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Sports

Gearing up for the season ahead
By Aubrey Kuruppu
With the schools rugby season reaching its climax this weekend, the focus of attention shifts once more to the inter-school cricket matches which get underway on the 10th and 11th when Trinity engage Sri Rahula at the Asgiriya Stadium.

Four of the seven schools are of equal strength and consequently their tussles will be looked forward to eagerly. St. Sylvester's whose cricket has been more or less static over the last couple of years, will be one of the stronger outfits having as they do nine senior players. Tharanga Jayatissa, a front-line batsman with loads of experience, will lead the side. All-rounder Dhananjaya Karunaratne will be his deputy. The star of last year, Shanaz Najurdeen, will be called upon to play an even bigger role this time. Najurdeen had a century and several big scores to his credit, and collected quite a few wickets with his off spinners.

All-rounder Ravi Karunaratne, stumper cum batsman Rajith Wickremarachchi, left arm medium pacer Thusitha Wijesekera, opener Hashan Gunaratne and Mohamed Peshal (an off spinner) form the core of the side. The Sylvestrians, who will play 12 matches, had first innings wins over Kingswood and President's College Rajagiriya last season.

Kingswood led by bowling all-rounder Gihan Ekanayake will be a tough nut to crack. The skipper picked up a fair share of wickets and contributed usefully with the bat. Niroshan Perera, a left arm spinner, seemed to fall off from his high performance level in the previous year. He can bat with some assurance. Asiri Amerasinghe, though young in years, has been around for sometime. A leg spin googly bowler, he also bats stylishly. His performances were badly hampered by injury last year. Indika Senaratne (a centurion against Wesley) is the leading batsman in the side. Stumper Minimuthu Dissanaike (a capable performer in front, too) and all-rounder Damintha Dahanaike are two seniors who can make weighty contributions to the team effort. For pace, they also have Chaturanga Samarakoon.

Last season, they beat Dharmapala outright and had five first inning wins. Chamara Kapugedera, Kandy's most prolific scorer last year, leads Dharmaraja. Kapugedera made 156 against Royal and followed it up with 101 against Sri Sumangala. The skipper also opens the attack with his medium pacers. Channa Nadunge, a senior player, opens the batting with Anusha Ranaraja. Nadunge also bowls off breaks.

Dharmaraja is well served by some seniors who are all-rounders. Chathura Bandara, Upesh Wijesiri, Dhanushka Mitipolaarachchi and Rukshan Sooriyaarachchi are all players who will, in the main, back up the skipper's efforts. Chatura Monarawila, a left arm medium pacie, should improve on his performances last year. He can use the long handle to good effect. Dharmaraja beat Dharmapala outright but lost to Maliyadeva and blotted their copybook in 2003/04.

Kandy's biggest made schoolboy crickter, Roshan Munaweera captains Trinity. A solid batsman with some meaty strokes, he also picked up around 50 wickets with his disarmingly simple medium pace deliveries. He fields well in the gully. Munaweera is lucky to have the skipper of the last two seasons, Clifford Fernando, in the side. Fernando started slowly last year but made amends later on. He drives well and has a lot of staying power. Fernando took around 25 wickets with his medium pace. Sisitha Jayasinghe, a lift handed opener, is picking up the threads once again after giving up the game for a short while. Sachith Pathirana had a poor season last year but subsequently enjoyed success in the Junior tournament. Trinitians must be hoping that he will carry that form into the senior games. Charith Dumbarange, a senior player and off spinner and Sashi Mohamed, a medium pacie are two others who could influence the team's performance. Sampath Ratnayake, a left hander from the Under-16 shows promise.

Trinity had outright wins over St. Aloysius Galle and Sri Sumangala Panadura last season. The Anthonians, whose fortunes took a plunge in 2003/04 have some catching up to do. Sameera Weerabahu, a pace bowling all-rounder, will in all probability be handed the reins.

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