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by Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports Corr

Two young fast bowlers from the Central Province yet in their teens clocked 131 kilometres per hour at the 'Pace Ace' programme conducted by the Sri Lanka Cricket and the Central Province Cricket Association and held at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy on Tuesday.

One of the fast bowlers who registered a speed of 131 kilometres per hour was 17-year-old W. L. Manoj from Gampola, an old boy of Gangasiri Vidyalaya, Gampola - a little known school. Manoj has hardly any cricketing background and he dropped out of the school after he was unsuccessful at the GCE Ordinary Level Examination and he had played a little softball cricket with a little interest. He had heard of this programme and had participated just to check his speed.

Sri Lanka's fast bowling coach Champika Ramanayake was highly impressed with this young fast bowler who appeared from the obscurity and clock 131 kilometres per hour which was indeed very good going for a 'starter'. Champika Ramanayake said that there are some rough edges to be polished and we must groom him for the future. He is among the five fast bowlers from the Central Province who have been picked for further training.

The other fast bowler to record a timing of 131 kilometres per hour is Madhushan Bototage from Sri Rahula College, Katugastota, another outstation school which has improved its cricketing fortunes over the years coached and guided by veteran Aubrey Kuruppu. Champika Ramanayake was also of the opinion that this bowler too is a good prospect for the future given the necessary training and follow up guidance. He too is among the five fast bowlers selected for further training.

Speaking to this correspondent, the Co-ordinator of this 'Pace Ace' programme and Manager, Coaching of Sri Lanka Cricket Malcolm Perera said that over 200 pace bowlers from the districts of Nuwara Eliya, Kandy and Kegalle participated in this clinic.

The turn out was far above expectations and they were very fortunate that they had extra cricket coaches like Chaminda Kodikara, Indika Fernando, Lakshaman Panditharatne, Senaka Dissanayake, Suresh Peiris, Ananda Wijesekera, Bernard Perera, Nishan Walathanthri, Amila Punneduwa, Roland Perera and Aubrey Kuruppu.

Also present to guide the young fast bowlers and honour their skills were apart from Champika Ramanayake, Jerome Jayaratne (Head Coach, Max Cricket Academy), Anusha Samaranayake (Asst. Fast Bowling Coach - Sri Lanka Cricket) with the Provincial Coach Sunil Fernando being overall in-charge of the programme which was a grand success.

Malcolm Perera said that the speed of the fast bowlers were accurately checked with the help of a 'Speed Gun' which is a new equipment to be used in the Central Province or for that in the Kandy district. It gave immense thrill to the young fast bowlers who ranged from the ages 15 to 23 to check their bowling speed which was hitherto unknown to them.

Malcolm Perera also said that coaching programmes of this nature are intended to unearth fresh talent especially from the outstations and the rural areas which may go un-noticed or lost to cricket.

Take for instance of the case of raw talent of W. L. Manoj with no cricketing background from a little known school from Gampola where there is little opportunity to play cricket especially at club level and if not for this Pace Ace programme, he may have been not known and he could make the grade.

Malcolm Perera also said that identifying talent is most important and what were proof do you require than the case of the worlds best off-spinner. He was a fast bowler and a middle order bat who could hit the ball hard.

His coach Sunil Fernando identified his hidden potential and requested him to bowl spinners and the results were amazing and his exploits are now history and he has become a living legendary. The result was that he had to discard both his batting and fast bowling and became a world famous off-spinner - the best the world has ever seen.

Central Province Cricket Coach Sunil Fernando who organised this programme said that this clinic was an astounding success and he thanked the Principals of the Schools and the Master-in-Charge and also the cricket coaches for extending their co-operation towards the success of the programme. He also thanked Jerome Jayaratne, Malcolm Perera, Champika Ramanayake and Anusha Samaranayake for their support and ready assistance which made his task easier.

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