Hareen pride of Joes

Chris DHAMBARAGE

It was at the backdrop of some uncertainty that he took the field in one of the most important games of the season. He had done nothing exceptional until then and looked just another ordinary player in the line up.

But for the Josephian left hand opening batsman Hareen Silva the 75th Battle of the Saints annual inter school encounter against their traditional rivals St. Peter's College will always be remembered as the outing that completely changed his career.

From an average player who had struggled to reach the half century mark in any of the outings he rose into the heights of becoming a hero for his team simply for his scintillating knock of 140 not out and 56 not out in the two innings respectively.

He walked out from the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium with his heads high after having made the highest ever individual score for St. Joseph's College in the Big Match series. The most significant fact is that he remained unbeaten in both innings and had contributed nearly two hundred runs for his side.

It was not long ago that another opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne had the opportunity of becoming the highest individual scorer for St. Joseph's College at this same venue. On that day young Hareen Perera was admiring that innings from the dressing room as a reserve player and would have certainly dreamt of emulating that feat. Two years after that historic occasion Hareen Perera was in a similar situation and well set to overcome that record at a most difficult situation of the game. Even then he said that his main target was to get a half century in the Big Match and conclude the season on a successful note. But the situation was probably tailor made for Hareen Perera to make a big score as he found the Peterite bowling attack to his liking. After a very quiet start the elegant opener dished out some fantastic strokes to steal the limelight with his maiden century in First Eleven cricket.

He had of course made a career best 168 runs against Ananda College in an inter school under 15 encounter. He showed great promise during this period and also had the credit of representing the Sri Lanka Schools Under 15 team in two matches against Bangladesh at home.

But unfortunately he could not continue that same form into the next level despite been a regular member of the St. Joseph's College under 17 and under 19 teams. In fact this year he was promoted as the vice captain of the side and that showed the amount of confidence the school authorities had on him.

Hareen Silva was determined to give back something to his alma mater and quite appropriately he chose the 75th annual Big Match to make a lasting impression.

His coach Harsha de Silva of course was not surprised with this performance considering the amount of talent and potential he had displayed since the year 2000. He stated that it was just a matter of time that he struck form although he had struggled to get pass the 50 run mark.

"It was disappointing from the team perspective he has not scored even a half century. We had a lot of faith and confidence on him. He clicked at the correct time. This is the first century he had made in his First Eleven career. So it shows a lot of courage from his part to really dig deep and come out with a fine performance in his last Big Match"

Harsha de Silva noted that he realized the potential of Hareen Perera and simply allowed him to bat in the top order so that he would gain the much needed confidence for the most important Big Match.

"If you look at our statistics our top order has not performed well. Though he has not got a half century he has been getting the 20's, 30's and 40's. He did not convert those good scores into big scores.

He was the third or fourth in the averages. He was not in a threat to losing his position. It was a matter of time as he was going through a bad patch. We gave him all the support and encouraged him" added Harsha de Silva.

The Josephian coach who have been with the Darley Road School for many years also stated that Hareen Silva did not have the much needed luck to make those big scores. "I think he lacked the luck. There were a couple of decisions which went against him. There were few good efforts from the fielder's part to get rid off him. But everything came into good in the Big Match"

Harsha de Silva who is also a former opening bowler of St. Joseph's College admitted that his century in the first innings was probably one of the best innings he had seen from a schoolboy cricketer.

"He showed a lot of character in the Big Match. It was probably one of the best innings I have seen from a schoolboy cricketer. He knows how difficult it is when he is going through a bad patch. It is important that he get the confidence from this game and struck to his ability".

"He should not give up easily saying that I am not scoring runs. He should keep working hard.

The harder you work the better you gain and there are no short cuts for success. He has a long way to go and should not relax.

His next step should be to get into one of the national youth teams and represent a club in the under 23 tournament" concluded Harsha de Silva.