Sri Lanka’s eternal search for the elusive all-rounder

Sri Lanka have been on a wild goose chase for a genuine seam-bowling all-rounder – someone who can lend balance to the side and tilt the scales in our favour. Yet, despite scouring the length and breadth of our cricketing landscape, success has remained as elusive as a Test win in Australia.

Sure, we’ve unearthed a handful of spin-bowling all-rounders over the years, but let’s face it – they’re about as effective overseas as a canned fish on Unawatuna beach. What Sri Lanka desperately need is a seam-bowling workhorse who can chip in with the ball and wag the tail with the bat. Sadly, that cupboard remains bare.

While India boast the explosive Hardik Pandya, England flaunt the talismanic Ben Stokes, and Australia have pinned hopes on the towering Cameron Green while the South Africans have the nasty Wiaan Mulder. Sri Lanka have had no one in the same postcode, let alone the same league. Our pursuit for a proper all-rounder has lasted longer than Malaysia’s search for MH370—or closer to home, longer than the CID’s chase for Arjun Mahendran.

The term ‘all-rounder’ is often tossed around rather casually in Sri Lanka. Anyone who could roll his arm over and bat a bit is called an all-rounder. After all, we are a country that allowed Cabraal to run the Central Bank.

When you talk about a proper all-rounder, think Jacques Kallis. The man was a colossus. He piled up 13,289 Test runs—more than Sanga (12,400) and MJ (11,814) – and didn’t just twiddle his thumbs with the ball either. With 292 Test wickets to his name, he outgunned the likes of Joel Garner (259) and Michael Holding (249). King Kallis, indeed. When he played, even our Lankan legends and the Calypso kings looked mortal.

And yet, the crown for the greatest all-rounder of all time doesn’t sit on Kallis’ head. That honour belongs to the great Sir Garfield Sobers. In cricket, numbers might paint a picture, but they rarely tell the full story. What set Sir Garry apart was his versatility – left-arm seam, left-arm orthodox, and left-arm wrist spin. With the bat, he was nothing short of an artist. No wonder Sir Don Bradman called him the greatest cricketer the game has ever seen.

We Sri Lankans would settle for someone with even half the class of Kallis or Sobers. But time and again, our budding all-rounders have flattered to deceive – promising much, delivering little, and fading into the sunset before their sun had even risen.

Take Arjuna Ranatunga, for instance. Many overlook his bowling calling it dibbly-dobbly medium pace, but he did claim prized scalps like Sunil Gavaskar and Martin Crowe – whom he cruelly denied a triple hundred in Wellington in ’91, dismissing him on 299.

Athula Samarasekera arrived on the scene with much hype in the early years of our Test journey, but fizzled out like a firecracker in the rain. Chaminda Vaas, a stalwart with the ball, had the chops to make it big with the bat too. He was instrumental during our triumph in New Zealand in 1995 and should’ve notched more than the solitary Test century he ended up with. A couple of premature declarations didn’t help his cause either.

Then there was Suresh Perera, who gave us a glimmer of hope with a dream debut that helped clinch our first-ever Test win in England. But he couldn’t quite bottle that lightning again.

Of all, Angelo Mathews was the brightest prospect – the golden boy. But as fate would have it, injuries clipped his wings. In the latter stages of his career, his bowling became a thing of the past. Thisara Perera, too, had all the raw ingredients, but you always got the feeling he left a few gears unshifted. His career, brimming with unfulfilled promise, ended far too soon.

Now, though, there’s a buzz around a new kid on the block – Chamindu Wickramasinghe. He’s turned a few heads with his performances in the Lanka Premier League, earning a call-up to the national white-ball squad. But just as quickly, he was shown the exit and sent back to grind it out in the domestic circuit.

Turning out for SSC, Chamindu cracked a fighting century recently – with the club staring down at relegation. This week, in the Inter-Provincial Tournament, he rolled up his sleeves for Kandy and delivered a fiery five-wicket haul coming in as first change. His scalps? Just a few big fish – Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella and Janith Liyanage – as Colombo folded for 201.

This lad from St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota, just 22-years-old, seems to have a good head on his shoulders and both hands firmly on the wheel. He’s no finished product, not by a long shot, but there’s enough in his tank to warrant close attention.

Seam-bowling all-rounders are worth their weight in gold, especially on overseas tours where balance is often the difference between glory and heartbreak. Chamindu might just be the piece we’ve been missing in this long-running jigsaw puzzle.

Sri Lanka has been burnt before – many times over – by players who lit up the scene briefly and then vanished into the mist. But here’s hoping Chamindu doesn’t just flicker. Here’s hoping he burns bright, carries the torch, and finally ends our long, weary search for that elusive all-round gem.

by Rex Clementine