by Rex Clementine  

When Singer boss Hemaka Amarasuriya headed the cricket board some 20 years ago, one of his keen interests was to build up a cricket academy at RPS like the one in Brisbane, Australia. The Queensland Academy was producing top notch cricketers at a rate and Amarasuriya had ambitious plans.

A keen sports enthusiast who loved both rugby and cricket, Amarasuriya wasn’t just interested in producing fine cricketers, but giving a professional outlook on them as well. The academy that he introduced taught players essentials of life such as managing finances, cricket history, etiquette and English among many other things.

Sadly, once Amarasuriya left office, the academy stationed at RPS ceased to exist. His visionary thinking should have been carried forward.

Along with the academy came the program called Pace Ace, a unit headed by Rumesh Ratnayake and supported by Champaka Ramanayake. Those days Sri Lanka were solely depending on Chaminda Vaas and the need to have more fast-bowling resources was felt.

Not only did the two coaches work with the next crop of quicks, but they also went headhunting for promising talents and were able to spot the likes of Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara, just to name a few.

Similarly, you see several young fast bowlers coming up in recent years and it seems that Sri Lanka’s fast bowling strengths are better than spin options. Usually, it is the other way around. You have got to give credit to SLC’s District and Provincial coaches who have done an excellent job over the years in grooming rare talents.

Hambantota district where just a handful of schools play the game of cricket has produced the cream of the nation’s fast bowlers in recent years. There is Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka and Pramod Madushan. Of course, there is also workhorse Suranga Lakmal, whose journey from Debarawewa to Derbyshire has been quite sensational.

The only captain to have won a Test match in Barbados, the fortress of West Indies cricket, is not Imran Khan, not Kapil Dev, not Arjuna Ranatunga but Lakmal.

It is the return of Dushmantha Chameera lead up to the World Cup Qualifiers that has enabled Sri Lanka to breathe easy. The quickest man in Sri Lankan colours is going to knock over the associate nations. He returned to international cricket this month after a seven-month layoff due to surgery and was quite a handful troubling the Afghans with his pace and not too often a Sri Lankan quick ends up as Player of the Series at home.

There maybe not much cricket left in Chameera as he has been constantly injured and rarely fulfilled his promise. The team management has carefully looked after his workload but even then he struggled with fitness and Sri Lanka will be hoping that he won’t break down this year which is very crucial with the Asia Cup and World Cup coming up.

Lahiru Kumara is capable of challenging Chameera when it comes to pace. Kumara at times struggles with his control whereas Chameera is on the money and tempts batters to take risks with his tight bowling.

The most improved bowler of them all is Kasun Rajitha, who has taken over Lakmal’s role since the tall quick retired last year. It is Rajitha’s discipline and his ability to move the ball that has proved to be handy and often he provides a breakthrough earlier on.

All the talk is about left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka, who became the highest paid player in LPL with teams bidding for his services fiercely. He will take home a cool US$ 92,000 for just two week’s work. But the left-arm seamer who doesn’t get much attention is Binura Fernando. Standing at six feet and six inches, the former D.S. Senanayake College cricketer generates a steep bounce thanks to his height.

Matheesha Pathirana provides raw pace and his slingy action has not only earned him the nickname ‘podi Malinga’ but also has given Chennai Super Kings a quality death bowling option as they went onto win the IPL this season. The former Trinity player is yet to convert his success in franchise cricket into international cricket and questions remain whether he will be effective in the 50 over format.

The fact is Pathirana is just 20 and he will learn as he goes along and will win Sri Lanka lots of games in years to come.

Gradually, Sri Lanka’s attack has become pace oriented than spin. Wonder whether the curators should prepare pitches accordingly for home games. Not many pacemen barring Vaas and Malinga have had a major impact for Sri Lanka for a long period of time. You just get the feeling that all that is set to change.