During the recent past, Thurstan has produced some sterling cricketers. But at this time of the year they are going through a period of resurrection. Though the Thurstan cricket squad includes five seniors, overall the team could be rated as an inexperienced unit. Among the experienced players are skipper Sajeewa Salgado and his deputy Ashan Wanigaratne who will be the key assets for Thurstan cricket this season. Among others who have played first XI cricket are Ramindu Lakshan, Rajith Perera and Minhaj Jaleel who are all considered dependable bowlers.
The side in general is a young and fresh outfit with a majority of them being players of the under-15 and 17 teams. Thurstan, with an almost fresh outfit, is coached by Shanaka Fernando, who earlier coached St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s. Fernando, who is a stranger to the outfit, has an immense challenge ahead of him in building up the team to the required status.
 |
| Thurstan College team |
The Thurstan side has a strong top-order batting line-up but their biggest worry will be their middle and low-order which is relatively weak in comparison to most of the school cricket teams. But Fernando claims to have a well balanced bowling department which includes left and right-arm seamers and a variety of spinners.
“We will have to improve a lot in batting, but with a fairly attacking bowling department we have the possibility of fighting for results. There are seamers and spinners both left and right-armed, which makes Thurstan one of the sides with a strong bowling attack. We will have to move on and work a lot on our batting to make things look good,” he said.
Thurstan is in Division I but they have a strong set of opponents in their group which in a way makes their existence vulnerable in the top group. With 19 matches scheduled to be played during this season, the Thurstanites hope to win at least five out of them in order to remain on top. However, inexperience and a lack of timely tactics will put them in the back seat at a crucial stage. Another major concern from their point of view will be the fielding department, which still needs a bit of brushing up. But having a player in the caliber of Kavindu Kulasekara, who has already accumulated over 200 runs in two games, is a great bonus for them.
“He is a newcomer but has shown great character in the middle while Salgado and Wanigaratne will have to play with more responsibility as experienced seniors. With this setup, nothing big can be expected from these players but positive cricket. In years to come Thurstan will be a cracking side, I’m sure,” Coach Fernando added.
Thurstan cricket squad: Sajeewa Salgado (Captain), Ashan Wanigaratne, Rajith Perera, Ramindu Lakshan, Dulan Wijeratne, Achintha Kalpana, Nisala Madushanka, Kavindu Kulasekara, Thimira Jayasinghe, Udara Malwalage, Minhaj Jaleel, Kavindu Silva, Chamath Jayasekara, Kokila Subasinghe, Charitha Nanayakkara, Sajith Gunathilake, Shanaka Fernando (Coach) |
E-mail
