MAROONS OF THE PAST DECADE

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Category: Features

Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 01:35

Written by Achala Ramanayake

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Ananda College and Nalanda College can be considered paramount institutes that have produced the majority of cricketing talent to the nation and this contribution made by these two legendary institutions for the cricketing arena could not be matched by any other school in the country.

Since obtaining Test status, players produced by both Ananda and Nalanda played a key role in the progress of Sri Lanka Cricket.  A majority of the cricketers in the national teams have been from these two institutions which have produced young talented and well disciplined cricketers. Furthermore, it is no exaggeration to say that these two schools are capable of raising two teams of Test cricketers from their respective schools.

Thus far Ananda and Nalanda have had the honor of producing numerous cricketing giants to the national teams. Among the cricketers produced by Ananda are Arjuna Ranatunga, Anuruddha Polonnowita, Bonnie Wijesinghe, Sarath Wijesinghe, Sonny Yatawara, Sidath Wettimuni, Marvan Atapattu, Aviska Gunawardena, Thilan Samaraweera and Thilina Kandambi. While Nalanda also has  produced players in the caliber of Bandula Warnapura, Anura Ranasinghe, Jayantha Seneivrathne, Lalith Kaluperuma, Kumar Dharmasena, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinghe,Gamini Wicrkramasinghe and Mahela Jayewardena.

We at Thepapare have considered several players who played their heart & soul out and made a difference in the last decade for their respective alma-mater. When taking the last decade in to consideration there were a  number of talented young players produced by both these institutes, but there are several extraordinary gifted players who stood a cut above the rest, from Ananda; Thilina Kandamby, Mahela Udawatta, Dinesh Chandimal and Charith Jayaweera could be considered as such players that emerged in the last decade, while for Nalanda Gihan Rupasingha, Sachithra Senanayaka, Ashan Priyanjana and Dilshan Munaweera were those that stood out within the decade and even after their school careers they lived up to expectations and not surprisingly they are all contracted players under Sri Lanka Cricket. Apart from Thilina Kandamby, Mahela Udawatta, Sachithra Senanayaka, Gihan Rupasinghe and Dinesh Chandimal who have already made their presence felt in the international scene, all the others are yet to earn national colours.

Each individual has proved his prowess from a very young age and showed characteristics of becoming great players whom now have grown from strength to perform their very best at a national level and have made their presence felt in the local cricketing arena. Here are some of the facts about these talented young cricketers whom are at the verge of making the international scene to make Sri Lanka proud.

For Ananda College

Thilina Kandamby -

The 28 year old Thilina Kandamby is a cricketer who showed great characteristics of becoming one of the finest players as a schoolboy at Ananda College. As a schoolboy cricketer he showed a great temperament and his talents as a youngster was highlighted during this period. Unfortunately he could not capitalize on the chances he got in the local arena as well as in the international cricketing arena.

He holds the highest individual score ever of 144 in the traditional battle of the Maroons’ encounter which he made in 1999. The following year was his best performance in school cricket, aggregating 940 runs from 12 matches and was selected as the captain of the Sri Lanka youth team that toured Australia. In that tournament he won the man of the series deservingly for his valuable and sterling performances. He paved his way gradually to the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side, where he toured to New Zealand. He was picked for Sri Lanka’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2004 and was part of the playing eleven on regular occasions but a lack of consistency meant he was dropped from national duties. In an attempt to win back his place, he took over the captaincy of Bloomfield in 2004 and thrice scored ninety in the Premier League. In 2005-06, he won the Premier limited over’s Man-of-the-Tournament award.

The retirement of Russell Arnold after the 2007 World Cup opened up a spot for him but he had to wait over a year for a recall. He returned to Zimbabwe and scored a crucial 40 in a low-scoring game to set up the victory and tried his level best to match up to expectations. In the recent past he has been part of the squad for the Sri Lankan national side and contributed some valuable knocks when needed and was able regain his lost form and convince the national selectors to give him another shot, but unfortunately once again the lack of consistency ruled him out from the final world cup squad.

Mahela Udawatta -

Mahela Udawatte the hard hitting prolific run-getter captained the Ananda College 1st XI team in 2003, during the season he was able to showcase his talents as a top-order batsman however he was not immediately recognized and was overlooked for the Sri Lankan Under-19 team in 2003 despite scoring more than 1000 runs for his school that season with several half tons under his name. It was not only a successful year for Udawatte but was an equally flourishing year for Ananda as well, as he led his team to register five comprehensive wins against some top teams.

He got his break after he joined Chilaw Marians SC straight after school as he got promoted to open the batting purely on his known aggressive style of batting. He made full use of the opportunity given and reeled off three hundreds in five matches in the 2004-05 U-23 tournament, and was rewarded with a place in the Development Squad. He soon made it into the A team for the tour to England in 2007 after top-scoring for his club in the Premier final against SSC in 2005-06, making 67 out of 172. A powerful and attacking batsman who likes to take on the quick bowlers, Udawatte is seen as a future prospect for the Sri Lanka one-day side, perhaps as a replacement for Sanath Jayasuriya. Rated highly by experts in Sri Lanka, Udawatte earned a call-up to the national squad for the tour of the West Indies in 2008.

Dinesh Chandimal –

Dinesh Chandimal could be considered as one of the most gifted cricketers in the local arena in the past decade who has shown the capability of becoming a brilliant cricketer from a very young age.  He first started his cricketing career at Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and after coming over to Ananda, not only did Chandimal’s cricketing career progress immensely but also he was well identified and coached to make full use of his talent.

He captained the under-17 team and proved his capabilities and talents at Ananda and he was appointed as the 1st XI captain in 2008-2009 and was also the vice-captain of the Sri Lanka under-19 team. In the year 2009, he achieved the most prestigious schools’ cricket award as he became the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. It was a memorable year not only for Dinesh but also for Ananda as he led his team to a record 12 wins in a season rewriting the history books.

The previous record of 9 wins was by St. Joseph’s College in 2006. An important milestone Chandimal reached during this season was when he became the first schoolboy cricketer to reach any batsman’s dream of the magical, one thousand run-mark scoring 1,580 runs to be precise  making him one of the highest run getters’ in a season. He was able to earn a reputation as the ‘run machine’ of Ananda College and left a lasting impression with some memorable innings. He proved his talents behind the stumps as a smart wicket keeper, having 64 victims under his name during the season. Shortly after completing a prolific school season, Chandimal was invited to join NCC by Kumar Sangakkara. Chandimal was only 19 when he scored his maiden first-class century against New Zealand in 2009, representing Sri Lanka Crickets Development XI in two three-day practice matches where he grabbed the attention of the national selectors. He was among the leading run-getters in Sri Lanka's interprovincial twenty20 competition, and won a call-up to the national side for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010 and did reasonably well with the given opportunity. His stand out performance in the international scene was his maiden century against the Indians in his third one day international where he made 111 runs in 118 balls.

This matured innings made his presence felt in the international arena. Therefore young Chandimal could be considered more as a reliable player in terms of his maturity in playing and the ability to adjust to all situations and most importantly he has shown plenty of talent with his admirable leadership skills. He has proven that he is a player to be watched and honed on for the sake of Sri Lankan Cricket.

For Nalanda College

Gihan Rupasinghe –

The 24 year old genuine all-rounder captained the Nalanda 1st XI team in 2005/06 cricket season,  and had the rare privilege of becoming the Sunday observer – Bata school boy cricketer in the same year becoming the fourth player from Nalanda to achieve this award. He performed exceptionally well throughout that season.

That season the stylish left-hander was able to score 910 runs which included three centuries and seven half tons with an average above 50, he just missed out on the dream mark of a 1000 runs in a season. With his leg breaks he captured nearly 50 wickets with 4 five wicket hauls. Rupasinghe, had the honour of playing for the Sri Lanka Schools under-17 team at the Asian Schools Cricket Tournament held in Sri Lanka in 2002 and toured with the Sri Lanka under-19 cricket team to Pakistan in 2005. He was also in the Under-19 World Cup Squad in 2004 which was played in Sri Lanka.

This proud product of Nalanda, has a reputation in the domestic circuit for being a big hitter in the middle order and a handy all-rounder who can bowl decent leg spins. He is currently representing Tamil Union Cricket Club as his home club and playing for Basnahira South as his provincial side as well as being a member of the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team and has performed to his level best in all aspects. He was the second-highest scorer for Tamil Union in the Premier League tournament in 2008-09 and his first-class return that season with 945 runs was an eye catching performance where he was able to get the attention of the selectors. He was elevated to the A team and scored two half-centuries in the unofficial tests against Pakistan ‘A’ which paved the path to being selected in  to Sri Lanka's Twenty20 squad against the touring New Zealanders in 2009 where he made his international debut for Sri Lanka.

Ashan Priyanjana –

Ashan Priyanjan is one of the most stylish right-hand top-order batsman and useful part time seamers that Nalanda has ever produced. He was known from a very young age for his elegant batting and made some voluble contributions with the bat to his alma-mater.

He performed exceptionally well during the 2007/08 school cricket season where he was appointed as the captain of the Sri Lanka Under-19 team  for the youth World Cup.

Within the Same year at Nalanda he held the responsibility as Madhawa Warnappura’s deputy.  He made his one-day debut for Bloomfield just a couple of months before the tournament, following some impressive all-round performances with the U-19 side.

He was also a member of the 2006 U-19 World Cup squad. Priyanjan is another player who has grabbed the attention of the national selectors with his vibrant performances in both premier tournaments as well as in the provincial tournaments also he was able to show his class and took fullest advantage of the given opportunities by the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team and now is at the verge of making it into the national side.

Dilshan Munaweera –

The explosive right-hand batsman Munaweera is another gifted cricketer that Nalanda has produced in the recent past. During his school days he used to bat in the middle order playing with much responsibility.

But his revolutionary career began when he started to open  batting, as he loves to hit the ball hard and go after the bowlers, becoming an opener matched his style of play. During his school cricketing career he was a genuine all-rounder player for almost three years. In 2008 Dilshan scored over 500 runs in just 5 matches which earned him a position in the Sri Lanka youth team for the world cup and performed exceptionally well with some brilliant match winning knocks. One of his most memorable innings was against Australia as he scored 48 runs of just 24 balls as an opening batsman which laid the platform to win the match for Sri Lanka. It was a historic win for Sri Lanka as it was after 8 long years that that a youth team had beaten an Australian under 19 team.

Dilshan won the Player of the tournament award in both the Under 23 Premier league and the Limited over’s format and also outshined all the Sri Lanka team stars with his fantastic performance to be adjudged as the best batsman of Sri Lanka’s biggest domestic tournament, the Premier four-day inter provincial tournament. This earned him a position in the T-20 squad that represented Sri Lanka for SAG. If Munaweera lives up to his expectations and performs consistently he will definitely get an opportunity to represent Sri Lanka in the near future to make mother Nalanda proud once again.

 

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