In the 1980s Roy Dias, the elegant right hander, was monumental in Sri Lanka’s maiden series victory in Test cricket. Alongside Roy Dias, the team was spearheaded by the two Ratnayakas, one of them being Romesh Ratnayake.
Amal Silva was the 3rd Sri Lankan to score a century at Lords. All these big names in the history of Sri Lankan cricket were nurtured and brought up within the walls of St Peter’s College. Russel Arnold, Malinda Warnapura, Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Angelo Perera are a few other Peterites who went all the way to earn national colors. With a rich cricketing history, St Peter’s College has been a humble servant of cricket in this beautiful island nation.
Season so far
The Peterites have had their ups and down this season but they are looking all fired up in the knockout stages of the Singer U19 Division 1 cricket tournament. Led by 4th year colorsman Vinu Mohotti, St Peter’s is yet to be beaten outright this season. They’ve only suffered first innings defeats on three occasions; against Dharmapala College, St Sebastian’s College and S Thomas’ College. With 6 outright wins against POW, DS Senanayake, President’s College, De Mazenod College, St Benedict’s College and Gurukula College. Their most recent 1st innings win against defending champions Trinity College in the league quarter final, sealed their spot in the top 4 this season.
Players to look out for
In the recent past St Peter’s have produced some really good spinners. Lakshan Rodrigo, Akshu Fernando, Julian De Zilva, Sahan Nanayakkara are a few of them. This year too the team consists of two brilliant spinners. Skipper Vinu Mohotti has led from the front, bowling his right arm off spinners and has taken 70 wickets so far with three 5 wicket hauls. He has also managed to do his part with the bat in the lower middle order scoring close to 350 runs in 19 innings with 3 half centuries. Right arm off spinner Taneesha Weerakoon has been the star with the ball for the Peterites with 87 wickets. His wicket tally consists of 8 five wicket hauls; his best been 7 for 27 against Nalanda College.
In the batting department there are a few names to look out for. Wicket keeper batsman, Lakshina Rodrigo is the highest run scorer for St Peter’s with a tally of 1016 runs from 24 innings. It was Dineth Hewathanthri who last reached the 1000 run milestone for St. Peter’s back in 2014, before Lakshina achieved it this season. 5 centuries and one half century proves that if he gets going he is a tough chap to get rid of. With his experience playing for the Sri Lanka U19s, the Peterites will depend on him to fire in the coming matches. He is closely followed by left hander Hashan Wanasekara. With two centuries and five half centuries under his belt this season, he has piled up 914 runs in 24 innings. All-rounder Manelka De Silva has done a brilliant job down the order with close to 560 runs under his belt, he has saved his team on many occasions when the top order failed to fire.
New Faces
Ranmith Jayasena in his first year plays the anchor role in the middle order. Left handed Ranmith has scored 734 runs, with one century and 4 half centuries under his name. Most of those runs were scored under immense pressure after seeing half of his side back in the pavilion. The opening pair of Inesh Fernando and Anishka Perera have also done a brilliant job up front for the Peterites. Both players have scored more than 400 runs each while Anishka was the first Peterite to score a century this season. Sadeesh Pathiranage playing in his first year has taken 25 wickets in 8 matches with one five wicket haul under his belt. He has played second fiddle to both Vinu and Taneesha in most matches.
People behind the scene
This year there have been a few changes in the coaching staff for St Peter’s College, with Malinda Warnapura taking over from Keerthi Gunaratne this year. Keerthi Gunaratne was a fine speedster who represented the school 1st XI in the late 1980’s, while Malinda Warnapura, who is another product of St Peter’s has served Sri Lanka in both Test and ODI cricket. His second in command Shanaka Fernando is in his 6th year at St Peter’s College. The two new additions this season are Manjuka Perera, as the fielding coach, and Manuka Goonaratne, as the physical trainer of the team. Sanath Chinthaka handles all the administrative work as the Master in Charge while another old Peterite Mahesh De Silva handles all the needs of the players as the team manager.
Final say
St. Peter’s fields a well-balanced side with in form batsmen from up the order all the way to the lower middle order. Not to forget their lethal spin bowling attack, the Peterites are proving to be one of the strongest contenders for this year’s league title. The only concern they have is the tendency of their middle order to collapse out of the blue, it has happened on a few occasions this season. After beating Trinity College in their league quarterfinal, they will be facing Isipathana College in the semi final during the coming weeks. They will take on their traditional rivals St Joseph’s College on the 4th and 5th of March for the Rev. Fr. Maurice Legoc trophy in the Battle of the Saints. This match promises to be a closely fought one and it will broadcasted live on www.thepapare.com.
