Mario leaves for Banga pastures today
Mario Villeverayan who was Sri Lanka Cricket’s Training and Conditioning coach will leave for Bangladesh today to take up the same post with Bangladesh Cricket Board.
Mario Villeverayan is looking forward for his new task
Villeverayan who initially turned out as a fast bowler for St. Peter’s from 1990 to 1992 really caught the eye when he was spotted by former England paceman Frank Tyson who was impressed by his typically side-on action.
Mario said “There were so many that day but, Frank saw me in operation and liked what he saw. From that point onwards I was always in the loop.”
Mario first toured England with the national ‘A’ team to England in 1998 and upon that success was chosen to England with the National team – the same year. That was the tour that the Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan spun a web round the English batsmen. National rookie Mario played only in the side games during that tour – which is customary. However he had the third highest wicket tally on that tour behind Muralitharan and fast bowler Pramodya Wickremasinghe. Mario said “I cannot remember how many wickets that Murali finished with, but, Pramodya had eleven and I had nine including a best of 4 for 32 against Middlesex.”
During Mario’s first class cricket span that lasted from 1993 to 2004 he turned out for Colombo Cricket Club, Tamil Union and a season for Bloomfield. Mario added “Once I completed by first-class career I wanted to be in the game. I went to Australia and did my Sports Science Degree. While I was doing that I also obtained my level II coaching certificate. I am pretty-much sure then combination of a cricketer who has twelve years first class experience along with the professional qualifications that I have is rare. Besides my work as a Trainer upto now I did assist fast bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake whenever time permitted.”
The new challenge in Bangladesh excites the forty year-old Trainer. “This is the challenge that I have been waiting for. I will work here and make myself known and available in the circuit. Besides, working with a person like Chandika Hathurusinghe also excites me. I have worked with him in the national ‘A’ team, so I know what to expect. In fact we did have a long chat when we met the other day in Colombo”.