 Angelo Mathews the new silver lining
by Tyrell Peiris
Former Josephian product Angelo
Mathews has performed on the international stage admirably making him
the silver lining in Sri Lanka cricket. Born on June 2, 1987 Angelo
Davis Mathews has in a short stint of less than two years with the Sri
Lanka team, emerged as a potential all-rounder in the making. He is not
only compelling with the ball like the three wickets in his opening over
he claimed against Australia in the inaugural 2008 Twenty 20 World Cup
at Nottingham, he has also proved that he is equally able with the bat
as his recent run making suggests.
What has propelled Mathews to the forefront in the international
arena and in the Sri Lanka team has been his recent performance with the
bat in the T20 World Cup where he was among the contributor of runs in
taking his country into the semi-finals. His half century against India
is certainly still vivid in our minds when one recalls the manner in
which he accumulated the runs. It was no easy task with the right hander
arriving at the crease after several front liners had departed.
What raised Mathews in the esteem of the cricketing public were those
two half centuries against India and England was the manner in which he
collected the runs, treating every ball on merit. He produced the
perfect repertoire of a batsman fending the ball when necessary,
collecting the ones and twos and opening out with the boundaries and
sixes at the right time. With the ball, on many occasions opening the
bowling, Mathews has been consistent in line and length with the ability
to pick wickets while his fielding has been brilliant. He first
represented Sri Lanka in November 2008 at ODI level against Zimbabwe.
His big moment came in that dream match against Australia with three
wickets in 4 balls.
 In one-day cricket, his record is remarkable. Mathews has scored in
all 375 runs in 16 innings from 18 matches with a top score of 52
averaging 26.78 and a strike rate of 77.80. He has taken 17 wickets at a
cost of 524 runs. In T20 Cricket in a similar number of matches, he has
scored 266 runs with a highest of 58 for an average of 29.55 and strike
rate of 35.02. His 13 wickets at that level too was very pleasing.
The Mathews story is a fairytale one. He found his platform at St.
Joseph’s College, Colombo where he shone in all three departments of the
game going on to captain the under-19 XI. His ability first found
recognition when he was awarded the ‘Prince of Wales Trophy’. He made
his presence felt for the Sri Lanka Scvhools’ XI going on to captain the
side. He made his debut for Sri Lanka Under-19s when he was just 16
years old, against Pakistan in 2003. He is an outstanding allrounder,
capable of batting anywhere in the top order and also delivers lively
medium pace. Today, Mathews stands out as the ‘find’ from the new block
of cricketers to emerge into the Sri Lanka side.
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