Sports
Prabath Jayasuriya – from unfit, overweight, lazy spinner to record breaker
by Rex Clementine
Last year when Lasith Embuldeniya was injured, Prabath Jayasuriya was next in line to make his Test debut against Bangladesh. The news was leaked that he had failed the two kilometer fitness test and had become ineligible for selections. The press went to town. Quietly, Prabath reached out to reporters to inform them that he had not failed the kilometer run, but in fact his skin folds were over the limit. He didn’t twist the knife in anger in telling reporters that they had got it totally wrong. He gently passed on what had taken place. The reporters had failed to adhere to Tyron Devotta’s golden rule in journalism, ‘check, double check and check again.’
Prabath was never able to fix his skinfolds problem. The selectors were on the war path. He was ineligible for selection. Their policy of our way or the highway had served little purpose with quite a few players quitting early. It was a crying shame as the likes of Dilruwan Perera and Thisara Perera had so much to offer the game.
Sometimes no matter how arrogant and resentful you are, there are forces that are more powerful than you. When COVID hit the Sri Lankan camp forcing the team to isolate four players, the selectors were left with Hobson’s choice but to turn back to Prabath Jayasuriya. Their much publicized fitness regime has become a laughing stock. It’s as good as Gota’s one country one law.
In the first Test, when the pitch offered much assistance for spinners, Lasith Embuldeniya and the rest were wayward. Sri Lanka suffered a heavy ten wicket defeat.
Jayasuriya is a veteran in First Class cricket. While among the left-arm spinners, the overwhelming favourite to make his debut in the second Test was Dunith Wellalage given his brilliant start in international cricket. But skipper Dimuth Karunaratne backed Jayasuriya as he knew that here was someone who could keep things tight.
That’s exactly what Jayasuriya did. Australia had swept and reverse swept to good effect in the first Test against the wayward Sri Lankan bowling. But when the bowling was accurate in the second Test, the sweep was going to backfire and it did. Jayasuriya finished with a new Sri Lankan record for best figures by a debutant in Test match cricket. His 12 for 177 is also now the fourth best figures in the history of Test match cricket. A remarkable achievement.
Many of our spinners be it Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath or even the great Muttiah Muralitharan have matured after 30 years. Age should not be a factor to determine whether a player is good enough to play at the highest level. Jayasuriya did it when chips were down and that too against world’s number one ranked team. You just get the feeling that he’s going to win you a lot more Test matches moving forward.
Shammi Silva has once again taken guard at the top of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), securing a fourth consecutive term as President at the Annual General Meeting, held amidst much fanfare at Colombo’s Cinnamon Grand Hotel yesterday.
Already calling the shots as President of the Asian Cricket Council, Silva’s crowning achievement in recent years has been bringing the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup to Sri Lankan shores. The marquee tournament will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India next year, a feather in the cap for the country’s cricket administrators.
Silva’s administration has made a concerted effort to bridge the yawning gap between domestic and international cricket. One of the bold strokes in this innings has been trimming the number of First-Class teams – a move aimed at upping the quality and sharpening the edge of domestic cricket.
SLC Ex-Co also played a straight bat when it comes to developing cricket beyond Colombo’s city limits. High Performance Centres have sprung up across the outstations, rolling out the red carpet for raw talent from the hinterlands, who had previously been left in the pavilion.
The school cricket circuit too has been given a shot in the arm, with infrastructure development and skill enhancement taking centre stage. By strengthening the grassroots, the current administration hopes to widen the talent pool and unearth future stars of the game.
SLC’s balance sheet tells its own story – healthy and in the black. Over the past five years, the board’s financial stability has not only benefited cricket, but has also allowed it to lend a helping hand to other sports disciplines, at the request of the Ministry of Sports.
With over three decades of experience under his belt as a sports administrator, Shammi Silva is the long-serving President of the Colombo Cricket Club (CCC), one of the game’s oldest institutions in the country.
The 64th AGM was largely a case of “same XI, new season,” with only one notable change to the playing field – Secretary Mohan de Silva making way for seasoned campaigner Bandula Dissanayake. No stranger to the inner workings of SLC, Dissanayake has previously chaired the Tournament and Umpires Committees, and brings a wealth of experience to the table.
Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa and former First-Class player Ravin Wickramaratne retained their Vice-President slots, while Sujeewa Godaliyadda continues to hold the Treasurer’s post. Chryshantha Kapuwatta and Lasantha Wickremasinghe will once again don the hats of Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, respectively.
The election, part of SLC’s biannual cycle, was overseen and greenlit by the Election Committee chaired by retired Court of Appeal Justice Malani Gunaratne.
Vidyaloka College fought back on the back of a valuable century by Nimesh Aavinda to pull off two wickets victory over Kingswood in the Under 19 Division II Tier ‘B’ cricket tournament final played at Saliyapura, Anuradhapura on Monday.
Vidyaloka had a deficit of 36 runs in the first innings but a combined effort helped them restrict Kingswood to 161 runs in the second essay. They were left with a target of 198 runs to chase. And they achieved it with Nimesh Aavinda top scoring with 115 runs.
Scores
Kingswood
227 all out in 83.3 overs (Chanul Kodituwakku 33, Aadil Sheriff 69, Kavija Gamage 25, Nikeshala Nanayakkara 56; Seniru Ninduwara 4/74, Lidula Nuwanga 2/58, Nimesh Aavinda 2/48, Pulindu Chamuditha 2/19) and 161 all out in 65.3 overs (Kavija Gamage 57, Nikeshala Nanayakkara 45; Seniru Ninduwara 2/45, Pulindu Chamuditha 2/07)
Vidyaloka
191 all out in 79.3 overs (Lidula Nuwanga 81, Seniru Ninduwara 34, Tharusha Jayamith 23; Kavija Gamage 4/63, Upadi Jayawardane 2/41) and 200 for 8 in 48.3 overs( Nimesh Aavinda 114, Lidula Nuwanga 34, Seniru Ninduwara 28; Kavija Gamage 3/80, Dominsara Peiris 2/51)
by Reemus Fernando
There was a growing sense of uncertainty surrounding the hosting of the 120th edition of the Lovers’ Quarrel Big Match after Richmond College raised concerns over an attempt by Mahinda College to field a newly recruited player in the team at the historic match which was scheduled to commence on Thursday.
Richmond College authorities have informed Mahinda that they would pullout from the match if the newly recruited player who played for St. Aloysius’ in the just concluded Under 19 cricket tournament is included in the Big Match team.
According to sources Mahinda College have recruited St. Aloysius’ skipper Charya Paranavithana at the end of the Under 19 cricket tournament and are yet to register him under their name with Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association. They have included the player in the Big Match squad.
A source close to Mahinda said that though the player is included in the squad he was not certain to be in the playing XI.
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