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89th Trinity - Antonian
Glamour and dash versus quiet efficiency
By Aubrey Kuruppu
A hitherto somnolent lion has been roused forth and is waiting to grapple with a canny eagle. The chances are that neither party will emerge victorious. The Trinity - Antonian Big Match which gets underway on the 11th at Asgiriya evokes considerable interest. The Trinitians are on a hot streak and go in with considerable confidence. The Antonians, though not an outstanding outfit, have engineered a few 'great' escapes from daunting situations. Trinity has won as many as six games. But there is a small matter of an innings defeat at home to Ananda and another almost as crushing one to the Joes in Colombo. The Antonians have neither won nor lost.

"Boy" mountain Maduranga Munaweera leads Trinity. A consistent performer over the last couple of years, this one has been his Annus Mirabilis. He is the best batsman in the side and has given ample demonstration of his batting skills. He opens the bowling and depends for his wickets on swing rather than pace. The Antonians will have to dig him out early. The other quality player in the team is the young all rounder Sachith Pathirana. The leading wicket taken with over ninety victims, his quickish left arm spin has proved the undoing of many an unwary batsman. Pathirana started the season with a flashy, double hundred. Of late, his batting form has dipped.

The most experienced player on the Kandy circuit is Clifford Fernando- twice the captain of the team. He did get a hundred but he has been a touch erratic. He is one of Trinity's four main bowlers' with his medium paced stuff.

The other senior player Charith Dumbarange has performed quite adequately within the ball (as a quickish off spinner) and bat (as a stubborn middle order performer). He is a good foil to the left arm spinner.

Deputy skipper Sisitha Jayasinghe, back after a lay off, has proved his worth. Not prolific, but a consistent contributor, Jayasinghe leads support to the team with his off breaks. Opener Santush Ratnayake has impressed in the games he has played. The experience gained should be invaluable next year. Hard hitting Sasheer, stumper Gangoda and reserve spinner Bulunuwewa complete the outfit.

Pramodth Frenando, almost as big built as his opposite number, captains the Antonians. He has a hundred to his credit but his form probably suffered as a result of being sent up and down the batting order. He uses his feet well to attack the spinners. His sharp off spin could be used a lot to contain the Trinitians.

Paceman Sameera Weerabahu is the live wire of the team. He bowls energetically, fields acrobatically and hits the ball hard. He has yet to hit peak all round form.

The thorn in Trinity's flesh could well be all rounder Shameer Munas. He has pulled the team out of many a difficult situation with his determined batting. He has a hundred to his credit. Munas has the knack of slowing things down when he has the ball in his hands. Another key performer is the hard hitting all rounder Selwyn Jamion. A lively opening bowler, Jamion could have produced more runs with the bat had he batted higher up. Little left hander Harshana Medagoda opens the batting A half century in his last outing shows that he's just about hitting his straps.

Stumper cum opener Gimhan Dissanaike has impressed with the bat. He certainly likes to punch the ball away. Reyal, a talented, hard hitting left hander and Peter Samarkoon, a useful all rounder, complete the Antonian line up.

Trinity (From) Maduranga Munaweera (Capt.), Sisitha Jayasinghe, Charith Dumbarange, Cllifford Fernando, Sachith Pathirana, Santhush Ratnyake. Sampath Ratnayake, Mohamed Sasheer, Dilan Gangoda, Dimitri Bulunuwewa, Ravindra Adikari, Eroy Basnayake, Dineshka Seneviratne, Lasitha Wijetunga (Coach: H.M. Muthalib)

St. Anthony's (From) Pramodth Fernando (Capt)., Sameera Weerabahu, Shameer Munas, Harshana Medagoda, Selvyn Jamion, Peter Samarakoon, Gimhan Dissanayake, Malindu Perera, Shaheer Reyal, Dinusha Wijewardena, Sahan Palihakkara, Jerome Siegertz, Prasanga Ilngakoon, Eranda Hewapathirana. (Coach : Piyal Wijetunga)

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