Sajith Fernando - unlucky not to play for Sri Lanka

by Ranjan ANANDAPPA

CRICKET: The 1992 Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Katugastota Antonian Sajith Fernando should consider himself extremely unlucky for not being chosen to represent the country at Test level despite being the number one choice to lead the country in ‘A’ team tours on numerous occasions. Fernando, played along with Muttiah Muralitharan who won the Schoolboy Cricketer Award in 1991.

In that year Sajith Fernando won the best batsman’s award and the following year (1992), Sajith not only won the main Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, but also took the prizes for the Best All rounder, Best Batsman (runner-up) behind Russel Arnold (St. Peter’s) and also became the runner-up for the Best Bowler, behind Punyakantha Abeygoonesekera (Nalanda).

In 1991, the year that Muralitharan became the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year, Fernando struck five centuries for his school and fully endorsed his batting status to win the Best Batsman’s Award. In 1992, the following year Fernando did better scoring 1,000 runs for the season with four centuries and taking 100 wickets and made himself eligible for the top award in school cricket.

Fernando said that he was one of those unlucky guys not to ‘don’ the Sri Lanka cap although he was good enough to lead strong ‘A’ teams and Board XI’s whenever a Test or representative team visited Sri Lanka or whenever a Sri Lanka ‘A’ or under-23 team toured any other country.

Apparently, a player who is good enough to captain a Sri Lanka ‘A’ team during a tour let it be home or away with Test players or young Test aspirants, should be considered good enough to play in the national side, but Sajith Fernando’s case was not to be.

The 38-year-old left-hand opening batsman, Sajith Fernando has scored over 10,000 first class runs and presently is the head coach of S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. He took up the job last year and his approach to the game nearly turned tables against their traditional rivals Royal in this year’s Battle of the Blues cricket encounter.

Sajith Fernando said that although he had not represented the country at the highest level, he was proud to win the prestigious Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Award and engrave his name along with the other top recipients.

In the same year (1992), Indika Batuwitarachchi (Raddoluwa MV) took the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year (Outstation) award while Roshan Jaymon (St. Anne’s, Kurunegala) was placed second. So the competition has served the purpose of recognising the Outstation cricketers as well. In the present Sri Lanka team touring England opener Tharanga Paranavithana won the Outstation Schoolboy Cricketer Award representing St. Mary’s College, Kegalle.

There is also Thilan Samaraweera who became the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year twice in 1994/95 and Dinesh Chandimal who has also won the top award in 2009 in the All Island Contest on previous occasions. So, the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Contest and Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association no doubt go hand-in-hand in their endeavour to harness the talent for the future.