Head coach says it all started with just one deaf player
Jayalath Aponsu - Deaf cricket coach
The nation stood up to salute the Sri Lanka Deaf cricket team on their arrival at the island as World T20 Deaf cricket champions. They scored a heroic victory over fancied India at the inaugural World T20 Cricket Championship for Deaf cricketers in Gurugram, India last week.
Messages of happiness, surprise and relief started to flow from all corners of the island. The general public wasn’t aware of the fact that a deaf cricket team from Sri Lanka had participated in the World Championship.
These unsung heroes made their motherland taste the sweetness of victory as world champs after 1996 and 2014 when Sri Lanka national cricket team won the Reliance World Cup and the World T20 championships.
The two officials who were responsible for this victory were non other than the Head Coach Jayalath Aponsu and Mrs. Anula Ranjini, the President of the Deaf Cricketers Association. From the inauguration of this body, the duo rendered an honorary service for twenty three years. Their dedication and sacrifice were rewarded, by a set of unsung heroes, with a historic win.
Felicitating the team at the SLC and at the press briefing the Minister of Sports said that the handicapped cricketers expect equality not sympathy. The minister further stated that all handicapped cricket associations will come under the wing of Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect. They will be treated equally as the national cricket team and they will enjoy every facility afforded to the national team.
The minister made a similar proposal to the Blind Cricketers at a press briefing prior to their departure for a Triangular series in India on October 3. However this never came into light.
On the invitation of the minister, Dinesh Chandimal, skipper of the national team addressed the cricketers and distributed the cash awards.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Jayalath Aponsu said that he formed this deaf cricket team with only one boy whom the coach saw. When the coach spoke to the youngster he found that he was deaf. Aponsu groomed this talented boy and he represented Mahanama College and on leaving school he played for Nomads Cricket Club.
He further said that the little foundation laid to is now a huge building which houses a World Cup winning team. Aponsu paid a huge tribute to the team for their ability to learn fast and their dedication. It is worth noting that only three players from Colombo represented this champion team. The rest was from outstations cities such as Galle, Matara and Jaffna.
The future of deaf cricket looks bright and the coach assured that in the very near future one or two members of the side will don the national cap. The former Thurstan College and Nomads cricketer Aponsu plans to conduct coaching classes and work shops island-wide to discover more talented handicapped cricketers to continue the excellence shown by this set of fine cricketers.