the Bangladesh team declared that they would play in memory of Rana and held a one-minute silence in his memory before the start of play. They wore black arm bands during the match, in which they picked up an unexpected five-wicket victory over India. Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar dedicated the win to Rana. At the end of the match he walked around the ground, holding a picture of Rana and acknowledged the Bangladeshi spectators. Rana's death at the age of 22 years, 316 days makes him the youngest ever Test cricketer to die. Additionally, he and Bashar formerly held the record for the highest fourth-wicket partnership for Bangladesh in Tests when on 4 June 2004, they posted a 120-run stand against the West Indies cricket team.

In 2009, the BCB set up a welfare trust for current and former players, as well as staff and officials associated with it. As part of the scheme, all the proceeds from the ticket sales for the first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in 2009 were given to Rana's family.

On 4 May 2021, Bangladesh Cricket Board received backlash and criticism for its bizarre tweet by mentioning Manjural Islam Rana as the youngest ever Test cricketer to die at the age of 22 on his birthday anniversary.

title: Manjural Islam Rana


text:
Mushfiqur Rahman

Mushfiqur Rahman (মুশফিকুর রহমান; born 1 January 1980) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played ten Test matches and 28 One Day Internationals for Bangladesh between 2000 and 2004. Mushfiqur Rahman played first-class cricket for Rajshahi.

title: Mushfiqur Rahman


text:
Christening

Christening may refer to:

 * Baptism, a Christian sacrament of admission and adoption
 * Infant baptism, the practice of baptising infants or young children
 * Christening, an example of a naming ceremony, practiced by Christians and often involving a baptism
 * Christening, naming of a vessel, as in ceremonial ship launching
 * Anointing, the ritual act of putting aromatic oil on a person

Other uses

 * "Christening" (The Office), an episode of the US version of The Office
 * The Christening, a 2010 Polish drama film

title: Christening


text:
Thilina Kandamby

Sahan Hewa Thilina Kandambi (born 4 June 1982) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former T20 international captain for Sri Lanka. A specialist middle-order batsman, Kandambi was marked out as a talent early, playing for the Sri Lanka Under 19s from 1998 to 2001. He also played ten first class games for the Sri Lanka A cricket team. In January 2021 he was appointed as the head coach of T10 team Bangla Tigers.

International career
Kandambi made his One Day International debut batting at six against Zimbabwe in 2004, but lasted four balls before he was caught behind off Mluleki Nkala for a duck. His next three performances brought him a total of 23 runs, and although he was on the team that won the 2004 Asia Cup, his performances was not enough for him to be selected to the 2004 Champions Trophy immediately following the Asia Cup, as he was replaced by Dilhara Fernando.

In 2008 he returned to Zimbabwe tour and scored a crucial 40 in a low-scoring game to set up the victory. After that series he joined the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka and scored 59 runs against Pakistan in the 2nd ODI match which resulted in a win for Sri Lanka in that series.

Captaincy
Kandambi was named as stand-in captain for one-off Twenty20 International against England in 2011 in which Sri Lanka won the match comfortably.

Domestic career
He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament.

Kandambi then plied his trade for Central Province and Bloomfield in the Sri Lankan domestic leagues, in addition to playing for Sri Lanka A against touring sides. He played two first class games against New Zealand A in 2005–06, scoring 103 runs in four innings, while as of 1 February 2006 he had not made a half-century in the Premier Championship.

In 2004, Kandambi scored 52 for the Sri Lankans against Zimbabwe A. His score was made up of 10 fours and two sixes; this was the first time in first-class cricket that a completed innings of 50 or more had consisted entirely of boundaries.

In 2008–09 against South Africa A side both Kandamby and Rangana Herath, who were playing for Sri Lanka A side, put on an unbeaten 203 for the 7th wicket, which is also the highest for the 7th wicket for any pair in List A cricket history.

Coaching
Kandambi is currently the Head Coach of Sinhalese Sports Club. Kandambi appointed as coach of Jaffna franchise for 2020 edition of Lanka Premier League and ended as a champion of the event. He will continue to coach Jaffna Kings despite change in management of the Jaffna team. In March 2022 he been selected as the assistant coach for the Sri Lanka List A team.

title: Thilina Kandamby


text:
Saman Jayantha

Warushavithana Saman Jayantha (born 26 January 1974), known as Saman Jayantha, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played 17 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka in 2004 before he was dropped by the Sri Lankan selectors.

International career
He started his international career by scoring 24 runs in two matches against Australia as a middle order batsman, but improved during Sri Lanka's 5–0 whitewash of Zimbabwe in April 2004, hitting a career-best 74 not out to guide Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket win in the second ODI. However, he only played three of Sri Lanka's six matches during the 2004 Asia Cup, and was in and out of the team until successive ducks against Pakistan and New Zealand caused his exit from the team.

Domestic career
He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament.

Jayantha was also part of the Sri Lankan team that lifted the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes title in 2007 where he was also the leading wicket taker in that tournament with 6 wickets. In the 2003 Hong Kong Sixes he was the leading runscorer scoring 152 runs and went on to win the man of the tournament award. He is also the only Sri Lankan to have won the "Man of the tournament" award in Hong Kong Sixes history.

title: Saman Jayantha


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Farveez Maharoof

Mohamed Farveez Maharoof (பர்வீஸ் மஹூஹ்ஃப், ෆර්වීස් මහරූෆ්: born 7 September 1984), or Farveez Maharoof, is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He first made his impression in the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in which he captained the Sri Lankan team. He enjoyed a prolific school career for Wesley College, with a highest score of 243 and best bowling figures of 8 for 20. An all-rounder, he made his Test debut in 2004. He was part of the Sri Lankan team which finished as runners-up at the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

At domestic level, he has represented Bloomfield, Nondescripts, Wayamba, Delhi Daredevils, Lancashire and Barisal Burners.Nowadays he acts as an international cricket commentator for Sri Lanka.

Personal life
Maharoof got married on Saturday 18 July 2009 at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankan and Pakistani cricketers attended the all-rounder's wedding.

Early cricket
Born in Colombo, Farveez Maharoof began playing cricket around the age of eight. He also played football until he was twelve and touch rugby. Maharoof, who attended Wesley College in Colombo, began as a wicketkeeper-batsman and only began bowling regularly from under-13 cricket onwards. Five players were absent with the flu in one match and Maharoof was called upon to bowl. He took six wickets, including a hat-trick, and from then on concentrated on fast bowling.

In December 2003 and January 2004, at the age of 19, Maharoof toured India with the Sri Lanka A team for a tri-series with India A and Pakistan A. He took nine wickets in the series at an average of 11.77, the best average of the tournament; Maharoof was named Man of the Match in the tournament's final, which Sri Lanka A won. A month later, Maharoof was appointed captain of Sri Lanka Under-19s for the Under-19 World Cup. He had some experience of leading teams, having captained school sides and the national youth sides. In one of the matches, Maharoof scored 56 to help his team to victory over Australia and was named Man of the Match. He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament.

Domestic career
The inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), an eight-team domestic twenty20 competition, was held in 2008. Maharoof was bought by the Delhi Daredevils for $225,000. He took 15 wickets in the tournament at an average of 16.60, making him the equal ninth-highest wicket-taker in competition. While playing for in the IPL in 2008, Maharoof was teammates with Australia seam bowler Glenn McGrath; according to Marahroof, McGrath helped him with his bowling variations, making a "huge difference", and introduced more control to his slower ball. For his performances in 2008, he was named in the ESPNcricinfo IPL XI.

On 17 March 2011, it was announced that Maharoof would be joining Lancashire County Cricket Club for the entire English cricket season. He joined Lancashire with the intention of forcing his way back into Sri Lanka's Test team. He made his first-class debut for the club on 20 April, taking the place of injured captain and bowler Glen Chapple. Batting at number eight Maharoof scored a century and took two wickets in the match as Lancashire won by an innings and 20 runs; it was just the seventh time a player had scored a century in their maiden first-class match with Lancashire.

After the second Test, Maharoof returned to play for Lancashire. Towards the end of June he was forced to miss a County Championship due to a stiff back. A few days later he took his 50th T20 wicket when he dismissed Martin Guptill in Lancashire's 10-wicket win against Derbyshire, and in the process helped dismiss Derbyshire for their lowest total in the format. Maharoof was due to leave in mid-June to participate in the inaugural season of the Sri Lanka Premier League, planning to return to Lancashire in August, however the tournament was postponed until 2012. In the last match of the season, Lancashire won the County Championship for the first time since 1950 when they shared the title.

On his return to Sri Lanka, Maharoof finished as the leading run scorer in the 2011–12 Premier Limited Overs Tournament, a domestic competition. His team, the Nondescripts, won the Tier A title for the first time in five years and Maharoof was the competition's leading run-scorer. In the final Maharoof scored 52 runs while opening the batting and dismissed Sachithra Senanayake to claim his 200th wicket in list A matches. His strong performances for the Nondescripts team led to a recall to the ODI squad for the 2011–12 Commonwealth Bank Series with India and Australia. He captained Kathmandu Kings XI in Everest Premier League 2017 held in Nepal.

Debut years
In April and May 2004, Maharoof was part of the Sri Lanka team that toured Zimbabwe for five ODIs and two Tests. Two players, including Maharoof, made their ODI debut in the third match of the series while three of the Sri Lankan regulars were rested. He took three wickets as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 35, the lowest score in ODI history. In the final two matches of the series, Maharoof took another wickets, finishing the series with five at an average of 16.60. On the same tour, Maharoof made his Test debut. Across the two matches, he scored 40 runs from one innings and took four wickets at an average of just under 40.

Sri Lanka hosted the Indian Oil Cup in July and August 2005; it was a tournament involving the hosts, India, and the West Indies. Ahead of the tournament Chaminda Vaas, one of Sri Lanka's senior seam bowlers, sustained an injury and Maharoof was responsible for opening the bowling with Dilhara Lokuhettige. Maharoof produced one of the most economical bowling displays in ODI history, conceding nine-rune from ten overs against the West Indies for which he was named Man of the Match. He was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for excessive appealing in the match as he began celebrating a dismissal before the batsman had been given out by the umpire.

Permanent in the squad
When Bangladesh toured for two Tests and three ODIs in August and September that year, Maharoof was against selected in Sri Lanka's squad, allowing senior players to be rested for some of the matches. Although he didn't play in either of the Tests, in the two ODIs Maharoof played he took six wickets at an average of 9.00, finishing equal with Tillakaratne Dilshan as leading wicket-taker in the series. The Sri Lanka coach at the time, Tom Moody, praised Maharoof's bowling, saying "Maharoof bowled superbly well in the Indian Oil series and has shown [against Bangladesh] that he going to be a more valuable bowler going into the future".

When Sri Lanka toured Indian in October to December 2005 for three Tests and seven ODIs, Maharoof was included in the squad. He played in six of the seven ODIs, taking six wickets at an average of 39.33 and scoring 60 runs from five innings. Sri Lanka lost the series and the captain at the time, Kumar Sangakkara, described the experience as "a learning trip" for Maharoof, noting that he had bowled well at times. Maharoof played a single Test on the tour, taking three wickets for 77 runs and scoring just six runs. In the qualifying round of the 2006 Champions Trophy, he picked up the best bowling analysis in the history of the tournament (6–14), which is also the ninth best analysis in all ODIs. That was against the defending champions West Indies, and was Maharoof's first five wicket haul in ODIs.

Maharoof took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul in November 2006 in a match for Bloomfield against Ragam which ended in a draw. His 7 wickets for 73 runs beat his previous best bowling figures in first-class cricket of 4/12.

Maharoof took 4/23 against Bermuda to start the 2007 World Cup and became the first Sri Lankan to take a 4 wicket haul on his World Cup debut. On 7 October 2007 Maharoof took his 100th wicket in his 75th ODI; at the time he was the fastest Sri Lankan to reach the landmark, beating Muttiah Muralitharan by one match, however this record was later taken by fast bowler Lasith Malinga in 2010 who reached 100 wickets in 68 matches.

After the inaugural IPL in 2008, Maharoff joined the Sri Lanka squad in preparation for the 2008 Asia Cup, however an abdominal strain prevented him from taking part.

For his performances in 2008, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

Back to form
On 22 June 2010 Maharoof took his first hat-trick in One day International against India in Asia Cup 2010. The cup's final against India was his last match until early 2012. The auction for the 2011 IPL was held in January that year, and although Maharoof was available he was not signed by a team.

Sri Lanka embarked on a tour of England in May. Five players selected in the squad chose to participate in the IPL instead of Sri Lanka's first warm-up match, and consequentially Maharoof was drafted in to provide cover until they arrived. Initially called up for a single tour match, Maharoof was added to the Test squad when seam bowlers Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Pradeep sustained injuries. Having played in the first two Tests, Maharoof was left out of Sri Lanka's squad for the ODI leg of the tour. Stuart Law, the team's coach, explained that "He hasn't quite set the world on fire but he hasn't done a lot wrong. It just hasn't worked for him at this stage." His last ODI was the final of the Asia Cup in June 2010.

Return
Maharoof was included to the ODI squad for tour against England and Ireland in 2016, after 4 years in international arena. After 2008, he played his first T20I against England on 5 July 2016, where 72 T20Is were missed by Maharoof for Sri Lanka, before appearing in this match.

Honors
The Castrol Asian Cricket Awards were held for the first time in June 2008, and Maharoof was named best ODI Asian bowler. Although selected to tour Pakistan for three ODIs and two Tests in January to March 2009, Maharoof sustained a groin injury and was ruled out of the Tests.

Playing style
When it comes to batting, Maharoof has described himself as "more of a hard hitter than a technician", and as of February 2012 his batting strike rate (85.24) is the fourth highest amongst Sri Lankans in ODIs. In the opinion of Kumar Sangakkara, he has "the technique and the shots to be an excellent No. 7 batsman [at international level]". Maharoof has a sound batting technique and is able to adapt to many different scenarios. He is mostly known as a player who can score quick runs down the order, but he can also bat a more patient innings, especially if the top batting order collapses.

He bowls at speeds of up to 80 mph and concentrates on accuracy rather than pace because pitches in Sri Lanka are generally slow. Sangakkara has also noted that Maharoof is able to swing the ball, complementing his accuracy. Under the advice of then Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody, in 2006 Maharoof altered his bowling action slightly so that his front arm was coming down straight in delivery. Of Sri Lankan players who have bowled at least 2,000 balls in Tests, Maharoof's strike rate of one wicket every 117.6 deliveries per wicket is third worst behind Asoka de Silva (291.0) and Arjuna Ranatunga (148.3). Maharoof has been more successful in the opposition's first innings in Tests, taking 20 of his 25 wickets under such circumstances at a strike of 107.7, which increases to 157.2 in the second.

title: Farveez Maharoof


text:
Monolith (Space Odyssey)

In Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey series, Monoliths are machines in black cuboids whose sides extend in the precise ratio of 1 : 4 : 9 (12 : 22 : 32) built by an unseen extraterrestrial species whom Clarke dubbed the Firstborn and who he suggests are the earliest highly intelligent species to evolve in the Milky Way. In the series of novels (and the films based on these), three Monoliths are discovered in the Solar System by australopithecines and their human descendants. The characters' responses to their discoveries drives the plot of the series and influences its fictional history, particularly by encouraging humanity to progress with technological development.

The first Monolith appears at the beginning of the story, four million years before the present era. It is discovered by a group of australopithecines and triggers a shift in evolution, starting with the ability to use tools and weaponry. It is later revealed that thousands of other Monoliths exist elsewhere in the galaxy.

Origins
The species that built the Monoliths is never described in detail, but some knowledge of its existence is given to Dave Bowman after he is transported by the star-gate to the "cosmic zoo", as detailed in the 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey and its 1982 sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two. The existence of this species is only hypothesized by the rest of humanity, but it is obvious because the Monolith was immediately identified as an artefact of non-human origin.

The species that built the Monoliths developed interstellar travel millions or perhaps billions of years before the present time. In the novels, Clarke refers to them as the "Firstborn", since they were quite possibly the first sapient species to possess a significant capability of interstellar travel. Members of this species explored the universe in the search of knowledge, especially knowledge about other intelligent species.

While these early explorers discovered that life was quite common, they observed that intelligent life was often stunted in its development, or else died out prematurely. Hence, they set about fostering it. Though not at all morphologically similar to humans, the Firstborn were nonetheless creatures of "flesh and blood", and like humans, were originally mortal.

However, the evolutionary development projects they began would by their nature require very long time-spans to complete, far longer than the lives of their creators. Therefore, the aliens created increasingly complex automated machines to oversee and carry out their projects over the eons. When they encountered a living world that had features in favour of the evolution of intelligent life, they left behind the Monoliths as remote observers that were also capable of taking a variety of actions according to their creators' wishes. One such planet, encountered when it was still quite young, was Earth. They also observed Jupiter and its watery moon, Europa. The decaying ecology of Mars was also visited, but passed over in favour of more fruitful locations like Earth. The Firstborn left behind three Monoliths to observe and enact their plan to encourage hominids to pursue technology and space travel.

As described in Clarke's novel, the Firstborn discovered later how to transfer their consciousness into computers, and thus they became thinking machines. In the end, they surpassed even this achievement, and were able to transfer entirely from physical to noncorporeal forms—the "Lords of the Galaxy"—immortal and capable of travelling at great speeds. The Firstborn had abandoned physical form, but their creations, the Monoliths, remained, and continued to carry out their original assignments.

Tycho Magnetic Anomalies
The term "Tycho Magnetic Anomaly" is something of a misnomer when referring to "TMA-0" and "TMA-2", since neither of these is found on the Moon (let alone in Tycho Crater) and neither one of them emits any significant magnetic field, as described in the novel 2010: Odyssey Two. (The characters in some of the novels do refer to this anomalous nomenclature quizzically.) In the novel, the Russian crewmen of the spaceship Alexei Leonov refer to TMA-2 as "Zagadka" (from the Russian word for "enigma", "mystery", or "riddle").

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1
The name Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1 (also known as TMA-1) refers to the strong magnetic field found somewhere in the lunar Crater Tycho by an American scientific satellite. Astronauts find that this magnetic anomaly is caused by an alien Monolith buried about 15 meters below the surface. In the novel, when the Monolith is excavated and examined, it is found to be a black cuboid whose sides extend in the precise ratio of 1 : 4 : 9 (12 : 22 : 32). Its measurements are given in the novel as 1.25 x; actually a ratio of 1:4:8.8. The monolith is sitting on a platform of the same material above undisturbed rock. Clarke suggests that the sequence or ratio extends past the three known spatial dimensions into much higher dimensions.

TMA-1 was dug up during the lunar night but, after sunrise and its exposure to direct sunlight, TMA-1 emits a single powerful burst of energy, interpreted as radio waves – aimed at Iapetus (a moon of Saturn) in the novel or Jupiter in the motion picture. (The subsequent novels follow the continuity of the film, placing all of the activity around Jupiter.) Its powerful magnetic field disappears immediately. In the novel, some scientists speculate that its magnetic field came from large electric currents, circulating in a system of superconductors for millions of years as an energy-storage mechanism. All of that electric power was expended in the one signal aimed at what would be discovered to be TMA-2.

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-2
An identical object (except in size) was found later, orbiting Jupiter (on a moon of Saturn in the 2001 novel, although this was changed to Jupiter in the sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two). This object was dubbed "TMA-2", a term that the book calls "doubly inappropriate": it had no magnetic field, and was millions of miles from Tycho. (TMA-2 was often referred to as "Big Brother" due to David Bowman's comments on its larger size.) TMA-2 acted as a Star Gate and transported Dave Bowman across the galaxy in 2001 and brought his consciousness back again in 2010, at which time it duplicated itself over a million times to transform Jupiter into a star. Afterwards, TMA-2 became the home for the digitized minds of Bowman and HAL and supposedly moved to Europa to watch over the evolution of life there. In 2061: Odyssey Three, it is implied that TMA-2 is the monolith found resting on its side on Europa because it has the same size (2 kilometers long) and contains the digitized minds of Dave Bowman and HAL; however, no character refers to it as TMA-2 or Big Brother, instead christening it "The Great Wall". In 3001: The Final Odyssey, the author changes the description of the Europan monolith to be 20 kilometers long, so it is unclear whether TMA-2 changed size or it is actually a different monolith. In any case, HAL and Bowman infect that monolith with a computer virus after it is learned that its superiors are sending an order to destroy humanity. As a result of the virus, TMA-0, TMA-1, and TMA-2/The Great Wall disappear from the Solar System.

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-0
In the year 2513, the first Monolith to be encountered by humankind's prehistoric evolutionary predecessors (the ones featured in the first novel) was found in Olduvai Gorge, buried in ancient rock, and retroactively dubbed "TMA-0".

Other Monoliths
Other than the Monoliths bearing TMA labels, there are many other Monoliths that are seen in the series. In two instances, millions of Monoliths are generated for a limited time. In the first, in 2010: Odyssey Two, millions of Monoliths are generated to transform Jupiter into a star, subsequently named Lucifer. In the second, in 3001: The Final Odyssey, millions of monoliths are generated to block both the Earth and human-settled Ganymede from their primary star in an attempt to destroy the humans. Other specific monoliths are described below.

The Great Wall
A large Monolith is found resting on its side on Europa in the 2061 novel. It is nicknamed the Great Wall after the Great Wall of China due to its horizontal orientation. It is believed to be watching over the Europans in a manner similar to what TMA-0 did on Earth in the first book. The 2061 novel implies that this Monolith is TMA-2 from the previous novel, but the characters never refer to it as TMA-2 or "Big Brother." It is described as being the same size as TMA-2 and is the home to the digitized minds of Bowman and HAL just as TMA-2 was at the end of the last novel. However, the 3001 novel changes the description of the Great Wall to be 20 kilometers long, so it is unclear whether this monolith is the same as TMA-2 or not. In 2061, Bowman and HAL describe how it was knocked on its side and possibly damaged by the impact of Mount Zeus, a vast diamond shard from Jupiter's core that struck Europa's surface some time following Jupiter's transformation. But in 3001, the monolith on its side is described as having a purpose to protect the evolving Europans. (Arthur C. Clarke admitted to changing some concepts each time he wrote another sequel novel so it is not possible to fully reconcile TMA-2 and The Great Wall.)

Minilith
A small Monolith appears before Heywood Floyd in 2061 on board the Galaxy spacecraft. He nicknames it "Minilith" for its small size compared to other observed Monoliths. At the end of the book it is explained that Halman used the Minilith to replicate Heywood Floyd's consciousness to help him uncover the Monolith's operations.

Superior Monolith
In the 3001 novel, it is realized that back in the early 22nd century, TMA-2 broadcast a status report message to a point 450 light years away and is just now receiving instructions in return. Although unseen, this is assumed to be another monolith which is in charge of the monoliths in the Solar System. In other words, TMA-2 was reporting to its Superior.

Appearance and capabilities
In the movies, all the Monoliths are black, extremely flat, non-reflective rectangular solids. In the first novel, the monolith on the African savannah was transparent and "it was not easy to see except when the morning sun glinted on its edges", but became less transparent when active and was described as a crystal. Also, the final monolith is described as a transparent crystal that becomes less transparent when active.

In the novels and in the films, the dimensions of the monoliths are in the precise ratio of 1 : 4 : 9 (the squares of the first three positive integers). These dimensions are the main source of debate about the simple external design of the Monoliths. It is suggested in the 2001 novel that this number series does not stop at three dimensions.

The Monoliths come in several different sizes: TMA-0 and TMA-1 are both about 11 feet long, TMA-2 is two kilometers long, and the "minilith" is smaller than TMA-1. The Great Wall Monolith is described as being two kilometers long in the 2061 novel but 20 kilometers long in the 3001 novel. Monoliths may be able to assume any size, because in 2010: Odyssey Two, the Star Child, created from the astronaut Dave Bowman, cryptically notes that the Monolith is actually one size – "as large as necessary".

The Monoliths are extremely long-lived and reliable machines, able to survive for millions of years buried in the ground or resisting meteorite impacts and radiation in space with no apparent damage. The two Monoliths recovered and examined by humans are virtually indestructible and impenetrable, resisting all attempts to analyze their composition or internal structure right up to the end of the series. Dr. Heywood Floyd proposes they have some sort of force shield, an impression he gets from touching it; this hypothesis is later accepted as probable because the Monoliths resist destructive testing beyond the theoretical limits of material strength. However, they are not completely indestructible: The Great Wall Monolith (perhaps the same as TMA-2) was knocked on its side and suffered from damage caused by a giant meteorite of solid diamond that collided with Europa in 2061: Odyssey Three. In the final book, 3001: The Final Odyssey, all three Monoliths known to humankind are deactivated by being infected with a powerful computer virus.

While it is unclear what the composition of the Monoliths is, they clearly have mass, which is about the only observation that can be made. In the novel 2010, the crewmen of the spaceship Alexei Leonov measure the mass of TMA-2 and find that it has a density slightly higher than that of air. The masses of TMA-0 and TMA-1 are never revealed by Clarke.

In 2001, TMA-2 opens up a stargate that takes Dave Bowman on a trip across the universe at faster-than-light speeds, and with as much acceleration as the creators of the stargate wish. In 2010 and again in 3001, TMA-2 teleports itself.

TMA-2 replicates itself by a form of symmetrical binary fission and exponential growth to create thousands or millions of identical Monoliths in just a matter of days. In 2010, the many units act to increase the density of Jupiter until stellar ignition is carried out, converting the planet into a miniature star. In 3001, millions of copies of TMA-2 assemble themselves into two megastructure disks that attempt to block the Sun from Earth and Lucifer from its colonies in the Jovian system.

The Monoliths are clearly described in the novels as controlled by an internal computer, like Von Neumann machines. In 2061, the consciousness of Dave Bowman, HAL-9000, and Dr. Floyd become incorporated as computer programs in TMA-2 as their new home. TMA-2 then observes the development of the Europans and guards them from any interplanetary (i.e. human) interference.

Both TMA-1 and TMA-2 produce occasional, powerful, directional radio transmissions. TMA-2 sends a radio transmission towards a star system about 450 light years away in the 22nd century. However, only TMA-1 ever exhibited any strong magnetic fields.

Actions
The TMA-2 Monolith had judged that it would be desirable to nurture the primitive Europans by preventing the eventual freezing of their moon, and to keep humanity separated from them. TMA-2 thus converted Jupiter into a new star (dubbed "Lucifer", meaning "light-bringer") to warm Europa into more habitable conditions – at the cost of exterminating the Jovians, ocean-like creatures who swam through the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. The Jovians were judged too primitive, as due to their environment they had no hope of ever developing to become an advanced civilization.

TMA-2 also apparently decided, in the early 21st century, that humanity was a failed species and that it was possibly necessary to destroy them. Apparently the TMA-2 Monolith was allowed to destroy primitive species at its own discretion, but needed the authorisation of a "superior" to destroy an advanced spaceflight-capable civilisation such as humanity. This "superior" was a Monolith located in a distant star system, but even the Monoliths were limited by the speed of light in their interstellar communications. Thus it took 450 years for the message sent by TMA-2 to reach its "superior", which then sent a message giving permission to destroy humanity, which took another 450 years to return to the Sol system in the year 3001. Due to the efforts of Frank Poole and the Europa team on Earth, the ascended Dave Bowman and AI HAL (now fused as one being "Halman" in the Monolith's computational matrix) were able to introduce a subtle computer virus into TMA-2 which destroyed it before it could render the human race extinct.

The Firstborn did not appear to have abandoned all interest in the evolutionary experiments overseen by the ancient Monoliths. The Monoliths' communications are said to be limited by the speed of light, but Dave Bowman is sent on an interstellar journey at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Bowman is apparently transformed into the Star Child, not by the Monoliths, but by the Firstborn (both Kubrick and Clarke have similarly stated that Bowman was transformed by non-corporeal aliens, not the Monoliths). They also subsequently transform HAL in 2010, to give Bowman a companion. The epilogue to 3001: The Final Odyssey reveals that the Firstborn had been monitoring humanity's final confrontation with the Monoliths in the Sol system, but chose not to intervene, likely considering it a test of mankind's abilities - either they would find a way to stop the Monoliths and thus prove their worth, or fail and prove the Monoliths' point. Unlike the TMA-2 Monolith, whose judgment of humanity was based on its social progress by the year 2001, the Firstborn considered the more peaceful and responsible humanity of the year 3001 worthy of survival, or at least not a threat to the Europans. Their assessment seems to prove true, as subsequently Frank Poole and the other humans land on Europa and attempt to start peaceful relations with the primitive native Europs.

Europa
When TMA-2 transformed Jupiter into the new star "Lucifer", it warmed Europa to nearly the average temperature of Earth, melting the ice sheets which once covered the moon - and giving an evolutionary boost to indigenous life-forms which had existed in the oceans hidden beneath. This is directly compared to how the original TMA-0 gave pre-human apes an evolutionary nudge on the path towards sapience. The near-sapient life-forms on Europa are dubbed "Europs" by humans.

Due to the branching storylines of each book, the third novel ends with a flash-forward 20,000 years into the future, with the Europs developing a basic civilization without outside contact from humanity. The fourth and final novel, 3001, altered this to end with the revived Frank Poole making first contact with the Europs and attempting to begin peaceful relations.

Physically, Europs are described as looking like "a small, leafless bush, with no obvious sense organs or means of communication". They walk on half a dozen slender trunks, which divide into hundreds of twigs, which divide again - making them very dexterous, and potential tool-users. Prior to the Monoliths' interference, they evolved as filter-feeders on the frozen seas under the moon's ice, using their twig-arms to strain for plankton. They were hunted by predators, one notable species of which is described as "like a flying carpet, but as big as a football field", dredging the ocean floor. In response, the Europs gradually evolved to build basic shelters for themselves on the ocean floor - comparable to Earth cephalopods using shells as "tools" in the form of protection. The Monolith's warming of the moon spurred the Europs to become amphibious, migrating on land where they construct basic ice-igloos, as an advance over their underwater hovels. The Europs still need to return to water to feed, but now have total protection from aquatic predators while they sleep in their land-based shelters.

Because life in Europa's oceans evolved around thermal vents that received no sunlight, the Europs' biochemistry is based on sulfur respiration. This is much less energy efficient than the Terran biosphere's oxygen-based respiration, resulting in the Europs being very slow: it's remarked that "even a sloth could outrun a Europ". This limit on energy efficiency also results in Europs being much smaller than humans. Overall, without the protection of the Monoliths, the Europs could have easily been wiped out by humanity with little effort.

One area of pre-sapient activity observed among the Europs by 3001 is that they are fascinated by metal artefacts from crashed human spaceships and probes - as they have no counterpart in their raw state under the oceans. Whenever the Europs find abandoned human machinery (or the crashed ship Tsien) they strip all the metal from them, and pile it in heaps, frequently rearranging the pieces. Frank Poole speculatively compares this to the "Cargo cult" phenomenon on Earth in the twentieth century, and cites it as a spark of curiosity that shows an advance from pure animal instinct. At the end of the final novel, when Frank Poole approaches the Europs for first contact, he carries a large, shiny copper wire as a peace offering to them.

Design
The first design for the Monolith for the 2001 film was a tetrahedral pyramid. This was taken from the 1951 short story "The Sentinel" that the first story was based on. A London firm was approached to provide a 12 ft plexiglass pyramid, and due to construction constraints they recommended a flat slab shape. Kubrick approved, but was disappointed with the glassy appearance of the prop on set, leading art director Anthony Masters to suggest making the monolith black. The rejected acrylic monolith can be seen in St Katherine Dock, London, where it was hung in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's silver jubilee. Interestingly, the aspect ratio of the monolith (9:4) is the same as the rectangular holes in a standard Hollerith Twelve-Row Computer Punched Card (0.126:0.056).

Replicas
Replicas have been displayed in some places as a tribute to the movie:

 * During the Dutch Hackers at Large conference in 2001, a replica monolith was erected.

 * In Kerbal Space Program, players can find several monoliths scattered around the kerbolar system.
 * You can find similar looking monoliths on the moon and Mars in the game Space Engineers.

 * In 2016, a replica appeared at the NASA Ames Research Center.

 * In June 2020, a 4.5 meter tall wooden replica was found in the main courtyard of the École normale supérieure (ENS) University in Paris.
 * In the 2014 film Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan, two robots named TARS and CASE accompanies four NASA astronauts on their journey in the search of a new home for humanity.The robots have striking resemblance to the monoliths.
 * In Spore, players can use monoliths to increase the intelligence of creatures on other planets, allowing them to progress into the Space stage.

title: Monolith (Space Odyssey)