 
 He
came, he captivated and he conquered. That in essence symbolizes the
success story of promising schoolboy cricketer Shameera Weerasinghe. The
captain of St. Joseph's College is on the verge of creating history and
is well set to complete the unique double of claiming 100 wickets and
scoring 1,000 runs for the current season.
The dynamic all rounder has already achieved the milestone of having
captured one hundred wickets - the first player from St. Joseph's to
perform this feat - and is now just a few runs away from crossing the
magical 1,000 run mark as a batsman.
He started the season as a right arm leg spin bowler and a reliable
middle order batsman but he has performed to emerge as one of the
brightest prospects in the current inter school cricket season.
His heroics with both bat and ball have been altogether a surprise
package even though he has been a regular member of the College team
during the last four years. In fact his present coach Harsha de Silva
too was pleasantly surprised with his performances on the field but felt
he deserves full credit for all the hard work.
Harsha de Silva said the half century that Shameera scored in last
year's Big Match has given him the extra amount of confidence to bat in
the higher order. "I was expecting him to get wickets this season. I
never expected him to score runs. It came as a surprise. But he had
really worked hard in his game this year".
"The half century he scored in last year's Big Match has gone a long
way in giving him the confidence. He also got a century for Moors Sports
Club in one of the under 23 games," added the St. Joseph's coach.
Harsha de Silva also described Shameera as a quality leader who is
willing to play a responsible role whether in batting or bowling. "I
think he had done a wonderful job this season. Shameera had a raw young
side with a lot of freshers. He led from the front. He has taken the
burden and has carried the responsibility on his shoulders and performed
well," said the St. Joseph's coach.
Harsha believes that Shameera will have a bright prospect of
representing the country if he could concentrate purely on his bowling
as there are very few leg spinners around the scene who have had a fair
amount of success.
"Personally I feel his forte is his bowling. Not always do you get a
quality right arm leg spin bowler. This is a very difficult art to
perform.
 He
has been doing well in this aspect. I do not want to call him an all
rounder but he is a bowler who has the ability to bat well," noted De
Silva. Shameera of course has different ideas because his ambition is to
play the way he used to do and excel in both batting and bowling. He
feels that there is a better chance to steal the limelight as an all
rounder instead of becoming a specialist in the art of batting or
bowling.
Shameera launched his career as a leg spin bowler and used to bat at
number eight or nine in the first eleven side. He has had the privilege
of being guided by an elite set of coaches in the caliber of Ruwan
Kalpage, Piyal Wijetunga, Eric Upashantha, Kapila Manohara and Roger
Wijesuriya, the present coach of the Sri Lanka under 19 side. He was
named as the best bowler in the Inter Provincial tournament and under 15
tournament before storming into the first eleven side where he excelled
by capturing over 20 wickets in his maiden season.
He never looked back from there onwards and went on to make his
presence felt with both bat and ball. Shameera said that although he
received a great deal of advice from his coaches on the bowling
department it was his sheer determination and will that has helped him
to improve his batting skills. This alone is a clear indication of his
great interest in the game and his ability to turn even the most
difficult situations into a memorable one.
The recent Big Match against their traditional rivals St. Peter’s
College is another classic example where he was under tremendous
pressure but lived up to expectations with a fine all round performance.
Shameera’s next goal is to make it to the Sri Lanka under 19 squad which
will soon take wing to Bangladesh for a series of matches before touring
Kenya for the important International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World
Cup. His favourite cricketers are two former great leg spinners Shane
Warne and Anil Kumble along with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and
India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
- Chris
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