‘Where Eagles Dare’ will be the motivating factor for the Antonians cricketers this season as they build up for their prestigious Big Match against their formidable rivals Trinity in mid March 2012. While rugby commands pride of place at Trinity, cricket at St. Anthony’s College Katugastota is primus inter pares (first among equals). Kanishka Ranaraja’s side has to improve on last year’s performance where they had three outright wins and a defeat against St. Sebastian’s at home. To put the record straight, rain wreaked havoc with the Antonians programme and a few matches were not played.
The early games this season hold out hope for a stronger showing. Joseph Vaz, Wesley and Mahanama have all been beaten on first innings in rain-shortened games. This skipper, Kanishka Ranaraja, is one of the leading all-rounders in Kandy. Over 450 runs last year, with a top score of 85 against Ananda and a fiver for against Kalutara Vidyalaya in his 30 plus wickets, augurs well. He had some eye-catching performances with the bat while turning out for Kandy Youth in this year’s Under-23 tournament. He is a strong-striker of the ball. A medium pace bowler, Ranaraja can be quite effective especially with the new ball. His captaincy skills are bound to be tested as the season progresses.
It is felt in some quarters that Manoj Sarachchandra, the vice captain, was unfortunate to miss the Under-19 tour of India. A smooth-striking right hander who has shots all round the wicket, he bats as opener or in the vital number three spot. Last season he compiled more than 750 runs with two hundreds. He is also a competent wicketkeeper. Yohan Woods, a wicketkeeper/batsman, is a quiet achiever. Not flamboyant is his stroke-play, he bats steadily and does not surrender his wicket easily.
Sri Lanka Under-19 player Saranga Rajaguru is the prized possession of the Antonians. His output in terms of runs and wickets last season was modest. But that was due to Under-19 commitments. However 80 against the Peterites and a belligerent 78 against Trinity in the one-dayer point to his improving skills as a batsman. He hasn’t quite set the neighboring Mahaweli alight with his leg-spin googly bowling, but he should do so before long. For the opponents, he will be public enemy number one, given his all-round skills.
Sachin Bulathsinghala has picked up quite a few wickets with his off-spin in the games played so far. The Antonians have always produced good off spinners and Sachin could be following the tradition. Nimesha Gunasinghe, the Under-17 skipper, is another talented player. He bats left-hand and bowls off-spin. More importantly, he comes from the ‘Kalpage Stable’.
Deemantha Ekanayake, is a top order batsman and Madushan Pusella a right hand opener. Dinuk Herath bowls medium pace while newcomer Sri Kannan is probably the quickest of the lot. Dhamithra Panditharatne is a right hand bat and has scored a hundred at Under-15 level. Romesh McWin, an all-rounder, is a utility player. The Antonians won their last big match is 1992 under the captaincy of national table tennis player Umesh de Alwis. The present coach Champika Siriwardena was a member of that team and his dearest wish is to do the double as coach and player.
Last season’s skipper Hiran Wickremasekara made a thousand runs (for third time running) and his deputy Aravinda Premaratne, an off spinner grabbed a hundred wickets. Getting the players to perform feats of similar magnitude will be the aim of the Antonians. Over the last five decades or so, the Antonians have produced players such as Winston Premaratne, Franklyn Burke, Charlie Joseph, Bernand Perera, Mutiah Muralitharan and Sajith Fernando who were all crowned the schoolboy cricketer of the year. Antonian cricket will be in clover if they can add another to their list.
The Antonians, who have already played three tournament matches, have games lined up against Thurstan, Royal, Dharmapala, Prince of Wales’ and St. Joseph’s. A slight hindrance to their preparations is the fact that home games are out of the question at the moment because the turf strips are being redone. However this shouldn’t be a major problem as the current Pakistanis have shown. The Old Antonians Cricket Wing, headed by its president Ranjith Peiris, provides the thrust and the backing in the Antonian quest for honours.
St. Anthony’s cricket squad: Kanishka Ranaraja (Captain), Manoj Sarachchandra (Vice Captain), Yohan Woods, Saranga Rajaguru, Deemantha Ekanayake, Dinuk Herath, Nimesha Gunasinghe, Romesh MacWin, Madushan Pussella, Viraj Deepal, Sachin Bulathsinghala, Himesh Kodituwakku, Dilan Bandara, Dhamithra Panditharatne, Buwaneka Wijetunga, Sri Kannan, Chamal Gunasekara, Bhatiya Liyanage, Champika Siriwardena (Coach), Keerthi Aluvihare (M-I-C), Keerthi Abeywickrema (P-O-G) |
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