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Will Sachith be as good as Sachin ????

Legglancer

State Regular
Hi Folks this article was sent to me by a friend at the CCA. I have not seen this boy as I am in Canada ..... but could asia comeout with a another Sachin ? Personnaly I do not feel that anybody could be be compared to the brilliance of SRT but somefolk Who have seen this chap cannot stop talking about him.


Sachith the record breaker
by S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - AP Kandy Sri Lanka

An unbeaten double century at limited over cricket in an inter Provincial cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for
Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), that's the incredible record of 13 year old left hander Sachith Pathirana from Trinity College.

I was fortunate to have witnessed this innings which had all the class written over as he put the bowlers to sword. Pathirana's
innings of 235 not out for Central Province Cricket Association against Uva Province Cricket Association had 26 sixes and 14 fours at
St. Anthony's College grounds, Katugastota.

Uva Province captain S. S. Varushan won the toss and invited Central Province to bat, a decision which resulted in this epoch
making innings which sent several records tumbling and in an overnight Sachith Pathirana had become a star.

When Pathirana came in to bat, the score was 62 for 2 which became 85 for 3 a little later. He was joined by 13 year old Mohammed
Freshal from St. Sylvesters College.

Strangely Pathirana's first seven scoring strokes were all singles and this youngster wanted to settle down first before wading into
the attack. Therefore it is obvious that his knock was no fluke as he had planned to build up a big knock if an opportunity prevail.

His first of the 26 sixes came only in his 14th scoring stroke. There after he opened the flood gates of scoring and by the time he had
reached his half century he had hit five sixes in 23 scoring strokes. He raced to his century in 38 scoring strokes and 52 balls, with
the aid of 10 sixes and 5 fours.

Next he had his eyes in completing 150 runs which he reached by scoring a further 3 sixes and 3 fours in 70 balls and 52 scoring
strokes. There was no stopping for this little boy who bludgeoning the bowling, the way a blacksmith would do with his anvil. He
reached his double century with a push to mid wicket with the help of 22 sixes and 12 fours in only 88 balls.

At one stage he was in such a belligerent mood that his scoring strokes were five consecutive sixes. He hit Chandika Laksiri for four
consecutive sixes and in all took 29 runs in his fourth over. A. P. Manoj conceded 23 runs in his second which included 3 sixes.

Meanwhile his partner at the other end Mohammed Freshal enjoyed himself with a knock of 103 not out with 8 fours and 6 sixes.
This pair put on a record unbroken partnership of 341 for the fourth wicket.

Pathirana's record breaking knock embellished with 26 sixes and 14 fours may be record for the number of hits to the ropes in a
limited over match. This match was reduced to 40 overs per side and one could imagine the score if the match was played to 50
overs per side as originally decided. This youngster may have even gone for a world record knock at least in his level of cricket.

His innings of 235 not out equalled the ground record held by Peterite Tyronne Le Mercier established 35 years ago but certainly it
was a ground record, Central Province record and a Sri Lanka record in limited over cricket. Two of Sachith Pathirana's hits cleared
the ground and landed on the roof of the Primary school building and other in the car park of St. Anthony's College, thus staking
his claim for the biggest hits at Katugastota.

Pathirana took to cricket at the age of nine and came under the watchful eyes of Sunil Fernando at the Kandy Cricket Academy
which has produced a number of outstanding cricketers in the past. It must be recalled that it was the foresight and planning of
Sunil Fernando which changed Muttiah Muralitharan from a pace bowler to a spinner in his formative years at junior level which
made him the Greatest spinner the world had seen.

Sunil Fernando taught him the basics and corrected his flaws and chiselled him to be a pugnacious hitter of the ball.

At Trinity College he played for the under-13 team and captained it and the senior coach at Trinity College the experienced H. M.
Muthalib saw the talent oozing in him and by passed both the under-15 and under-17 teams and included him in the senior cricket
team. This was a gamble which paid off as many junior cricketers when blooded into the senior team have often ended up a
cropper. In his very first match against Wesley College, this youngster batted for 90 minutes and stemmed off a possible collapse. It
was not the score which mattered in this innings but the time factor which took the sting off the Wesley attack.

In the next match against Kingswood College, coming at No. 3 he put on 121 for the second wicket with Ishan Ratnayake (211)
who went on to complete a double century - the second Trinitian to do so after Nihal 'Tikiri' Marambe's 204 also against Kingswood
at Kandles Hill in 1968.

His real acid test came in the Big Match against the traditional rivals St. Anthony's College at Katugastota. In reply to Antonians total
of 204, the Trinitians were reeling at 89 for 7 and faced the ignominy of a follow-on shortly after lunch on the second day. But little
Pathirana came to the rescue of the Lions from the dare of the Eagles with an innings of 52 which was worth its weight in gold
before he was run out.

Pathirana is a promising and a proficient player who could bat according to the demands of the situation - who could hit the ball
hard if the necessity arises or put up a back-to-the-wall defence, if the match is to be saved. He could also deliver his left arm
spinners at an awkward angle.

Pathirana's value in the side is his air of authority as he plays the bowling according to its merit and this creates and instils confidence
into his team mates or rather within the side.

His sheer artistry of shot execution is a treat to watch. In his record breaking knock he used his feet and took control of the
bowling with apparent ease and grace and often bludgeoned it with bruising power laced with elegance.

Little Pathirana confided to this correspondent that the light weight bat which brought him a debutant's fifty in the Big Match and
the limited- over double hundred was gifted to him by none other than Sri Lanka's 'Master Blaster' Sanath Jayasuriya as he is a
family friend. Pathirana's idols have been Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and of course Sanath Jayasuriya and from his
younger days, he always wanted to bat like one of them. He was all praise for his first coach Sunil Fernando who chiselled this
youngster, and to H. M. Muthalib for taking great pains in polishing him. Trinity and Kandy is proud of Sachith Pathirana's
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
I would quite like to see impartial evidence first.

And if he fancies coming over here and playing a few games for Caistor Town U15s this summer, i'm more than happy.

Oh, and I can beat that for a destructive limited-overs innings.
http://caistor.play-cricket.com/content/view.asp?id=27164&cid=200

The Portman Building Society will sponsor the ECB's Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship, previously sponsored by Sun Bank, which since its acquisition in mid-2001 has been part of the Portman Group.

The terms of the sponsorship contract will mirror those signed by Sun Bank, which agreed a six-figure deal with the ECB to sponsor the competition until the end of the 2004 season.

Commenting on the announcement, the Portman's Chief Executive, Robert Sharpe said, "The Portman Group is delighted to invest in grass roots cricket via a prestigious competition such as the U15s Championship. We wish all of the clubs that take part in the Championship the best of luck for 2003.”

The competition, now known as the Portman Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship, has gone from strength to strength since it was initiated by the Lord's Taverner's in 1972.

It is seen as a breeding ground for aspiring cricketers, with players such as Nasser Hussain, Marcus Trescothick and James Anderson having participated in it.

Indeed, big-hitting England regular Andrew Flintoff is often remembered for his extraordinary feat in the 1993 competition when he scored 234 not out in 20 overs!

This year's tournament will start in April with over 1500 entries, involving some 20,000 young cricketers from youth squads around the country. Each team will be competing to take the 2003 title at the National Final on August 27th at Bournemouth.

ECB - 24/03/2003

Whether my lot get past Cleethorpes in Round Two in the middle of May is another question entirely... :)
 

Legglancer

State Regular
I certainly agree with Neil ..... I would like to see how this boy progresses before jumping the gun ... I guess time will tell right ? Their is this 16 year old guy who is absolutely talented in Canada .... But due to Canada's limited facilities
he is better off trying tennis or baseball.
 

Kiwi

State Vice-Captain
Well there is a big different between the cricket a 13 year old plays and senior cricket.

I think people have to be careful they don't push him too hard.

When I was selected for Canterbury earlier in the year I felt so much expectation and pressure that my cricket and health went down hill as a result. I feel that 16 is too young to put the pressure of national competitions and the media on you but then I am a very gutsy player so I could make the step back to perfoming well in club.

If this happened to him it could ruin him forever as it so nearly did for me..
 

hourn

U19 Cricketer
is this the latest of the "next Don Bradmans" who are just 13 years of age only to discover that you can't judge how good a cricketer could become till he is about 16 or 17.

And even then, you can't fully judge a cricketer to he plays at the highest non paid level. And the what he does after that is upto him/her and his/her determination.

biggest problem with sub continent cricket is that people are always wondering what is happening in the under 14 or school competitions or whatever. It doesn't matter what people do in those competitions, its what they do when they come against the big men.
 

krkode

State Captain
hourn said:
biggest problem with sub continent cricket is that people are always wondering what is happening in the under 14 or school competitions or whatever. It doesn't matter what people do in those competitions, its what they do when they come against the big men.
And the reason they look at them is to find who gets to face the big men.

Owing to a rather large population, it isn't easy to quickly find the best of the best in a country like India...they don't all come out of academies or colleges.
Many come off in the middle of school...or even off the streets.
And that's why, I think, there's so much future talk and speculation, which you find unnecessary.
 

hourn

U19 Cricketer
krkode said:
And the reason they look at them is to find who gets to face the big men.

Owing to a rather large population, it isn't easy to quickly find the best of the best in a country like India...they don't all come out of academies or colleges.
Many come off in the middle of school...or even off the streets.
And that's why, I think, there's so much future talk and speculation, which you find unnecessary.
granted that there are many mor epeople in India making the talent identification process harder, but this is Sri Lanka as well.

It just puts to much pressure on the kid, and it is unnessary. If a proper system was put in place, India should be the best cricketing nation in the world but so far its redicolous.
 

krkode

State Captain
Well, it's not so much the number of people as much as it is where these people come from. Talk about Pakistan, Akram was picked off the streets by Miandad, Yohanna was the son of a railway sweeper, Vaas was going to become a Catholic priest before he discovered cricket, etc. Those are just some of the examples of players coming from unexpected places. One wouldn't expect an Aussie street sweeper (pardon my ignorance, but do they even need those?) to one day come up and play international cricket for his country. That aussie player is most likely to have finished college and/or been one among the recent batch of highly trained academy players...

Yes, there is unprecedented pressure on the kid playing the game, being pushed in, like most of them are, but that's part of the package one deals with when playing for a subcontinental team... :yawn: The fittest stay back in the end...

A proper system will most likely be put in place, but there are other systems to take care of first before that cricketing system can succeed.
 

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