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| Sunday, 13 January 2002 |
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Suthershini leads President's XI vs Pakistan by Pelham Juriansz National captain, Suthershini Sivanantham, will lead the President's X1 in their game against Joseph Vaz, Wennappuwa Under 17 at the Wesley College grounds on January 15(Tuesday) in preparation for the Tour by the Pakistanis who arrive on Thursday, January 17. Twenty eight old Suthershini an off spinner, sees the three Test series against our sub continent neighbours as a blessing for the game. Leading from the front in what is traditionally a man's domain, Suthershini breathes life into the game as she looks to the future of the women cricketers. Hailing from Nugegoda the tall, lanky off spinning virtuoso was all agog when we met her at the Cricket Foundation grounds at the NCC grounds recently. The Cricket Foundation at the NCC is the venue for the practices for the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka. The Pakistani lasses will be here to challenge their Sri Lankan counterparts with bat and ball in 3 one dayers and a one off Test. The Sri Lankan Women's cricket team will be sponsored by Singer(Sri Lanka) Ltd, and Lanka Tiles Ltd. The tour will last till the end of January. The previous time that Sri Lanka played at International level was in the World Cup last year, so this will good exposure for the lasses. Fourteen members have trained for approximately two months for the Tour under the gimlet eye of able coach Nihal Kodituwakku. Two years ago Guy de Alwis coached the team and England, Australia and New Zealand who have been competing for about 25 years had the upperhand in the World Cup in New Zealand in December 2000. " In Sri Lanka we have been playing only for about four years and so it is all the more creditable that we have reached this standard because the players are basically all from the outstation schools and clubs but they are a very dedicated bunch." said the skipper. " There have been very good players like Vanessa Bowen, the former Captain, and selections are purely on merit and from those who come for the practices and work hard at the game. The clubs they represent are altogether 12 in all and they are Vimukthi, Dankotuwa, Colts(of which Suthershini is a member), Young Women to name a few and there are 2 schools represented as well." "If not for the efforts of Gwen Herat(President, Women's Cricket Association of Sri Lanka) this Tour would not have come off as the 'Windies' cancelled the Tour and the Pakistanis are coming here at short notice." commented the tall, lanky off spinner who is captaining a rather "mixed" bag. They lost about eight girls from the side that represented the country in the last World Cup. " The game should be promoted in the clubs in Colombo and not just in the Outstations. We need a greater awareness amongst the Colombo sides" she said. The Pakistan team will replace the much awaited "Windies" who were due to play here after their male counterparts did not have the best of Tours. The first Test between the two countries on Tour will be at the Colts grounds which will be the venue for three of the four encounters. The curtain raiser will be on January 20 and will continue through to January 23. There will be an extra day on January 24. The one day Internationals will begin on January 26 at the picturesque Asgiriya International Stadium. The match will be hosted by the Municipal Sports Club(MSC) and organised by Harendra Dunuwille, Mayor of Kandy. The Colts grounds will host the second one day International and the Tour ends with the final one dayer at the same venue on January 30. After the last world Cup almost a year ago, drastic changes had to be made and Suthershini Sivananthem who was the vice captain on that Tour took over from Rasanjalie de Silva. Six players from that squad out of the 14 selected. Sivanantham is a veteran in the team and has represented the country in two World Cups, namely the last one in New Zealand and the previous one in 1997 held in India. She has also taken part in matches against the Netherlands, Pakistan and India. Her best bowling performance has been against the Netherlands having captured 4 for 18. Skipper Suthershini and Hiroshi Abeysinghe are accomplished off spinners in a side that seems to be top heavy with spinners. Rose Fernando and Janakanthi Mala are the other two off spinners with variety in spinning coming from leg spinners Ramani Perera and Sandamali Dolewatte. Hiruka Fernando is the only left arm spinner. The wicket keeping is in the safe, able hands of Thanuja Ekanayake with Randhika Galhenage as her deputy. Chamani Seneviratne and Gayathri Kariyawasam are the opening bowlers. Chamani is a versatile batsman as well being the only player to have scored a century. Squad: Suthershini Sivanantham (capt), Chamani Seneveiratne (vice captain), Vasanthi Ratnayake, Rose Fernando, Janakanthi Mala, Hiroshi Abeysinghe, Hiruka Fernando, Thanuja Ekanayake (wk), Ramani Perera, Sandamali Dolewatte, Randhika Galhenage, Gayathri Kariyawasam, Lalani Priyadharshani, Indika Kankanage. |
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