OBSERVER-MOBITEL School cricket show has unearthed latent talent- Jayantha Seneviratne

By Ranjan ANANDAPPA

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Jayantha Seneviratne was full of praise for the Sunday Observer/Mobitel Schoolboy Cricketer Show. The contest has spanned over three decades and thereby given young school talent all the encouragement it needs to go forward.

Seneviratne is one person out of many who could speak on the subject of school cricket as he has served in several administrative capacities where Sri Lanka cricket or school cricket is concerned. He has a close rapport with almost every school cricketer, let it be at Nalanda or elsewhere which has given him the opportunity to manage school cricket teams in many age groups while on tour.

“This competition is a real moral booster and a valuable one for the young cricketer. “This competition has given and will continue to give all the encouragement to the young boys to improve one’s game. Having a competition of this nature gives the young boys, the chance to forward in their endeavours,” said Seneviratne.

Seneviratne, after his playing days at Nalanda College, from 1968 to 70 joined Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and represented the country from 1973 to 80’ playing in five unofficial Test matches against India, Pakistan and the West Indies. He will be best remembered for his fighting 98 n.o. against Pakistan in an ‘unofficial Test’ in 1974 match during the period when Sri Lanka were striving hard to obtain full Test status.

He said that the understanding between the coach and the Master-in-Charge plays a vital role in the success of a school cricket team at both junior and senior levels. Such partnerships between key officials have hit-it-off smoothly in some schools.

And one such combination was the A.T. Nugegoda (Prefect of Games and Master-in-Charge, Cricket) and Jayantha Senevirantne (Coach) at Nalanda College for eighteen consecutive years (1986 to 2003). This combination has no doubt helped the school immensely in producing top class cricketers. Nalanda has won the Sunday Observer Best Team Award several times and also have produced a number of Test cricketers.

The two most outstanding cricketers produced by Nalanda during the Nugegoda - Seneviratne era was Kumara Dharmasena who was the Schoolboy Cricketer and Mahela Jayawardene who won the Best Batsman’s award in 1995. Jayawardene has created a big impact as a cricketer and captain in the Test arena.

Like many others, both Dharmasena and Jayewardene were trusted students of the Nugegoda - Seneviratne tenure.

Jayantha Seneviratne, commending the role played by Trevor Nugegoda, the Master-in-Charge, during his coaching days at Nalanda, said that he (Jayantha) joined Nalanda in 1961 - 1970 and during that period of nine years, there have been several masters who have been in charge of cricket and Nugegoda was one of the best. His discipline, punctuality, cooperation and administration was simply outstanding which made his task as the coach much easier.

Nugegoda was a gentleman to the most literal sense and led by example, which helped the school to maintain a high degree of discipline and sportsmanship.

Test players Chamara Dunusinghe, Kumar Dharmasena, (Schoolboy Cricketer 1989. Now in Elite Umpiring Panel), Mahela Jayawardene, Ishara Amarasinghe, Shantha Kalavitigoda and prospective Test players Priyankara Wickremasinghe, Gihan Rupassinghe, (Schoolboy Cricketer 2006), Ashan Priyanjan, Dilshan Munaweera were some of the cricketers who excelled.