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| Sunday, 8 January 2006 |
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Sports |  |
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Former
Trinitian Gihan Herath excels in league cricket in England
by Upananda Jayasundera - Kandy Sports Special Corr. Gihan Herath, a former Trinitian is going great gunsin league cricket in the United Kingdom for the last 15 years. When he left Trinity, he went abroad with the idea of pursuing higher studies, but cricket caught his fancy in England and he decided to go for cricket in a big way. The coaching that Gihan received from an English coach John Norris while Trinity in the under-17 age group, has paid rich dividends. He led Trinity under-17 team, but the cricket that he learnt in the early years stood well for him and he signed on with Letchworth Cricket Club and later for Surrey, Kent and Hampshire in the Minor County Championship. He impressed such a great deal in his first few seasons and he was picked as captain of Spencer Cricket Club in Surrey Minor County Championship. With Gihan excelling in both batting and bowling, Spencer Cricket Club emerged as Surrey Minor County league cricket champions for six consecutive years which is a rare achievement. His leadership qualities was outstanding which more or less forced the club to have him captain the side for such a long spell. Herath was a player with a good cricketing knowledge and was able to take decisions which always turned out to be the right ones and help the team in no small measure for their long string of success in cricket. He also played for the Middlesex Premier League which emerged as champions on two occasions. He has been selected as captain of Barclay's Cricket Club in the Middlesex League since 2003 and under his captaincy, the club has made much progress. A hard-hitting right-hand batsman, Gihan has made several outstanding knocks in the current year's league cricket tournament. Some of his scores: 93 not out against Uxbridge, 78 against Potters Bar, 98 not out against Brentham, 86 against South Gate and culminated with a massive knock of 140 not out with Harrow Town. In recognition of his fine batting, Barclays Bank awarded the Most Outstanding Player's Trophy for 2004 and 2005 two years consecutively to Gihan at their annual cricket awards ceremony held in London recently. For his fine batting and able leadership qualities, Barclay's Bank has reappointed him as captain for the year 2006. This is a rare opportunity that has come Gihan's way and a confidence vote for his fine displays leading a multinational team to unreserved success. While batting seems to be his forte, Gihan also is a competent bowler too. He is a leg-spin bowler and has often had to bolster the bowling in difficult situations when the other bowlers fail to deliver the goods. This year, he has taken 62 wickets for an average of 22.12. The outstanding feats: 6 for 30 against Uxbridge, 5 for 23 against South Gate and 6 for 56 against North London. Besides improving his stature as a league club cricketer, he has promoted the cause of Sri Lankan cricketers and took them on as overseas players and the local players to develop their careers. He holds a great future in cricket and should bring credit to both Sri Lanka and himself in the future as well. |
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