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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Vaas to do it with 'DHL' The Arena with Srian Obeyesekere Making music with the ball these days seems to come as easy for Chaminda Vaas as exercising his vocal chords in the musical arena.
The Sri Lankan star, who though insists that, 'singing is only a hobby whenever I have the time,' struck a chord with the Sunday Observer the other day on his 'two worlds' where cricket came first. The occasion was the sponsoring of the country's champion bowler in the fast lane of bowling by DHL at the Trans Asia Hotel. The sponsorship, the quantum which the company did not wish to disclose, was seen as a giant step forward in fostering cricket in the country. Vaas, who of late has emerged as the next Wasim Akram for that toe crushing yorker which even rocked Australia's star studded batsmen in the recent one-day series, was hailed as a role model of a bowler who according to DHL Keells, Country Manager, Chaminda Hewamallika, 'had shown the world that it did not require flamboyance, but sheer dedication to reach the top.' There was Vaas blessed at the 1-year signing ahead of the 3-match Test series starting on March 8 at Galle, to 'bowl some yorkers so that the Aussies will be on their way' in the words of Hewamallika who stressed that DHL, with a global identity at team motivation such as Jordan Honda Formula-I Racing and Rugby 7s, liked to encourage Vaas and the Sri Lankan team 'to come up with a world class performance.' Vaas, who reciprocated that 'this will no doubt help develop my career as a national cricketer,' was on to some of those magical moments which had thrust him to the forefront of which he shared 'my three hat-tricks' with the Observer. "Of course becoming the only bowler to achieve a hat-trick at the highest level with the first 3 balls of a match against Bangladesh at the 2003 World Cup at Petersmaryburg, is something I cherish," said Vaas who went on to cap it by becoming the most decorated bowler of the tournament in South Africa with the highest number of 23 wickets. "The other hat-trick, also in an ODI was on the way to scalping eight Zimbabwean wickets for just 19 runs in a measly total of 38 in 2001 on home soil. The third being in a first class match in 1997 against a New Zealand provincial team," reminisced Vaas who underwrote the vagaries of his tribe that 'claiming a hat-trick in one-day cricket where you tend to come in for some stick is by no means easy.' He was modest about fine tune an art over a period of time since emerging as a raw schoolboy bowler first from St. Anthony's, Wattala and then St. Joseph's, Colombo to the Lankan team about a decade ago in a career that has also made him the most talked of bowler for his ability to reverse swing the old ball to good effect. Vaas was thankful to SportsLine Marketing for negotiating the sponsorship for him so that he could further develop his career. "I would say there are a lot of things to learn in perfecting the reverse swing like how to bowl it, where to bowl it and where to pitch it," said the left armer who though modestly insisted that 'there are so many other bowlers also bowling reverse swing.' Vaas, who also made it to the English circuit of county cricket turning out for Hampshire in 2003, said that he was working hard on fine tuning his batting after his county stint in looking to develop his allround potential. The 30-year old veteran, who counts some 297 ODI wickets and 230 Test wickets, said that besides Hampshire he had about 2 to 3 county offers from Middlesex and Leicestershire in the coming season. Born on January 27, 1974, Vaas has emerged to be a highly rated bowler of his genre internationally. His most phenomenal figures was the record 8 wickets for 19 runs in a one-dayer versus Zimbabwe on home soil at the SSC. Incidentally, it is to date the best figures by a bowler in an ODI where Zimbabwe was bundled out for 38 which also is the lowest total by a side at that level on February 14, 2003. But what rocketed the Sri Lankan into a greater hall of fame was his hat-trick against Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup at Peitermaritzburg Oval where Vaas had the astonishing figures of 6 for 2. As it was Vaas capped it with a series of records - beating the existing record of 20 wickets jointly held by New Zealand's Geoff Allot and Australia's Shane Warne at the 1999 World Cup. The other being his final tally of 23 which is the new record. The latter feat was the more remarkable in that Vaas' contribution of wickets took Sri Lanka into the semi-finals. His full name which runs like a score sheet - Warnakulasuriya Patabedige Usantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas, indeed is as long as his achievements on the cricket field. What is striking about the fast bowler is his sweat and toil. It has not been a fairytale entry born on roses, but of thorns where the bowler has mastered the finer art in the trade through sheer perseverance. So much so that in just over a decade Vaas has perfected the yorker and even better the reverse swing both wicket buying deliveries which has made him the next most potential Lankan bowler after compatriot Muttiah Muralitharan. Over the years he has come to be regarded as the next Wasim Akram for his highly successful yorker which interestingly Vaas concedes he fine tuned with Akram's help. Whenever he could, the former Pakistani legend would give the Sri Lankan a word of advice on how best to bowl the toe crushing delivery. But for all his fantastic hauls, Vaas says that one of his best lived moments in the game was when he restricted Australia, who required 8 runs for victory in the last over, to 6 runs to bowl Sri Lanka to a nail biting 1-run win in a one-dayer in the home series earlier this year. And as he said, it was the yorker with which he bowled all six deliveries that checked Australia's run chase with Michael Bevan, known to take his side to victory, failing for once. His best figures at Test level are 14 wickets for 19 runs versus Bangladesh in 2001-'02 at home and 10 for 90 versus New Zealand away and counting 7 five-wicket hauls. As to the reverse swing, Vaas says that it is a delivery that comes with how well 'you bowl it with the old ball'. Indeed, Vaas has developed in a field where with the help of modern technology of gym work he looks better by the day for his country as he currently does duty against Australia in the ongoing first Test match. |
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