Sports

Gamini de Silva on life as Bangladesh’s curator

Published

4 months ago

2025/11/14

Priyan

Gamini de Silva is leaving Bangladesh after a 16-year career [Cricbuzz]

Curator Gamini de Silva is a familiar name in Bangladesh’s cricket fraternity, best known for preparing the low and slow wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Many believe he was one of the key architects behind Bangladesh’s Test wins over England and Australia, working alongside then head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, whose plans proved too difficult for the visitors to handle. After 16 years of service, Gamini has now left Bangladesh, and before his departure he sat down with Cricbuzz to share his side of the story.

Here are the excerpts:

How was the chemistry between you and Hathurusingha? It was a major talking point because both of you made important contributions to Bangladesh cricket, including the England win, the Australia win and several others. How do you look back on that period?

Hathurusingha is a good friend of mine. We played together when we were around 14 or 15. After I retired, I started umpiring in Sri Lanka while he was still playing. Later, when I became a curator in Sri Lanka, he was coaching clubs and the Sri Lanka A team. After I came here, he came here as the Head Coach. So it was very easy to work with him because we understood each other’s needs. I followed what he said because I knew he was not saying it for his own benefit. He wanted to develop cricket and the main aim was to win matches. Once we started winning, the whole world realised that Bangladesh cricket was improving. We won at home and we won abroad as well. That was the change. Working with him was very easy.

You are often criticised for many things. I want to clear up one point. The wicket or the pitch, you prepare it based on what the team management wants. Is that correct?

The correct words are home board advantage. When I studied the curator course in England, the manual also clearly said that home board advantage is always there when you play cricket at home.

So the captain wants it, the coaches want it, and you prepare the pitch accordingly?

I have to. As you said, it is not my personal property. The advantage should be with the home team.

There has also been criticism that by preparing these kinds of wickets, you have damaged Bangladesh’s batting. Do you agree?

When we played and practiced, and when we worked on different scenarios, I prepared the practice pitches exactly the way the players wanted. Whatever they needed for match preparation was specifically for the match. If they wanted a practice surface with extra bounce or a grassy track, I arranged that. When they were about to tour other countries, I prepared practice wickets similar to what they would face abroad. So the practice conditions were always created according to their needs before they travelled.

Another major criticism during your tenure was that some players complained you did not allow them to practice. How do you respond to that?

The players have contracts with the BCB. The board pays their salaries every month, and my job is to fully look after them. Whatever they asked for in terms of practice, I arranged it. But if someone is not under contract, what can I do? I cannot give them a contract myself. When a player is under contract, I am fully with them.

How do you see the facilities in Bangladesh cricket?

The facilities are okay, but the grounds need to be developed. The number of tournaments is increasing, but the number of grounds is not.

And is that why the Mirpur wicket suffers, because it is overused?

If you visit the academy ground on any day, you will find a team playing. One team finishes, another starts. The ground stays busy throughout the year, and the national team often uses it as well. Earlier, we had only red-ball cricket, but now there is white-ball cricket too. In the past, there was just one team. Now we have three: one each for Tests, ODIs and T20s. Earlier, the same players played all formats, but now it is divided, which means the game has expanded. Before, we needed only one pitch. Now we need three. So the only solution is to increase the number of grounds and pitches.

How many days in a year is the Mirpur ground used for matches?

Let me give you an example. Melbourne was built 148 years ago, and in all that time it has hosted only around 160 matches. In comparison, Mirpur has hosted 218 international matches in just 19 years. Can you believe that? This is the number one ground in the world in terms of international matches played in such a short period. I managed all of that. If I had said no, what would have happened? Where would Bangladesh cricket be? The ICC might have questioned whether we had enough grounds or whether we could even prepare pitches suitable for international cricket. But I did everything on behalf of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. I did not look for anything else, I just did my job. That is why I am happy. I think most people in Bangladesh will also be proud that, in such a short time, we have hosted more international matches here than anywhere else. That is how it was made possible.

There is a belief that you used dead grass on wickets. Is that correct?

Yes. We studied this. If your pitch has no grass, it becomes only clay. If you play a match on pure clay from the very first ball, the pitch is finished immediately.

Why could grass not be grown here?

When you play a Test match, a single pitch endures around 90 overs a day for five days. By the end of that, the surface and the grass lose all their strength and need at least two months to recover. During that period, we use the other pitches for matches while keeping some covered to protect them. That makes daily preparation extremely difficult, especially for the pitch that has just been used.

The grass roots also need to grow at least three to four inches deep to hold the clay together. If the roots are not deep enough, the surface breaks apart. It is not an easy job. As curators, we always monitor the weather forecast to decide how much water to apply. Sometimes the forecast says only a 20 percent chance of rain and then it rains the whole day, and that completely changes how the pitch behaves.

At times we plan for a pitch to start turning after three and a half days, so we keep some moisture in it for the first few days. But when the sun is too strong, the moisture disappears quickly and the ball starts turning from day two. These things are beyond our control. Sunlight and weather can completely alter our plans. No curator in the world can claim to be 100 percent successful. Anyone who says that is lying, because conditions change everywhere.

Do you talk to Litton, Miraz or Shanto before a game?

They are happy. They come and look at the pitch and say, “Oh Gamini, this one is for me. Thank you.” And then they get the results. That is why I am happy. They are performing, and they are world-class now.

Around the world, certain grounds naturally suit certain types of bowlers. In India some venues favour spin, while in England and Australia some are known for pace. Do you think the same logic should apply to Mirpur, that it is naturally a spin-friendly venue and should be left that way instead of constantly trying to change it? And if Bangladesh need to prepare for conditions like South Africa, should those matches simply be scheduled in Chittagong or Sylhet instead of trying to make Mirpur something it is not?

That should be the way, yes. As I have said before, the first thing we need to do is increase the number of grounds. If we have more venues, we can manage everything properly. For example, if we want to prepare a high-bounce track, we can do it here. That is not the issue. The real issue is the lack of grounds.

If Purbachal becomes fully operational, it will help a lot. Unfortunately, Fatullah went under water and we lost two venues there. Right now, almost all our domestic tournaments depend on Mirpur. During the BPL, all eight teams practise here. We have 20 to 30 matches every year, and the ground is used for nearly a month just for that tournament. On top of that, there are four-day games, the National League, international matches, high-performance camps and now women’s cricket as well. We have to accommodate everyone. I cannot simply say no, because where will they play?

As a curator, you have to understand the facilities available. When I came here in 2009, I studied what facilities existed and how much cricket was being played. Over the years, the number of teams and tournaments has grown. We now have three formats, and each one requires its own preparation. All three teams often have to train at the same venue, which creates challenges. If we had more wickets and more grounds, it would be manageable. That is how other countries do it. They have enough facilities to spread the load.

But do you think the overall environment also plays a big role in preparing a wicket? Would bringing clay or materials from far outside the country really produce the desired results?

Our locally available black clay in Bangladesh contains a bit more sand. So during the hot season, it becomes very difficult to maintain the pitch without grass.

Will it help bringing clay thing clay from outside?

I proposed this in 2011. All the paperwork was completed, but the government did not grant permission due to environmental and other issues. Bringing clay from outside would be a good solution. Pakistan has very good clay, and Dubai also uses Pakistan clay, which many countries import. That clay is better than what we have here. Another problem is that in Bangladesh, there is only one supplier of black clay, and sometimes he says it won’t be available that year.

[Cricbuzz]

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Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav among ESPNcricinfo award winners for 2025

Published

3 hours ago

2026/03/12

Priyan

We're all winners here: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues won big in 2025 [Cricinfo]

India’s players swept all the women’s categories in ESPNcricinfo’s annual awards for individual performances in 2025, reflecting a year in which the team won their first World Cup title.

While Jemimah Rodrigues won the women’s ODI batting honours for her awe-inspiring, cramp-battling century that knocked Australia out of the World Cup. Deepti Sharma grabbed the ODI bowling award for her match turning five for in the final against South Africa. And Harmanpreet Kaur took the captain’s award for winning the world title and for sealing white-ball series (ODIs and T20Is) in England and winning her second WPL title with Mumbai Indians. Her title clinching 66in the WPL final against Delhi Capitals took the women’s T20 leagues batting award.

South Africa Women had to deal with the bitter heartbreak of losing yet another World Cup final, but the men, who for long fell agonizingly short of the big prizes, took home the World Test Championship, eating Australia by five wickets in the final at Lord’s. They were rewarded by our jurors too:Aiden Markram won the Test batting award for his epic fourth-innings hundred in that final, while Temba Bavuma, who made a vital 66 while nursing a hamstring injury during that chase, was picked as the men’s captain of the year for leading his side to the WTC mace, to a sweep of India in Tests in India, and for ODI series wins in Australia and England.

Fast bowler Marco Jansen, one of the bowling architects of South Africa’s 2-0 win in India, narrowly lost the Test bowling award to the incandescent Mitchell Starc, who decimated England with 7 for 58 in Perth on the opening day of the Ashes.

Another seven-for took the men’s T20 leagues bowling award: Taskin Ahmed’s 7 for 19 fro Durbar Rajshahi against Dhakar Capital in the BPL. The batting prize in that category went to Hobart Hurricanes opener Mitchell Owen, whose 39 ball century against Sydney Thunder – which equalled the tournament record for the fastest hundred – took his side to their maiden BBL title.

The women’s T20 leagues bowling award, like the one for batting, also came against Delhi Capitals in the WPL: 21-year-old UP Warriorz fast bowler Kranti Gaud, in her first season, took 4 for 25, including the wickets of Rodrigues, Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma.

The Champions Trophy was the headline event in men’s cricket in 2025 and the winning ODI performances came from that tournament: in Lahore, Ibrahim Zadran broke records for the highest individual score for Afghanistan in ODIs and for the highest score in the Champions Trophy overall with his majestic 177, which knocked England out of the tournament. The ODI bowling award was picked up by India legspinner Varun Chakravarthy who took 5 for 42 against New Zealand in Dubai, where a week later India won the Champions Trophy.

Six months later, at the same ground, India also won the T20 Asia Cup. In the final against Pakistan, the dismantler-in-chief was our men’s T20I bowling award winner, another legspinner, Kuldeep Yadav, who took 4 for 30, including three wickets in his final over.

The men’s T20I batting award went to England’s Phil Salt, whose 141 not out off 60 balls against South Africa at Old Trafford was not only England’s fastest T20I hundred, but also their highest individual score in the format; and it took them to their highest team total – 304.

Australian allrounder Beau Webster, who scored four half-centuries, including a series-sealing one in his first Test, in Sydney against India, and took eight wickets in seven Tests, was named the men’s debutant of the year. The women’s debutant award went to India fast bowler N Shree Charani who showed remarkable temperament at the age of 20 to pick up a four for on T20I debut in England. She went on to take 14 wickets in the ODI World Cup, second highest for India after Deepti.

Charani, like Harmanpreet, won two awards. Her other one, for women’s T20I bowling, came for her four wickets against England at Trent Bridge, in a match where opener Smriti Mandhana’s maiden T20I hundred played a vital role in setting up India’s win. Mandhana won the women’s T20I batting award for that performance.

The men’s Associate batting award went to Max O’Dowd for masterminding Netherlands’ 370-run chase – the third-highest successful one in all ODIs -against Scotland in Dundee. His 158 not out came off only 130 balls and trumped George Munsey’s 191 in the same match. The men’s Associate bowling award was picked up by seamer Harry Manenti, whose 5 for 31 against Scotland in the qualifier in The Hague, played a big role in Italy qualifying for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

THE JURY : Ian Bishop, Sambit Bal, Shane Bond, Aakash Chopra, Andrew Fernando, Andy Flower, Nagraj Gollapudi, Mohammad Isam, Isobel Joyce, Raunak Kapoor, Nick Knight, Farveez Maharoof, Andrew McGlashan, Andrew Miller, Sidharth Monga, Tom Moody, Firdose Moonda, Urooj Mumtaz, Vernon Philander, Matt Roller, Osman Samiuddin, Dale Steyn

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Look out for Rehan and Reshon

Published

16 hours ago

2026/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rehan Peiris scored a century for Royal at the last edition.

All eyes will be on two outstanding batsmen — Rehan Peiris and Reshon Soloman — when arch rivals Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia clash in the historic Battle of the Blues which begins at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground today.

‎Royal will be out all guns blazing in a determined bid to regain the shield they lost to their traditional rivals last year. The Reid Avenue boys enter the contest with confidence that their batting unit, led by skipper Rehan Peiris, can provide them with a strong foundation.

‎Rehan was the standout performer for Royal in the previous encounter, scoring a memorable century to spearhead their batting effort. In that match Royal boldly declared in the second innings to set their opponents a realistic target, adding further excitement to the contest.

‎This season too Rehan has been in exceptional form, amassing more than 900 runs at an average close to 50 — one of the most impressive batting tallies in the ongoing school cricket season. He will receive solid support from Sri Lanka Under-19 captain Vimath Dinsara and the promising Ramiru Perera as Royal look to dominate with the bat.

‎Royal have also strengthened their bowling attack by recruiting spinner Himaru Deshan from Holy Cross College Kalutara, adding variety and depth to their bowling resources.

‎Meanwhile, the Thomians will largely depend on the batting prowess of Reshon Soloman. He made a strong impression in the last edition of the big match and carries even greater responsibility this year.

‎

Reshon Soloman

Reshon has been among the most consistent performers this season, scoring close to 800 runs which include centuries against St. Anthony’s College Katugastota and Mahinda College Galle. Interestingly, not many speak about his earlier move from St. Peter’s College Colombo, but his performances have certainly made him one of the key players to watch in this encounter.

‎With two prolific run-scorers set to take centre stage, an absorbing contest is on the cards as Royal and S. Thomas’ renew one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated school cricket rivalries. ‎

Sports

The 147th Royal–Thomian and 175 Years of the School by the Sea

Published

16 hours ago

2026/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

There can be no auspicious moment to celebrate life, foster humanity and work towards peace or prosperity. Sadly, we live in times where the energies of violence unleashed have sent tremors of anxiety and foreboding to all corners of the world even as they maim, kill and destroy.

One can only hope that sanity will soon prevail and that there will be a cessation of hostilities before more innocent lives are lost. In moments such as this the world would do well to remember that the preservation of human life needs to be the foremost objective. Sri Lanka itself recently reminded the world of this simple but powerful truth when lives were saved during the incidents involving Iranian vessels off our shores. One hopes that the global community will learn from such acts of humanity and choose compassion over conflict.

Such against-the-grain acts are sadly little more than a drop in an enormous ocean of discontent. We applaud and then slip into despair. At such times, in particular, we take refuge in what might have been and indeed what has transpired — those happy carefree moments where the only weapons sanctioned was friendly if caustic banter between friendly rivals. That’s what the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter is all about.

Royal College, Colombo, and S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia will do battle for three days, from the 12th to the 14th of March, for the 147th consecutive year. And every year something quite remarkable happens to thousands of otherwise sensible men. They begin discussing school cricket with the seriousness normally reserved for matters of state, diplomacy and occasionally national elections. This year’s encounter is extra special for the present and past students of S. Thomas’ College, that inimitable ‘School by the Sea,’ because it coincides with the institution’s 175th anniversary.

Royalists would be quick to raise objections, but it is abundantly clear to me that S. Thomas’ is the more distinguished and refined of the two schools. It is my conviction that many honest Royalists quietly accept this incontrovertible truth, although they may do so only after the second drink at the Royal Thomian!

A good example of the deep respect Royalists have for S. Thomas’ can be seen in our good friend Rajind Ranatunga, an Old Royalist, who wisely sent both his sons to Mount Lavinia. One of them went on to become Head Prefect of S. Thomas’, which is no small achievement for the Ranatunga family. It demonstrates, if nothing else, that Royalists recognise quality when they see it. Indeed, I have long harboured the suspicion that former president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who now wears the colours of Royal College, blue and gold, quite proudly, would have preferred to attend S. Thomas’ if it were up to him. His parents decided otherwise and so he had to settle for a school whose main claim to glory was playing a cricket match against S. Thomas’!

But jokes aside, the Royal–Thomian is one of the greatest events in our social calendar. It is not merely a cricket match. It is a reunion, a carnival, a festival of friendship and nostalgia. A spectacle unmatched.

The camaraderie of the Royal–Thomian is something difficult to explain to outsiders. It is something that must be experienced. Over the years I have spoken about this match so often that several of my foreign friends have eventually decided they must come and see what this mysterious event is all about. Some have travelled all the way from overseas simply to witness the spectacle of thousands of otherwise respectable adults behaving like carefree, unruly and even crude schoolboys again. This year two close Malaysian friends will join me; I am sure they will return home slightly puzzled but thoroughly entertained.

For three days the match becomes a carnival. Families gather, friendships are renewed, stories are told for the hundredth time and still raise loud guffaws. Royalists and Thomians sit side by side, arguing passionately about cricket while secretly enjoying each other’s company.

For me personally, the Royal–Thomian also carries memories of dear friends who are no longer with us. I will once again miss my friends Johann Wijesinghe and Suresh Gunasekera who enjoyed the Royal–Thomian like few others could or have and with whom I attended the match many times. These are the friendships that make the Royal–Thomian special.

Some people enjoy the Royal–Thomian with extraordinary enthusiasm, particularly the third-generation Thomians who approach the match with the seriousness of military strategists and the enthusiasm of schoolboys who have just discovered freedom. But this year there is another reason for reflection. Yes, S. Thomas’ College celebrates its 175th year.

Now the Royal Thomian has all kinds of tents for spectators. There are the ‘boys’ tents’ for school boys. The ‘Mustangs’ is the oldest of the tents and is essentially for the older of the old boys. An exclusive club, one might say. At some point some younger and yet ‘old’ old boys formed the ‘Colts.’ Then came the Stallions. Now it’s full of horses: Thoroughbreds, Broncos, Warmbloods etc., and there’s even ‘The Stables!’ I am now a member of the Mustangs. When I joined my good friend Varuna Botejue told me, “Now this is your last tent: the next tent you can get membership for will be the Borella Kanatte Tent.’ That’s the biggest cemetery in Colombo! That’s the Royal-Thomian for you: we can even laugh at impending death! I found it absolutely amusing but it also gave me flashbacks about how much we used to enjoy the Royal Thomian from school days and how time has passed in a remarkable way. It refreshed my mind about how excited we were and how one of the finest friendships developed.

For those of us who were fortunate enough to attend the school by the sea, the lessons we learned there have remained with us throughout our lives. S. Thomas’ did not simply teach us mathematics, history or cricket. It taught us something far more important. It taught us friendship, loyalty and the courage to stand by what is right, even when doing so is not easy and even when it may be unpopular. Those lessons have helped many of us face some rather difficult moments in life.

Looking back now, the times we spent at Mount Lavinia were among the finest of our lives. Friendships birthed and nurtured in school have a special quality. School friends know you at your best and occasionally at your worst. They know your strengths, your weaknesses and most importantly your stories. Of course, life also brings other friendships, wonderful friendships formed later in life that become part of our journey. But school friendships have a foundation that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.

And that, perhaps, is what the Royal–Thomian ultimately celebrates. Not just cricket. Not just rivalry. But friendship. After 147 years, the Royal–Thomian remains one of the most remarkable traditions in Sri Lankan life; a celebration of youth, camaraderie and the enduring bond between Royalists and Thomians. In fact, in my experience, it’s only Royalists and Thomians who virtually beat each other up to settle bills. ‘Friendly rivalry’ just doesn’t do justice to the bonds between the schools and those who walk through the respective portals. Ours exude grandeur, theirs do not, but we don’t hold the fact against any Royalist.

And as for the result of the match this year, we Thomians remain cautiously optimistic. After all, we are a generous school. We occasionally allow Royal to win, simply to keep the rivalry interesting.

By Krishantha Prasad Cooray