‘I am back’
Sampath Perera providing expertise to one of his players
The former D.S. Senanayake College, BRC, Moors SC and Bloomfield wicketkeeper-batsman, who holds a record of 3744 runs from 93 first class matches, inclusive of four hundreds, 25 half centuries, 165 catches and 22 stumps behind the wicket, gradually shifted his focus into coaching from the late 1990s to become a successful mentor.
By now Perera has coached schools like D.S. Senanayake College for close to a decade from 1999, and then moved to Trinity College in 2008 and served as head coach until 2015. At both institutions, Perera managed to streamline the teams beginning from the junior to upper age groups, creating stronger teams for years to come.
His last assignment at a school was with St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota from 2017 to 2018, a short period compared to other two schools, but his method of laying foundations for stronger teams to follow is still very much clear.
His profile includes coaching two of Sri Lanka’s leading clubs, the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and Nondescript Sports Club (NCC), and he also was the assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss of Wayamba United in the one-off Sri Lanka Premier League in 2012.
But his major breakthrough in coaching occurred in 2018 when Perera was appointed the Head Coach of Malaysia Cricket, as the sole in-charge of their national Men’s, Women’s and the Under-19 sides. The contract initially was for two years, but Perera term was extended until 2022 for his commitment in shaping up the standards of their teams.
“It was definitely a learning curve for me. I always ensure to update myself as a coach with the changing laws and codes. This is a valid point for any coach, if he is looking at building stronger teams. If I had any success, it is due to this fact,” Perera, who also runs a cricket academy locally, stated.
In Perera’s height as a successful school coach, he was one of the main contenders to take over the Sri Lanka Under-19 side, who has failed to impress at Youth World Cups. In addition his name was also drawn to the Sri Lanka Women’s coaching staff as its head, but that too did not come in favour of Perera.
Though he was not heavily drawn into both assignments then, Perera is of the view that he could transform either of the two sides to become more productive and result-oriented than present. Apparently the Sri Lanka Under-19s and
Sri Lanka Women’s both are run under interim coaching appointment.
“I returned to Sri Lanka few months ago, because cricket activities came to a standstill in Malaysia owing the COVID-19 pandemic. I took leave and came home so at least I could do some active work with my academy, where many youngsters and even national players, come to have one-to-one batting sessions. I want to be active and productive and not dwell on the reasons,” optimistic as ever, Perera explained.
Perera’s good work ethics has proven that he is a performer. During his career of 24 years as a cricket coach, Perera has help produce many national cricketers, some of them totally scouted by himself from the rural areas. As a player he had the privilege to play alongside greats such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Roshan Mahanama, Kumara Dharmasena, Ruwan Kalpage and Pubudu Dassanayaka at Bloomfield.
With the ample time he gets presently, Perera is keen to reenter the national coaching setup. He preferably likes to take over a weak or below average side, and transform it to a productive unit — be it . The overall highlight of Perera’s life is totally based on cricket. But he longs to have a complete break after reaching his 50th birthday and sign out in style as one of the best coaches to come out from Sri Lanka.