St. Thomas’ Kotte fails to live up to expectations
View(s):St. Thomas’ College, Kotte a school which enjoyed a successful cricket season last year has failed to live up to that reputation this year in spite of having an experienced side with some promising freshers.
The Thomians semi-finalists at the last Singer Schools Cricket tournament showed lot of all round skills with the two Ebert brothers carrying the brunt of the burden on their shoulders. Along with the Ebert brothers skipper Dasun Kalana and Ashan Rajapaksa had a bid helping hand on their successes last year. Considering the performances of the Ebert brothers both of them were selected to the Zonal Under 19 squad.
This Kotte School that had produced many promising cricketers in the past but not a single cricketer had continued their careers beyond school level. This was revealed by the present coach Andy Solomans who was the only Thomian cricketer to be selected to represent the country in the Under 19 team. Solomans sees lot of potential in this year’s team but to his astonishment the team had not performed well so far. With eight coloursmen in the team the batting line-up looks strong but is not capable of building a long inning to give the bowlers a good total to exploit.
With four medium fast bowlers, three off spinners including last year’s Best All Island Bowler in Brendon Ebert and two fine left-arm leg spinners
Captain – Ashan Rajapaksa
led by that pint sized Charuka Dilshan the Thomians attack looks well balanced and are capable of upsetting any side with their nagging length.
Left arm spinner – Charuka Dilshan
Playing in the Division III of the Sri Lanka Schools Tournament this Kotte Thomian side so far played six matches this season and the coach expects them to come out with good performances in the remaining matches so that they can be in good touch when it comes to the big encounter against Sri Jayawardanepura MV. At the last year’s encounter Thomians scored a first innings victory and clinched victory in the limited over encounter. The coach said that he is very satisfied with the dedication, the interest and the commitment showed by the cricketers but his only worry is that their batting line’s failure. Skipper Rajapaksa and Deputy skipper Hussain are two capable batsmen who can destroy any attack spearheads the batting line up while bowling attach rest on the shoulders of medium paceman Achala Ishan and left arm leg spinner Charuka Dilshan.
WHO’s WHO:
Ashan Rajapaksa: Skipper of the side. 5th year coloursman. Right handed batsman and right arm fast medium opening bowler. An excellent fielder in the slip region. Had a good season last year scoring over 350 runs and capturing 35 wickets. So far in this season scored over 250 runs and 30 wickets. Best being a match bag of 12 wickets against President’s College, Maharagama.
Right hand bat – Brendon Ebert
Shehan Hussain: Deputy skipper. An excellent wicket keeper with nippy footwork. 5th year coloursman and a right hand top order batsman. Much is expected this season. Had claimed nearly 30 victims behind the stumps.
Brendon Ebert: 5th year coloursman. Fared extremely well last season, yet to come out with full potential. A fine allrounder. Right handed opening batsman and a right arm off spinner. Adjudged Best All Island Bowler at the Bata Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer Contest. Scored over 700 runs and claimed over 60 wickets last year.
Piuym Madusanka: Right hand batsman. Bowls occasionally right arm off spinners. A 4th year coloursman. Opened batting last season. An agile slip fielder who had taken some fine catches.
Wicket keeper – Shehan Hussain
Balasunderam Arjuna: 3rd year coloursman. An expert fielder in the cover region. Right hand top order batsman and bowls off spinners. Scored nearly 250 runs in the current season.
Warren Perera: Stylist left handed opening batsman. 3rd year coloursman. Keeps his wicket intact making way for other batsmen to score freely. Good close in fielder.
Mercelin Demian: Reliable middle order right hand batsman and a right arm fast medium bowler. A good fielder in any position. 3rd year coloursman.
Achala Ishan: 2nd year coloursman. Right handed middle order bat. Right arm fast medium bowler. Safe fielder.
Himesh Charuka: Right hand lower order batsman. Right arm off spinner who concentrates mostly on line and length. A promising field at any position.
Jonathan Fernando: Fresher. Right handed lower order batsman and a right arm fast medium bowler. Good fielder.
Charuka Dilshan: Fresher. Left arm orthodox leg spinner with a good future ahead. The leading spinner in the side. Always gives the batsmen a tough time with variations. Bats left hand. A smart fielder in the covers.
Dushen Nelaka: Fresher. Right hand batsman and left arm leg spinner. Safe field.
Deshan Perera: Lower order right hand batsman. Fresher. Right arm medium fast bowler. A promising fielder.
Manula Perera: Fresher. Right handed bat and a right arm off spinner. Safe fielder.
Head Coach: Andy Solomans Asst. Coach: Angela Samuels
– Lakshman Ranasinghe
Pix by: Susantha Liyanawatte