Thurstan skipper Kumarasinghe needs careful attention

Two leading cricket playing schools in Colombo, Thurstan and Isipathana will battle-it-out for the 50th time on March 22nd and 23rd at the SSC grounds, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the most prominent Old Thurstanite as the Chief Guest.

Thurstan College: Seated (from left): Sanjeewa Silva (Coach), Asitha Samarawickrama (Master-in-Charge), Ramindu Kumarasinghe (Captain), Y.A.N.D. Yapa (Principal), Laxman Gunatilleke (Assistant Principal), Samitha Abeyasundara, Suneth Gunatilleke (Assistant Coach). First row standing (from left): Sahan Hewawitharana, Udara Malwalage, Arjuna Gunawardena, Charana Nanayakkara, Achintha Kalpana, Sahan Dassanayake, Thimira Jayasinghe, Avishka Peiris, Shenal Wijesinghe, Chinthaka Udaya. Second row (from left): Kavindu Kulasekara, Sajith Gunatilleke, Tharindu Silva, Raveesha Lokuge, Minhaj Jallil, Pamoth Gunawardena.

Isipatana College: First row seated (from left): Bradman Ediriweera (Coach), Deshan Jayakumar (Captain), A.C. Perera (Principal), Wasantha Kumara (PoG), Malin Dias (Vice Captain), Janaka Bandara (MIC). Second row (from left): Kaminda Perera, Kelum Bastiansz, Matheesha Ranaweera, Chenutha Wickramasinghe, Chameera Dissanayake, Salinda Ushan, Ramitha Sandaruwan, Dilan Punchihewa.Third row (from left): Sahan Weerakoon, Yomesh Ranasinghe, Danura Ranasinghe, Davis Imesha, Torry Thabrew, Sudara Dakshina.

The Thurstan-Isipathana Big Match began in 1964 and since then 49 matches have been played Thurstan winning five and Isipathana winning four games. The match was not played in 1971 due to April Insurgency.

Thurstan College led by Ranmidu Kumarasinghe, who reached the magical 1,000-run mark this week inclusive of three centuries and has also captured 40 wickets with his off spin. Experienced Minhaj Jaleel, Kavindu Kulasekara, Tharindu Silva and Avishka Peiris are the other leading batsmen in the side.

Jaleel has scored over 750 runs while Kulasekara has made 750 runs including a fine 102 not out against Sri Sumangala Panadura. Tharindu Silva, a second year player has scored over 500 runs.

Left arm leg spinner Rajith Perera is Thurstan’s key bowler with over 60 wickets including a match-bag of 10 wickets against St Anthony’s College, Kandy. Minhaj Jaleel has also done well to capture 28 wickets while skipper Ravindu Kumarasinghe has bagged over 40 wickets. The other bowlers of repute are Charana Nanayakkara, Thimira Jayasinghe and Achintha Kalpana.

Isipathana is led by Deshan Jayakumar, who scored a century in last year’s Big Match. Jayakumara has amassed almost 400 runs with one fifty. Vice captain Malin Dias has scored 272 runs. Their most successful batsman in this season is Chenutha Wickramasinghe with 605 runs while Salinda Ushan 531 runs and wicket-keeper batsman Matheesha Ranaweera (471) runs are the others who have been among the runs.

Chameera Dissanayake, is Isipathana’s leading bowler with 58 wickets followed by Dilan Punchihewa (34 wickets) and Malin Dias (24 wickets).

These two schols have produced a few natinoal players. Amitha de Costa, Niroshan Bandaratilleke, Hemantha Boteju are the Thurstanites, who have represented Sri Lanka while Jayantha Paranathala, Suresh Perera, Nuwan Zoysa and Sri Lanka’s youngest Test cricketer Sanjeewa Weerasinghe are the national players produced by Isipathana. Another top cricketer produced by Thurstan was late Diyanesh Rajaratnam, who represented the Sri Lanka Schools Team on the tour of India in 1970 while Suhada Fernando played against the Australian Schools Team in 1978.