Little known fact about the South Paw's memorable knock of 189 in Sharjah:

Prophesy that made Jayasuriya the messiah

'Go out and bat without fear' said a rags to riches Sri Lankan curator:

by Allaam Ousman

DUBAI: Former cricketers turned television commentators have now become experts at giving pitch reports before a match. However, it is arguable whether they would have been able to read the behaviour of a wicket without the expert advice of people who work wonders in preparing the turf during their playing days.

Batting great Sanath Jayasuriya must have been eternally grateful to a Sri Lankan curator Gunasekera Samarasinghe Gamini after playing one of his most memorable one-day innings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in 2000.

"About 15 minutes before the toss he (Jayasuriya) asked me 'Gamini how is the pitch today'. He wanted to know how long it had been taken to prepare the pitch and how it was watered. I told him there are no terrors on the pitch and it was good for batting. It was a grassless wicket at that time with a few cracks but shining. I said 'go out and bat without any fear'," recalled Gamini.

The rest as they say is history. Jayasuriya smashed a scintillating 189 from just161 balls, the second equal highest score in the history of one-day international cricket as Sri Lanka defeated India by 254 runs in the Coca Cola Trophy final.

India capitulated for just 54 runs, the lowest total ever in the history of one-day cricket in Sharjah and the third lowest in the world at the time, with Chaminda Vaas claiming a career best 5 for 14 from his 9.3 overs.

"If he (Jayasuriya) did not play a wide ball and get out, he would have broken Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar's (one-day) record of 194. But Jayasuriya's 189 is still the highest by a Sri Lankan in Sharjah," said Gamini who takes pride in making no small contribution to giving the confidence for Jayasuriya to decimate the Indian attack.

Skipper Jayasuriya was responsible for Sri Lanka winning their fifth match in succession and securing their second triangular tournament title in five months.

The 'Master Blaster' dominated the prize-giving ceremony, sweeping the best batsman, best fielder, fastest fifty, most sixes, the man of the man match and finally, the man of the series awards. More significantly, Sri Lanka had broken the stranglehold of Pakistan and India at the hallowed Sharjah stadium, which holds the Guinness World record for hosting the highest number of one-day Internationals at a single venue.

Sri Lanka may also owe it to Hemaka Amarasuriya, then chairman of Singer who were one of the sponsors of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series in Sharjah, for using his good offices with CBFS president Qasim Noorani, to embed Gamini at the Sharjah Stadium in 1997.

It was a compliment from Amarasuriya whose son Kusal played for Royal College at the time, which triggered Gamini's ambitions.

"Hemaka said 'I have seen a wicket like this only in England' and then he asked me where I mastered the art of making pitches. I told him to take me to Sharjah if possible. I just said it jokingly but it became a reality. Although it will be a loss to Royal, he said he will try to send me because it will be better for my future. He created a vacancy for me," said Gamini expressing his gratitude to Amarasuriya for catapulting him from Royal curator to Sharjah.

"It was a new place but a historic place. I felt it would be good for my future and for my country. Just as I imagined, it happened to benefit Sri Lanka," said Gamini who was an assistant curator at Sharjah Cricket Stadium for 14 years.

Sri Lanka cricket teams no longer felt uncomfortable when they played in Sharjah ever since Gamini joined the staff.

"Whenever Sri Lanka teams came, they got to know about the pitch and how it behaves. They were happy to know there was a Sri Lankan in the ground staff. Sanath Jayasuriya used to always ask me how the wicket is," said Gamini who hails from same city as the 'Matara Mauler'.

"I was very happy whenever the Sri Lanka team comes. I used to make pitches favourable for them," said Gamini who was driven by poverty to take up a job as a curator. "We were very poor. I lost my father early and had to look after two sisters. I forgot about studying and wanted to do a job. I had relatives staying in Wellawatte that brought me to Colombo at the age of 19 in search of a job," recalled Gamini who dug in at St Peter's College, Bambalapitiya initially.

"My uncle Munidasa Dahanayake used to make pitches at St Peter's. I learnt the art of pitch making, watering, cutting the grass and rolling it. I learnt it well," said Gamini who went to Royal along with coach Dilip Somaratne where he was promoted as chief curator within three years. He also helped a former Sri Lanka first class cricketer Presley Polonnowita set up an academy in the UAE.

"He (Polonnovita) was the Lanka Lions captain and used to play regularly at the Sharjah stadium. One day he said 'I have an idea to start an academy, I need your support'," recalled Gamini who joined Desert Cubs Cricket Academy (DCCA) in 2012.

"Desert Cubs used to practice at Sharjah stadium. But as their numbers grew by leaps and bounds, they moved to Sharjah English School," said Gamini who initially built two side wickets.

DCCA became the first academy in the region to boast of having centre turf wickets.

"We needed a centre wicket because our children went out and lost without turf experience. Presley decided in July to make a centre turf wicket," said Gamini, 47, who delights in helping Sri Lankan cricketers reach the top.

"My hope is to help cricketers from a small age and see them make the national team," said Gamini who has seen Sri Lankan-born Waruna Perera, a product of DCCA, captain the UAE Under 19 team.

"When I was in Sharjah, we (Sri Lanka) won lot of matches. Earlier it (wickets) was in favour of India and Pakistan," said Gamini whose pitch report helped Sri Lanka greats likeTillakaratne Dilshan, Muttiah Muralitharan or Chaminda Vaas to revel in Sharjah.