Wednesday 13th January, 2010 15 Sri Lanka U-19 players for Youth World Cup in NZ Petes fight back after third term The Peterite fearsome disappointment foursome Name: Chathura Peiris Nick names: ‘Peera’, ‘Chaththa’ Date of Birth: 23rd September 1990 School: St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya Batting: Left-hand bat Bowling: Left-arm fast-medium Previous experience: Represented Sri Lanka Under-19 since 2007 by Reemus Fernando ment for St. Peter’s College, in all shown a knack to wield the long age groups. handle in the dying stages of a Chathura Peiris By the time he was 17, he was match to accelerate the run rate. A Called ‘Peera’ or at times looking at becoming the first pace- good fielder in the covers and mid- St. Peter’s College Colombo cricket squad 2009-10 ‘Chaththa’ by his team mates, man from the college to take 100 on, one of Peiris’ super fielding Chathura Peiris has more experi- wickets in a season, since former acts were exhibited in the recently Seated from left: Angelo Emmanuel, Akshu Fernando (V. Capt), Chathura Peiris (Captain) and Andri Berenger. ence than any other player, Sri Lanka pace ace, Rumesh held Tri-Nation tournament involv- Standing from left: Hasitha Perera, Janika Kannangara, Shanaka Panditharathne, Nilochana Perera, Sidath although that is not the sole reason Ratnayake. But due to National ing Bangladesh and Pakistan, when Jayaweera, Sampath Kumara, Rashen Savarimuththu, Kaushal Rodrigo, Trishan Fernando, Tharindu to bestow the captaincy of Sri duties from 2007, the year he made he held on to a superb one handed Wickramanayake, Jeson Buultjens and Chamila Godellawatte (Pix by Nishan S. Priyantha) Lanka Under-19 on him. a mark as a future Sri Lanka Under- catch to dismiss Shahzad Ahmed at After being introduced to pace 19 bowling spearhead and captain, Moratuwa. by Reemus Fernando and there is hardly anyone who bowling by his school coach L. H. saw him fall short of his target Peiris is the only player in the has failed. Continuing in the first Sunil at the very tender age of 14, (over 80 wickets last season). team to have taken part in the last St. Peter’s College savoured term still without their seniors, Peiris has impressed in that depart- A genuine all rounder, Peiris has World Cup in Malaysia. the joy of producing four players the Peterites did well against for the Sri Lanka Under-19 team Ananda and St. Benedict’s. Andri Berenger Denham Perera and Angelo Name: Andri Berenger for the World Cup, while for that very reason it held them back Emmanuel, who shared the act- An aggressive opening bat, Nick names: Date of birth: 29th August 1991 from doing well against some of ing captain role, were equal to Andri Berenger has been in the their opponents in tough third their tasks. Left hander spotlight from the time he started School: St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya Emmanuel has a century and 96 Batting: Right-hand bat term matches in the on-going playing for St. Peter’s College jun- Under-19 tournament. runs and has a five wicket haul. ior teams. But despite impressive Fielding position: Wicket keeper After losing outright to Denham Perera was involved in a performances in the Under-17, Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya marathon innings last week First XI and Under-23 tourna- and a first innings defeat at the when he scored a massive 170 ments, his entry into the Sri Lanka a regular member since then. (against Pakistan in the Tri-Nation hands of Isipatana in the third runs. He also has a half century Under-19 team took longer than However, he is yet to strike it real- final played here), which was quite term, the young Petes are fight- to his credit. expected. Berenger found his due ly rich with the bat. His best in contrast to the number of ing back in the first term and are All rounders Sampath Kumara place in the team’s tour of innings so far for Sri Lanka Under- aggressive innings he has played showing that they are a formida- and Nilochana Perera too have Australia in October and has been 19 is a patiently made 34 runs for the Petes. ble side, even without their top Denham Angelo had a good tournament. players. Perera Emmanuel Nilochana has two good knocks Lahiru Jayarathne under his belt. An unbeaten cen- Name: Lahiru Jayarathne With skipper Chathura Christchurch, tury and an unbeaten half centu- Nick names: Peiris, deputy skipper New Zealand. A right arm medium pacer, ry places him among the top Date of Birth: 12th October 1991 Akshu Fernando, Their absence was Lahiru Jayarathne hails from scorers in the team. Kumara has wicket keeper bats- felt to a great extent Matale. He started his cricket at Schools: Christ Church College, Matale, St. an unbeaten half century. man Andri when Dharmapala Christ Church College, Matale and Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya Spinners Janika Kannangara, Berenger and their In handed them an joined St. Peter’s College for the Batting style: Right-hand bat Chamila Godellawatte and Sidath new recruit, outright defeat, on-going season. Hailing from an Bowling style: Right-arm medium-fast Jayaweera and paceman Lahiru Jayaratne, but from then on outstation school, Jayaratne’s tal- Tharindu Samaranayaka are being called for Cricket’s their young crick- ent was first spotted by Aravinda programme and he was soon mak- Under-19 team when it toured among the wicket takers. National duty, St. eters have been de Silva at his Coca Cola pathway ing his way to the Sri Lanka Bangladesh early last year. Meanwhile, given a chance to Peter’s College did fighting their way open his First XI account, not have their best Matrix… back. Akshu Fernando Shehan Fernando scored a centu- team for a better part The youngsters who Name : Akshu Fernando ry last week on debut and the of their third term fix- were given opportunities The number of St. Peter’s Nick names: Petes, playing without their top tures. They will not be avail- in the absence of the seniors College players shot up to four Date of Birth: 11th March 1991 players are surely fighting their able until the ICC Youth World grabbed them with both hands with the last minute inclusion of School: St. Peter’s College way back. all rounder Akshu Fernando. Cup ends on January 30 in Although he had sufficient creden- Batting Style: Right Hand bat tials to find a place in the Under-19 Bowling Style: Off spinner World Cup team, he was sidelined initially, but fate was on his side. way for Fernando’s inclusion at future Sri Lanka Under-19 prospect Prior feels more pride at Cape Town draw An injury to Yasodha Lanka dur- the eleventh hour. An aggressive in the Inter School Under-15 tour- ing the SL Under-19 tour of South middle order batsman and a clever naments where he was among the than winning the Ashes Africa early this month, paved the spinner, Akshu emerged as a best all rounders. by Derek Pringle You can always tell when a keep- in Johannesburg er is doing his job well; his glove- England’s three-day break at work is unobtrusive. When he Pakistan cricket needs young blood, says Wasim their posh ‘Arm and a Leg’ hotel will began, Prior looked like a not-so- have rested weary bones ahead of lithe goalkeeper with gloves. Now, LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain sistent failure of the senior players. played very few Test matches espe- after 18 months of hard work with and legendry pacer Wasim Akram “When the seniors are creating prob- cially on the home soil and that’s the final Test at the Wanderers, but according to Matt Prior it pales Bruce French, a former stumper has said that Pakistan lost the second lems for the team and getting out why players are short of confidence,” who played for England and Test against Australia in Sydney after making only few runs then why maintained Wasim, who claimed 916 when compared to the energising Nottinghamshire, he at last moves because of scare of defeat and urged not include younger players as they wickets in both forms of the game. effect of drawing in Cape Town. and takes the ball properly. the selectors to induct new blood in will learn in a year and serve the Defending skipper Mohammad “I think that’s as proud as I’ve the team. In an exclusive interview country for at least two decades. And Yousuf defensive moves on the deci- been in a cricket changing room, “I used to always have a bat in with Deutsche Welle Urdu Service, for this purpose, captain, cricket sive day of the Sydney Test, Wasim and I include winning the Ashes at my hand and when I first met Bruce Wasim, before leaving for India, said board and selectors must sit together, said no body was born a leader. the Oval,” Prior said yesterday after I told him that will never change,” that in order to win Test matches communicate and plan. But, unfortu- “Yousuf is an inexperienced captain a gruelling practice session in said Prior. “But now I get ready for against powerful teams one needed nately,I can’t see that happening.” and made few mistakes. But he will Johannesburg. “We were behind practice and I’ll have keeping gloves special talent, skill, passion and men- Due to security problems and for- learn art of captaincy in the long the eight ball for almost three days on straightaway. Fitting the batting tal fitness. The present Pakistan side eign teams’ refusal to play in run.” Wasim said coaches Intikhab and we fought, fought and fought. Matt Prior has become more difficult as he lacks these traits. Unlike Twenty20 Pakistan, Pakistan hosted only one Alam, Waqar Younus and Aaqib The way Graham Onions went out for this England team.” works me hard but it’s important to and one-dayers, Test cricket is like a complete Test match in the last 27 Javed should have told Yousuf when and saw that last over through ... It is interesting that Prior does have that balance of being able to long race,” he added. months and according to Wasim he was getting too defensive and that shows a huge amount of not refer to the team as “us”. Many score runs too.” Wasim suggested that cricket playing away from home and lack of what mistakes he was making. resilience and defiance.” sportsmen talk of themselves in the Part of his improvement has authorities of the country should Test cricket was also one of the rea- It was England’s second last-gasp third person but his impersonality been down to losing muscle bulk give chance to new players after con- sons of Sydney debacle. “They have (Daily Times, Pakistan) escape of the series, leading many may arise from him being unsure at especially in his upper body, the here in South Africa to conclude having secured the wicketkeeper’s opposite to Ian Bell, who has beefed that having been a decent ball away position in the side. The stats sug- up. The change has made him far from losing two Tests, they are per- gest otherwise, for he has played the lighter on his feet, a shift that will Letter haps fortunate to be leading 1-0 with last 11 Tests and would have not only help when he dives but illakaratne Dilshan is not a Dashing Dil! one to play. notched up 17 in a row were it not when he tries to climb Ben Nevis product of an elite school in “We deserve to be ahead as we for him missing the Barbados Test the hard way with French, an expe- scored 1071 Test runs at 64.52 and Tthe big city, much like the haven’t been beaten,” said Prior. “If last March to attend the birth of his rienced climber, at the end of 1000 in one dayers at 55.55 and ‘Matara Mauler’ Sanath. you don’t get beaten you shouldn’t first child. March. Hopefully, notching his sec- 471, in T20s at 42.81, achieved in a He hit the limelight, in inter- be down. We took our opportunity He has deserved the run and not ond peak after the Test series here. swashbuckling manner. His national cricket. to win a Test. just because his Test batting aver- remarkable performance with the Two years ago, Dilshan’s pres- “Obviously we don’t want to be a © The Telegraph Group, willow places him high on the age is 42 (almost compulsory for ence in the National squad, as a London, 2010 ladder for the International team that’s always fighting to draw wicketkeepers these days). middle order batsman, was not Cricketer of the Year award. games. But if you can be a team that secure. Against this backdrop, the Dilshan and Upul Tharanga draws the games you ought to lose selectors quite wisely opted to try have proved their potental as and win the ones you look like win- him out as an opener, to which he openers and the selectors should ning, it makes a huge difference in a responded in a positive manner. persist with them. series because we go into the last His recent phenomenal success in Tharanga has certainly game 1-0 up rather than level or 2-1 that capacity, in 2009, tells the cemented his place as an opener. down. That’s the step forward I story. His consistency with the bat, in think this team has made.” With the dashing Sanath in the Gordon Greenidge and Desmond the on-going Tri-Series in Dhaka Another draw at the Wanderers twilight of his career, having lost Haynes of the West Indies to for the Idea Cup is a case in will give England the series, the magic of the willow and with name a few. They have often given point. age telling on him, the mantle as their teams flying starts, so that although the pitch there usually This combination should hold opener fell on the shoulders of the top order batsmen could provides enough for bowlers of good till the 2011 World Cup. Dilshan. deliver the goods, based on the both sides to take 20 wickets. The Quality openers play a vital Today, he is the bane of the sound foundation laid by the last draw there was 10 Tests ago, in role. If you turn back the pages of pace bowlers in world cricket, openers. This vital aspect in bat- 2000, and with the groundsman cricketing history, we come much like India’s Virender ting should be food for thought under pressure to ensure that some- across pairs of brilliant openers, Sehwag and West Indies skipper for the selectors. body loses, it is the result least like- such as Woodfull and Ponsford, Chris Gayle. ly this time. Arthur Morris and Sid Barnes of The year 2009 saw him on the Rex Wijewardene, England will want to win, not Australia, Len Hutton and Cyril crest of a wave of success. He Dehiwela. just to prove to the doubters that Washbrook of England and they deserve to, but to show that their grand plan to be the best Test side in the world is not just market- Pakistan says reserve keeper to play ing spin. Winning in South Africa would be a major leap towards that Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Kamran’s four dropped catches in and he is a good enough wicketkeep- goal. Alam has insisted reserve wicketkeeper the Sydney Test helped Australia mount er/batsman to come back into the side. “In purely cricketing terms beat- Sarfraz Ahmed will make his Test debut a fightback from 206 runs behind on the “He (Sarfraz) will be playing, defi- ing South Africa would be right up in Hobart on Thursday. first innings to claim a 36-run win and 2- nitely.” there with winning the Ashes,” said Pakistan’s out-of-form Test glove- 0 lead in the three-match series. Intikhab laughed off reports that Prior, who, like Andrew Strauss, his man Kamran Akmal is also vice-cap- “I have already spoken to Kamran Kamran’s brother Umar Akmal had captain, was born in Johannesburg. tain, which makes him one of four tour and he understands these things hap- feigned injury as a protest against his “When we came here, South Africa selectors. pen in cricket. I’m sure he’s good brother’s likely non-selection. were the No 1 team in both forms of But Intikhab said on Tuesday he enough to come back,” Intikhab told Umar batted in the nets on Tuesday the game. We won the one-dayers had spoken to the vice-captain about reporters at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval. afternoon and Intikhab has declared and if we were to win the Tests as falling on his sword after his disastrous “After these Test matches we hav