Tamil Union out to redeem their lost prestige
Chris Dhambarage
Tamil Union with a new look outfit will be hoping to redeem some of
their lost prestige in the 2007/08 Sri Lanka Cricket organised inter
club Premier cricket season which commenced last week.
They have experienced mixed fortunes in the Premier Tier 'A' limited
overs tournament where they lost to the defending champions NCC and
Bloomfield before overcoming CCC by five wickets on their home grounds
at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
However the manner in which they have performed in the three outings
is quite encouraging especially in the game against NCC where they did
extremely well to stretch their opponents into the last over. Despite
defending a modest total of 233 runs they fought back magnificently and
kept their hopes alive until the last over.
The Tamil Union team is studded with a couple of newcomers this
season and the side will be coached by former Bloomfield and Sri Lanka
wicket keeper batsman Brendon Kuruppu.
Last year of course Tamil Union went through a pretty ordinary season
where they were placed fifth in the Premier League tournament and they
were losing semifinalists in the Premier limited overs tournament.
Their finest season was in the year 2000 where they came very close
of completing a hattrick of titles under the captaincy of former Sri
Lanka all rounder Upul Chandana.
They clinched the SLC under-23 tournament and also the Premier
limited overs tournament but narrowly missed out the Premier League
title.
This time they are even more determined with a fresh outfit and have
recruited a number of talented new players with former D. S. Senanayake
and Kurunegala YCC batsman Muditha Maduwantha as captain. He led from
the front with an accurate spell of bowling that helped his team
register a morale boosting victory over CCC last week.
Tamil Union in fact have strengthened their bowling attack by
recruiting former Lankan CC left arm spinner Gayan Sirisoma and former
Bloomfield fast bowler Umesh Wijesiriwardena. They have realised the
importance of dismissing the opposition rather than containing them and
should turn out to be a strong outfit when the Premier four day league
tournament gets underway in January next year.
In addition Tamil Union will be banking on former Debarawewa MMV
schoolboy and promising fast bowler Suranga Lakmal who shot into fame by
capturing 31 wickets during the concluded SLC under 23 tournament. Tamil
Union however will miss the services of leg spinner Gihan Rupasinghe
with a back injury, having won the best all rounders award at the recent
under 23 tournament.
Tamil Union's fixtures for the rest of the season: (Premier limited
overs tournament):
November 24 v Ragama Cricket Club at Havelock Park
November 25 v SSC at Maitland Place
December 01 v Chilaw Marians CC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
December 02 v Badureliya SC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
December 08 v Colts Cricket Club at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
December 09 v Moors SC at Braybrooke Place
(Premier League tournament):
January 17-20 v NCC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
January 24-27 v SSC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
February 07-10 v Colts CC at Havelock Park
February 14-17 v CCC at Maitland Crescent
February 21-24 v Chilaw Marians SC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
February 28-March 2 v Moors SC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
March 6-9 v Bloomfield at Reid Avenue
March 13-16 v Ragama CC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
March 20-23 v Baduraliya CC at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium
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