OBSERVER star Gurusinha helped Sri Lanka win World Cup in 1996

By Leslie FERNANDO

OBSERVER - MOBITEL: Asanka Gurusinha who starred in Lanka’s World Cup triumph in 1996 was the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1985, the year he captained the unbeaten Nalanda College cricket team.

Gurusinha was born on September 16, 1966 and from his young days he took a great liking for cricket. He is a fine left-hand batsman and went on to captain Nalanda in the 56th ‘Battle of the Maroons’ in 1985.

He was a happy man to see the Schoolboy Cricketer of the year show going from strength to strength. He commended the Sunday Observer for recognising the talent in the school cricket arena for over a decade and said that cricket lovers should give their fullest support to the contest which is a motivation and inspiration to all budding schoolboy cricketers.

Gurusinha said it would be the dream of any schoolboy cricketer to be crowned the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. He also added that he would support the Sunday Observer and the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL) in their endeavour to promote school cricket, giving due recognition and appreciation for tomorrow’s cricketing heroes. He made his name well-known as one of the most celebrated school cricketers in the island while playing for Nalanda. He made the national team in some of the foreign tours as well. Soon after his school days were over, he went on to represent Sri Lanka.

Many successes

At Nalanda, he had many successes and it was quite natural that he was picked for the coveted honour of Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1985 and that opened up a big future for him in cricket. In 1984 he played under Roshan Mahanama for Nalanda. Mahanama won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award twice in 1983 and 1984. Then in 1985 Roshan Mahanama was a member in Gurusinha’s side.

Then Gurusinha played a anchor role in the Battle of Maroons in 1985 and scored an unbeaten century (100 not out). This valuable and aggressive century gave him the incentives to forge ahead.

After his schooling, Gurusinha went on to play for the SSC and also for NCC. He didn’t stop at that. His illustrious international career started when he played in the 3rd Test against Pakistan in 1986 at Karachi.

The Pakistan team was led by Imran Khan. ‘Gura’ started as a wicket-keeper, role he had for a further two one-day series.

He gradually established himself as a number three batsman. Prior to playing Test Cricket, ‘Gura’ had the distinction of playing for the Board President’s XI against India in Colombo where he stroked a fine century in 1985 just after the Ananda-Nalanda encounter.

In the first Test and ODI’s against Pakistan, Gurusinha showed his prowess playing in the all important position of number three and was described by Simon Wide of Cricket Info as the rock on which Sri Lanka batting was moulded.

When Gurusinha retired in 1996 after World Cup and Aravinda de Silva had made more Test hundreds eight to Gurusinha’s seven. ‘Gura’ was also a useful part-time bowler.

His 20 Test wickets included great players as Sunil Gavaskar, Michael Atherton, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh and Inzamam-ul-Haq.

41 Tests

He enjoyed an eleven-year international career playing 41 Tests and 147 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka.

Being a specialist batsman one innings that will be remembered for ever is his performance in the 1996 World Cup that Sri Lanka won. In that tournament Asanka Gurusinha was one of only six batsmen to score more than 300 collective runs and it ultimately helped Sri Lanka to win the coveted Cup.

However after six months he was out of the team. There was a clash of interest between Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga and the Sri Lanka Cricket Board and Gurusinha was dropped without explanation. This hurt Gurusinha and coach Dav Whatmore, too, got involved in the fracas and a big verbal battle ensued with Gurusinha praising Whatmore as being the man responsible for Sri Lanka winning the World Cup in 1996 after taking charge of the team in 1995. Skipper Ranatunga was not agreeable to this. Ranatunga said Whatmore had little do with the triumph. The wheels of success were in place long before Whatmore was recruited according to Ranatunga.

The fiasco ended when Whatmore stepped down and left Sri Lanka to accept a lucrative contract with Lancashire. Gurusinha meanwhile flew into Melbourne to take up his contract as captain-coach of North Melbourne.

Happiest moment - World Cup win

In Melbourne, Gurusinha had four seasons at Ardeen Street where he struggled for motivation. He scored 500 runs but was not satisfied. His happiest movements obviously was when Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup, defeating Australia in the final at Lahore. Sri Lanka’s team on that historic day comprised Arjuna Ranatunga, (Capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Roshan Mahanama, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Promodaya Wickremasinghe Australia batted first and made 240. Sri Lanka after disappointing start losing openers Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana for just 23 runs, recovered well Asanka Gurusinha and Aravinda de Silva batted with great responsibilities and made a valuable 65 runs. However Aravinda de Silva batted delightfully and made 112 not out and the knock really paved the way for Sri Lanka’s fine victory. Gurusinha’s performances in the Tests and one-day internationals are. 41 Tests, 2,452 runs, at an average of 38.92 seven centuries, 8 half centuries, a best score of 143, He bowled 234 overs, claimed 20 wickets, bowling average 34.04. Best bowling figures 4 for 68 and held 33 catches.

In the ODI’s, played 147 matches scored 3,902 at an average of 28.27, two centuries and 22 half centuries, highest score of 117 not out, bowled 264 overs, captured 26 wickets for average of 52.07. 2 for 25 was his best in bowling and held 49 catches.