With march madness finally here and the battle of the saints taking place for the 79th time at the P.Sara Oval TP caught up with former SJC skipper vidusha “Vidda” Jayasinghe.
After playing 54 matches for the 1st eleven side Vidusha finally had the chance to sit back and watch his mates play the biggest match of their school life.
Vidda started his cricketing journey at Darley road representing the under 13 A division side. His talent was noticed instantly and in the following year he was elected to play for the under 15 side as an important figure at the top of the order and as a chatty little bloke behind the stumps, looking for victims. It was at this time that Vidusha peaked and went on to represent the national under 14 as well as under 15 side. When asked if he remembers his first game for the under 19 Jjoes team he murmured, “I played my first ever 1st eleven match under the captaincy of Shameera Weerasinghe and I scored 27 runs, it was one of the happiest days of my life”.
When asked about vidushas past he had this to say, “ I was appointed as the under 17 cricket captain and with my good performances I played 3 big matches leading up to 2011. Later on in my final year and chapter with SJC I was given the honor of captaining the 1st eleven side for the 78th battle of the saints in my 4th year.”
“Last year things went well for us as we played 19 matches and won 3 outright victories, this also included 11 first innings victories but ..Unfortunately we lost the big match, which was one of the biggest disappointments of my cricketing life at Joes. In addition he said “I scored 500 plus runs and took 46 victims as the wicket keeper. However in my year as captain we were able to defeat St.sebestians College after 5 years which was one of our best achievements as a team”. Vidusha who guided SJC to victory managed to make a cracker of a century in that very game.
Talking about last year’s big match vidusha sadly said “well everything was going smoothly but a small disruption right at the ‘eleventh hour’ made last year’s big match a very disappointing one. I however together with my team gave the utmost we could have on those two days whilst trying to shake off the off-the-field activities that took place which clearly hindered our morale, and unfortunately we came up short. SPC did therefore deserve to win as they just out played us on both days and then at the 50overs a week later”.
When questioned about this year’s encounter vidusha explained that this year both the teams are very well balanced and from the peters camp the skipper dushanhemantha was the main man to look out for. He further added that “Sachin is leading the team very well and the likes of Arvindh(vc)andsadeeraour trump card have contributed pretty well and provided good support to the skipper. Also I think Yashan and our ‘Bullet’priyamal have improved heaps this season and could be factors to be considered. So far our highest run scorer and future star Dylan Fernandopulle has notched up 600 plus runs and hopefully he will continue his form into the big match. With the ball of course we have our ever smiling Fabian who will look to spearhead the fast bowlers.Whatever said at the end of the day even though Joes may go as the underdogs, at the Oval when you’re in the middle it’s such a different ball game and depends on a player’s temperament and ability to grasp the magnitude of the occasion… You can be the best of players but you still need to go out in front of everyone and prove to the crowd that you are. If the Peterites are able to do that then they will have the advantage, If SJC is able to do it then get ready for a surprising result. All in all it will be a close one as both teams are equally matched in my opinion.”
Finally Vidusha had this to say “I just hope that the game will be played in great sprit as the Joe pete is all about 2 sets of brothers playing the gentlemen’s game. I would like to wish SJC and SPC all the very best and may the best team come on top. ”
