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| Sunday, 11 January 2004 |
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Tilan Samaraweera the local 'Bill Lawry' shows what Test batsmanship is all about by SRIAN OBEYESEKERE When the connoisseur looks for the type of dashing stuff to ape at, the rather slow going Tilan Samaraweera would not be their dish. not in their book of entertainment.
But this 26-year-old right-hander, who is a bore to the eye as he plays down over after over, and looks like a non-starter where run-making looks as far away as a barren desert, indeed is a perfect script of what Test batsmanship is all about as he scratches about with his bat. It is this ballooning effect of mounting the scoreboard after frustrating bowlers hours end, that has catapulted this stocky rather ungraceful batsman into recognition. Samaraweera might not be a Jayasuriya or Jayawardene or Sangakkara at the crease, but three centuries inside of 3 years has certainly thrust this former Anandian into the reckoning. What is more when it happens to be that he is one of three Sri Lankans to carve a niche by scoring a debut century after Brendon Kuruppu and Romesh Kaluwitharana to occupy a place in a rare hall of fame in world cricket. For one who walked into the Sri Lankan team more for his bowling talents as an off-spinner than for his batting, Samaraweera's is something of a fairytale entry into the firmament. Making his debut versus India and going into bat way down at No. 8 not the ideal of beginnings. But what a debut it turned out to be for the youngster then aged 24. When it looked like there wasn't much batting left, Samaraweera, who had joined Hashan Tillekeratne, found an able partner in the dour left hander as the occasion turned out to be the flaunting of their careers in contrasting ways with centuries under their belts. Samaraweera made an unbeaten 103 in 2001. If the occasion marked the re-cementing of his career for Tillekeratne, after sitting out 3 years in the wilderness, for Samaraweera, who made an unbeaten 103, it was a sensational baptism. Not many summers later, Samaraweera went on to cap his career with his second Test century - 106 versus Zimbabwe also at the SSC the same year and followed it up 23 months later with a characteristic match winning 142 against England this year at the same venue to make the SSC his happy hunting ground. Reflecting on his career, Samaraweera, in an interview with the 'Sunday Observer', said he owes much of that credit to Tillekeratne, his current captain. "In that match against India, Hashan walked up to me and encouraged me to go for a century. Likewise, this time around in the decisive third Test against England Hashan as captain, asked me to play my normal game since we had all the time in the world to run up a massive winning total," said Samaraweera who figured in a record 262-run partnership for the third wicket with Mahela Jayawardene who also rolled back a lean run to notch a century as Sri Lanka ran up a 600 plus total leading to that 1-0 series clinching innings triumph over England. Significantly, Samaraweera hogged the limelight in a 7-hour long stay at the crease coming in at the fall of the first wicket after the regular No. 3 Kumar Sangakkara had to fill in for the injured Marvan Atapattu. The marathon innings which ended the only way it could when Samaraweera was run out. Here was a batsman displaying ideal Test match temperament. Samaraweera might not be the darling of the crowd, but here is a batsman who has shown the type of discipline demanding of Test cricket. His century against the English bowlers mediocre as they might have been, is an eye-opener for the captain and the selectors at a time there has been much haggling in finding muscle to the middle order. Samaraweera could be the ideal foil at No. 3 with Sangakkara and the rest throwing weight after him. In only 14 Test matches for his country, the 'local Lawry' has quite some feats - century on debut, all three centuries at the same venue, occupation of the crease a hallmark, but more than anything a batsman with an appetite for averages. At the SSC alone, he has scored 513 runs in six Test match appearances with an incredible average of 171.00 with 3 tons and 2 fifties. Overall he has played in 14 Tests so far with a total of 806 runs with 3 centuries and 4 fifties for an average of 67.16. In the recent 3-match Test series against England he made 214 runs from 5 innings crowned by that 142 with 1 not out averaging 53.50. Interestingly, Samaraweera, who says that at 'Ananda College I used to bat at both No. 3 and 4,' is one of those cricketers who cut his teeth in the game by crowning his schoolboy career by landing the most coveted of awards at that level - the 'Observer-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year' in 1994 and '95. A long-standing annual event at promoting school cricket, the outstanding awards of which Samaraweera says went a long way in fine tuning his talents like so many other Sri Lankan cricketers. Now, a junior bank executive, Samaraweera, who is married to the sister of a former Ananda College colleague Bathiya Perera, has his roots to small beginnings at Asoka Kanishta Vidyalaya, Maradana before branching to Ananda where he captained the under-13 XI with distinction when they emerged All Island Champions in 1989. In 1991 he led Ananda to the under-17 Schools' Astra Margarine Trophy. Having made it to the First XI, Samaraweera went on to be a fifth-year coloursman with his best years being 1992 scoring 982 runs inclusive of 3 'tons' and in '94 with 800 runs and 50 wickets. His big break at representative level came in 1993 when he was selected to the Sri Lanka Youth XI and excelled, claiming 17 wickets in a series versus England. He was subsequently selected to the Lanka under-20 XI before earning a call up to the Lanka 'A' XI when he excelled with the ball, claiming 21 wickets at an average of 14.23 versus Pakistan. Samaraweera says that as a bowler he developed with a few tips he received from Indian off-spinner Asish Kapoor who advised him to bowl with a straighter run-up to the wicket. For a cricketer, who shone more as a top order schoolboy batsman, but who got the selectors' nod at the highest level for his bowling than his batting, it has been a fairytale of sorts. Today, this top rung batsman from Ananda who wears the SSC cap at club level, has begun to deliver for his country with the bat as he did as a schoolboy. |
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