Kapila, the godfather of the ‘Josephian Cricket Mafia’
The duo on the rising sun of the ‘Josephian Mafia’ is widely talked about. The combination of allrounders Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, in Sri Lanka cricket is on its upward trend.
Now another cricketer, Dimuth Karunaratne, making his entry to the international scene from St. Joseph’s College Colombo, the Josephian Mafia
Manohara shaped the Lankan trio during the junior days
probably got toughened. Many who are closer with the three cricketers may have their fair share of thoughts about the trio. But little-known Kapila Manohara is one man who humbly takes pride in nurturing them, yet loves to lie low.
In a way Manohara is partly responsible for shaping up the Josephian trio, a combination admired by many Sri Lankan and international cricket lovers. Manohara was the junior cricket coach of St. Joseph’s College for quite a long time and by now his tenure with the Darley Road School has reached the 16th year.
With time and tide Manohara was elevated to the coaching staff of the school’s first XI team. He was assistant to Harsha de Silva, a former Josephian himself who was the head coach of the first XI team for many years, until he was appointed as coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s team.
Years have gone by since Mathews, Perera and Karunaratne made their exit from school cricket, but Manohara still remembers every bit of all the young cricketers who went through his supervision, including of this trio.
“Angelo was the only one to start his cricket from St. Joseph’s from the junior stage. I still can remember him as a young, energetic and committed cricket enthusiast. To date his qualities remain the same. Thisara and Dimuth joined St. Joseph’s later on via special scholarships, to continue cricket,” Manohara recalled.
Mathews, according to Manohara was barely 11-years-old when started playing junior cricket. He started off with the Under-13 ‘B’ team and the coach stated that his true potentials were spotted after Mathews reached the ‘A’ side of the same age category. But he stamped his authority as a future national prospect after completing successful seasons, leading the Under-15 and 17 sides to many victories. Manohara stated that Mathews had the same passion he possesses now with the Sri Lanka team and the coaching staff had no alterations to make, except for one vital change.
Years have gone by since Mathews, Perera and Karunaratne made their exit from school cricket, but Manohara still remembers every bit of all the young cricketers who went through his supervision
“Angelo was still the same cricketer as he is today, a very good all-rounder. But we had to make an adjustment to his bowling action, which was rather dubious when he started to bowl as an Under-13 player. He was bending the elbow of the bowling arm and we as coaches were in great difficulty to tell this to him, because he was so passionate about his cricket.”
“So we decided to rectify his bowling action without hurting his feelings. At practices we tied a piece of wood to his elbow while bowling. We made sure not to let him bowl at matches until it was corrected. It took a few months but his action turned out to be perfect after the adjustment. I still doubt if Angelo ever knew what we were doing with a piece of wood tied to his arm, and it still is unknown to him until now,” Manohara revealed.
Perera and Karunaratne made their entry to St. Joseph’s by performing creditably to their respective former schools against their then prospective college. Perera was spotted at an Under-15 school cricket match, appearing for St. Anthony’s College Wattala against St. Joseph’s. Like today he was passionate and vigilant in what he does; a side of Perera’s characteristics which is usually not seen when he comes out to bat or bowl for Sri Lanka.
“Naturally Thisara is a carefree individual. He too has not changed a bit from the first we saw him. We managed to get him from the Under-15 age group and he was the same all-rounder as he used to be. His bowling was more fearsome than today, so was his batting. It’s glad that he maintained his natural style, though adding more maturity into it.”
More than ten years ago, Manohara had the delight of watching one of the most technically correct knock from a youngster by the name of Dimuth Karunaratne. Karunaratne hit a magnificent century, not for St. Joseph’s but against them for Asoka Vidyalaya Colombo. Manohara did not think twice to offer Karunaratne the passage to enter St. Joseph’s.
“I knew Dimuth was thrilled by the offer, but he said that he should seek his father’s consent first. After a few days he came out with a positive answer and went on to play as an opener for St. Joseph’s for many years. As a youngster his batting was charming and elegant, and it still remains the same way.”
“In person he was a quiet and patient character, unlike Thisara and Angelo. I was really worried not to see him in the national side for many years. I think he should have played for Sri Lanka some years back,” he added.
Together Mathews, Perera and Karunaratne played for the St. Joseph’s first XI team for two seasons, making the Darley Road school one of the formidable sides in Sri Lanka school cricket during 2003 to 2009. Mathews went on to captain his school in all age categories while Perera and Karunaratne missed out as there were many seniors in line for the captaincy. But Manohara states that the trio have performed at their best among others who were equally talented within the team.
“These three players in particular indicated their potential from a younger age, from a lot of talented other players. It does not mean that others were not good but these three always made their presence felt, be it an inter-school game or at the big match against St. Peter’s College. There are others in line who can be national potentials in the likes Roshen Silva and Chathuranga Kumara, and there will be many to follow the path of Angelo, Thisara, Dimuth and Chaminda Vass to the national side.”
“Whenever possible they still come and pay us a visit and also see the progress of their school side. They are role models to the many youngsters who play cricket here. It makes me really proud, to have at least played a simple role in their careers,” the soft spoken coach said.
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