Funds needed for Amupitiya National School to continue cricket

By S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr.

CRICKET: Hardly six month ago the under-13 cricketers from Amupitiya National School, lying in the foothills of the famed Knuckles Range in Rangala, would have hardly ever seen a leather ball, leave alone playing hard ball cricket. But they did the near impossible thing when they entered the second round of the schools under-13 cricket tournament in their first year of participation.

Such was the dedication of these young cricketers who do not possess the amenities the big schools have. Amupitiya cricketers improvised the school's volleyball court as their practice pitch. But there is no grass on this court. However, the cricketers do not complain.

Amupitiya National School, with hardly any facilities started cricket with their under-15 team this year. The amiable coach former Vidyartha College and Buckimshire Club cricketer Sam Gunaratne who does an honorary job, looked further and decided to have an under-13 cricket team. He had to start from a scratch as the youngsters hardly knew anything.

With the practices completed, they decided to field a team in the under-13 schools cricket tournament. They had to travel 35 kilometres to Kandy to play their `home' matches and the expenses were high they could hardly afford, but, still they managed to go through.

In their `lung opener' against Dheerananda Central Collage, the Amupitiya lads lost narrowly by 8 runs. But they won their first match against D.S. Senanayake College, Kandy by an innings and 128 runs.

Amupitiya Central College piled up 168 for 6 wickets. They dismissed their opponents for just 16 runs - with 14 of them coming off wides due to wayward bowling. Only two runs were scored off the bat and nine batsmen failed to score. This may be a record in junior cricket. Medium pacer Madhumal Rajapakse, in a hostile spell captured 7 for 8 including a hat-trick and Isuru Dharshana took 3 for 4. Following on, D.S. Senanayake College were dismissed for 24 with Madhumal Rajapakse taking 4 for 10 giving him a match bag of 11 for 18.

Next Amupitiya beat Kandy Model School by an innings and 114 runs. Amupitiya National School scored 154 for 4 declared. kandy Model School were dismissed or a paltry 14 with 8 of them coming off wides. Medium pacer Madhumal Rajapakse captured 5 for 5 and skipper Isuru Dharsha took 5 for 4. Following on, Kandy Model School were dismissed for 26. Madhumal Rajapakse took 3 for 8, Isuru Dharshana 4 for 9 and Nuwan Rajapakse 2 for 6.

Medium pacer Madhumal Rajapakse who bowls with a lot of pace has been the star performer of the side capturing 23 wickets including a hat-trick in just three matches.

With more exposure the little ones from Amupitiya National School should be a force to reckon as they have already performed beyond expectations with the meagre facilities available. Cricket materials the boys use are all gifts from well-wishers and the school cannot afford to buy them with the little money collected as school fees. The school cannot afford to provide lunch to the team. The boys bring them from home.

When they play their home matches in `Kandy', the crickets are asked to bring two packets of lunch each - one for the cricket and the other for a cricket from the visiting team.

But their dedicated coach Sam Gunaratne is determined to make the team perform even better in the future, but funds are constraint unless some donor helps them out, so that they can continue.