A former Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award winner is on duty with the Sri Lanka team at the first Test against Bangladesh now being played in Galle.
He is none other than former Sri Lanka batsman and the winner of the prestigious Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year title in 1985 Asanka Gurusinha who was recently appointed as cricket manager of the Sri Lanka team.
Securing the valuable services of Gurusinha is a prized catch made by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) administration headed by Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala. Since quitting the national team in disgust after the 1996 World Cup triumph, Gurusinha migrated to Australia.
Since then, he has been living in Melbourne for two decades. Several cricket administrators in the past had approached Gurusinha, offering various positions in cricket but none of them could persuade Gurusinha to change his mind.
But it was Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara and SLC chief Sumathipala who had a fruitful round of talks during Sri Lanka team’s recent tour of Australia to secure Gurusinha’s services, regarded by many as a sensible move.
This is not the first instance that an Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award winner has been chosen for a key role in cricket. Many past winners of the coveted title have served Sri Lanka cricket in different capacities. The present Chairman of Selectors, Sanath Jayasuriya had won the Observer Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year Outstation title when he was an emerging cricketer from St. Servatius College, Matara. Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu had served as the head coach of the Sri Lanka national team. Joining that elite band is former Nalanda captain Gurusinha.
A professional in marketing since his arrival in Australia, Gurusinha was honoured with a Deshabandu National Award in 1996, for his role in the 1996 World Cup victory.
The solid No. 3 batsman who had played many decisive roles for the Sri Lanka team in the past, is an Australian Level 3 certified cricket coach and has vast experience. He has also served as the Consultant Regional Cricket Coach for Cricket Australia. However, this will be the first time that Gura is taking up an assignment with the Sri Lanka national team.
Gurusinha’s international cricket career spanned for 11 years, representing the Sri Lanka national team in 41 Tests and 147 ODIs.
A specialist number three batsman who had played many match-winning innings, is best remembered for his role in Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup victory, with a rock-solid innings of 65 in the final played in Lahore on March 17, 1996.
He shared a match-winning 125-run partnership with centurion Aravinda de Silva in the final that romped Sri Lanka to a memorable seven-wicket win over the hot favourites Australia.
We are in the process of unveiling yet another future star as voting for the Observer-Mobitel Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest took a new turn with the commencement of the 2017 traditional ‘big match’ season.
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