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A cricket mission to accomplish
Sri Lanka ‘A’ team leaves for England tomorrow
By Pelham Juriansz
Left hand batsman Jehan Mubarak, a product of Royal College will be on a mission of accomplishment when he takes wings with the rest of the Sri Lanka "A" squad on a tour of England, tomorrow on a ten game tour.

Talking of Jehan the man on an impossible mission. Or is it? The 22-year-old has been knocking on the door to international honours ever since being given the opportunity against Bangladesh two years ago and has been a consistent member of the Sri Lanka 'A' teams that toured South Africa, Kenya, India and New Zealand in the past nine to ten months. He heads a strong 16- man squad that will leave our shores on the 29th of this month to play in the "A" series to be played in England.

The home of cricket will see the boys from Lanka make a one -month long tour. The lion hearted will meet the British Lions in 9 games (8 counties and one against British universities) and then the touring "Windies" in a three- day game. There will be 6 one- dayers amongst the list, and two four day games.

The Sunday Times Sports desk met up with the squad when they were practising at the Indoor Nets at the R.Premadasa Stadium and then observed them at the NCC, where they were in training at the swimming pool.

Jehan is not unfamiliar with England and foreign conditions as his father was a Cambridge Blue and so is Jehan as he hails from the blue and gold school (Royal College), a different kind of blue indeed. Jehan is confident that the school he represented and the training he received will stand him in good stead and he will come out with flying colours.

Back to the squad and we will concentrate on the batsmen, who are going to pile on the runs. There is the solid dependable Ian Daniel, a product of St.Joseph's and a prolific scorer in the opening slot at school, Club and A" level. Then there are the hard -hitting openers Avishka Gunawardene, the dusky batsman who hails from Ananda College and is a Sanath Jayasuriya type of striker of the ball.

The other is Saman Jayantha who has one- day experience as well. Avishka adds a lot of experience to the top order. He has improved in his fielding which has been the problem in the past. The spinners on show at the Premadasa were Kaushal Lokuarachchi and young Suraj Mohamed the spinning sensation from Galle.

The wicket keeping is in the safe hands of Prasanna Jayawardena and Charith Sylvester will be the other "gloves" both of whom are short and in the mould of Godfrey Evans style.

When interviewed the soft spoken, gentle Jehan was very precise in his comments and said that they have a good batting squad, which of course is not unusual where Sri Lankan squads are concerned. The strength behind almost every team that represents Sri Lanka is in their batting and the added factor that brings satisfaction to Jehan is the fact that a number of players in the squad, including himself have played in the Land of cricket's birth, England. There will be one game against the British Universities and 8 other games against the counties and a three -day encounter against the "West Indies" which should be an eye-opener to the squad, and good experience indeed.

The other counties that come to Jehan's mind that would be good practice, are Glamorgan, Somerset, Sussex, Kent, Durham and Worcestershire. Commenting on the composition of the squad, Mubarak told the Sunday Times said that the opening berths will revolve around Daniels , Avishka Gunawardena (both of whom have played in England)and Saman Jayantha.

The other batsmen from whose willows runs are expected to flow is the skipper himself, Bathiya Perera, vice captain Thilina Kandambi, wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardena(another with experience of English conditions), and stand-bye wicket keeper Charith Sylvester.

Then there are the all-rounders Ranga Dias, Gayan Wijekoon, and Kaushal Lokuarachchi, (all capable batsmen). Mubarak also mentioned Suraj Mohamed as the all-rounder in the side. "All can bat," said a confident skipper.

The spinning according to Jehan is in the capable hands of Kaushal (leg spin) and Suraj Mohamed (off spinner) the spinning sensation from Galle. The occasional spinners in the side are the skipper himself (off) and Bathiya (leg). One notable lack is the absence of a left arm spinner, something that the cricket Board would do well to look into. After all this country has produced spinners of the calibre of Daya Sahabandu, Ajith de Silva.

On to the fast men who should do well on the seaming English tracks. Thilina Thushara heads the list with Ranga Dias, Gayan Wijekoon (left arm), Dhammika Prasad and Nuwan Kulasekera and of course. The Five speedsters who will no doubt gain immense experience on this tour.

Another who will benefit from this tour is the "baby of the side" Suraj Mohamed who was getting a lot of bite and lift from the wicket prepared at the R.Premadasa stadium, when the Sunday Times Sports desk observed him closely at the nets. It is interesting that the selectors have opted to throw young Suraj to the wolves as it were as in the past when the selectors opted for Youth as a policy, notably in the case of Roshan Jurangpathy and later Sanjeeva Wijesinghe, the move boomeranged back on them and it ruined their respective careers.

One notable absentee is Michael van Dort, who is to be sent to the Max Academy next door at the R.Premadasa to sort out some deficiencies in his technique where he is having problems with the moving ball.

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