A former Sri Lanka U19 and St. Peter’s College opening batsman and wicket -keeper; has had the distinguished pleasure of representing his adopted country Canada in international cricket, he is Srimantha Adrian Wijeyeratne.
Srimantha along with his teammates are now hard at training for the upcoming World Cricket League Division 3 in Uganda, with an opportunity to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.
Wijeyeratne represented St.Peter’s College in all age groups and was fortunate enough to be a part of two all island championship teams; once in the U13 competition in 2001 and in 2006 in the U17 tournament, that time as the vice-captain of the team and the 1st XI team which he says was no easy task with St.Peter’s producing so many classy wicketkeepers, but once Wijeyeratne got his chance, he made the most out of it. In just his 3rd game, the stylist opener made a statement with a classy century against Ananda College that brought about a famous win, after 32 years against the very strong Maroons. As you would expect, this was one of the highlights of his early career.
Starting as young as 7 years of age, he was first coached by one of Sri Lanka’s most technically correct and eye-pleasing batsmen, Roy Dias, who Wijeyeratne credits with teaching him the ABCs of the game. Then at St.Peter’s his first coach was L.H Sunil, a man who had produced many championship teams and Prasanna Perera, who identified him as an opening batsman, a move his is still thankful for.
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Speaking of another person who impacted his life Wijeyeratne articulated‘’Roger Wijeysuriya coached me at St. Peter’s as well in the Sri Lankan U19 team. I think he was one of the best team coaches as he was able to motivate individuals and was able to bring out the best in us. I still remember the team meetings we had after practice, although they were terribly long, it was something I looked forward to. And last but not least Shanaka Fernando who many of us enjoyed working with. He was energetic and fun to be around’’. Wijeyeratne said.
When in school, playing the big match was every cricketer’s dream, Wijeyeratne was no different. ‘’Ever since I was a young kid, it was my dream to play the big match. And I was thrilled when that moment finally came. The lead up to the big day throughout the whole week was pretty amazing. Newspaper articles, pictures, school kids know who you are etc. made me feel like a celebrity. Obviously going into the oval I was really nervous, but as soon as I saw the scoreboard I was relaxed because they didn’t have enough room to put my name up and that brought a smile to my face. Standing in front of the main pavilion and singing the college anthem with my teammates gave me goosebumps and I had to pinch myself to make sure that this was really happening’’
In his first big match he made 79 in the second innings, and put on 130 valuable runs with captain Lahiru Peiris to save the game after being asked to follow on. Wijeyeratne said ‘’I remember going into lunch on the second day at 25/2; the food didn’t even taste that good mostly because I was imagining the worst’’. He described how Lahiru came into bat and was positive from the start, taking the pressure away from him as they were able to bat out the second session. Wijeyeratne was adjudged the best all-rounder of the encounter, which really shocked him because he thought Angelo Mathews would walk away with the award after smashing a quick fire 40 and getting 7-8 wickets.
The next encounter though was unforgettable for Wijeyeratne, but for all the wrong reasons.
“My second big match, I couldn’t even tell you what happened that day. We were just blown away and didn’t know what hit us. The game was done before lunch on the second day and we were hurting and didn’t know how we were going to come out of the dressing room, I hated that day. We let everyone down, our families, friends, a whole school and its supporters. Playing for St. Peter’s, we weren’t really used to losing so to lose that big match and to lose it after 37 years is definitely a low and something I never think of.” Wijeyeratne said.
Wijeyeratne’s school career in Sri Lanka was brought to a premature close when his family migrated to Canada.”It was a decision my parents made in 2003 but the process took a long time and we were given the green light in 2008 March. It was a decision my family made and although I didn’t accept it at first it was something I had to come to terms with. I remember the day we were flying to Canada, I had a game against St. Benedict’s in the 50 over tournament and ended up making a 100. It was really a great way to say goodbye to my teammates and my alma mater and I will never forget that day because it was a day filled with emotion which I had to battle through’’.
Fortunately for Wijeyeratne, his move to Canada did not spell the end of his aspirations in the sport. He first made his debut for Canada in 2012 against USA in the Auty cup which is reputed to be the first and longest running international sporting fixture. ‘’That tour didn’t go so well for me, didn’t do well in the two day game and I was dropped for the limited over games. After that I had to wait till 2015 to get my next opportunity and haven’t looked back since then. Playing for Canada has been a great experience for me and I have enjoyed every minute of it and take great pride in the country I represent.
Wijeyeratne along with his teammates are now hard at training for the upcoming World Cricket League Division 3 in Uganda, with an opportunity to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.“ Cricket in Canada is not in the same place it was 3-4 years ago. We lost a lot of great players through retirement and we’ve been demoted to division 3. We have a chance to put cricket in Canada in its rightful place in the next 12 months or so but we have to work really hard for it because it’s not going to be easy’’.
Wijeyeratne concluded with a traditional message to the boys. “Enjoy the big match atmosphere as a player until the umpire says “play” but once the first ball is bowled it’s only another game of cricket. Good luck to both the teams. I always believed that the Joe-Pete was the best big match, because even if it’s a draw it’s always an exciting draw.”
