Benedictines fresher laden

Chris Dhambarage

St. Benedict’s College which is packed with a number of freshers and newcomers in their line-up are hoping to build the side in the current inter school under 19 cricket season.

The team is badly hit with the absence of three of their top players who carried most of the burden on their shoulders last season. Now they are left with a couple of senior players and a host of promising under 17 cricketers who are expected to play a major role this time.

The Benedictines are still searching for replacements following the exit of last year’s captain Suren Silva, dynamic wicket keeper opening batsman Nandalal and their most successful bowler Dilanka Auwardt.

These three experienced players shared all the responsibilities on the field and were able to form an effective combination that produced great results where they notched up four outright victories against St. Sylvester’s College Kandy, De Mazenod College Kandana, Wesley College and Lumbini MV respectively.

The performances of Dilanka Auwardt, in particular was simply outstanding as he became one of the few bowlers to capture more than one hundred wickets in the concluded season. He turned out to be a revelation for the Benedictines who were able to lift their image and challenge some of the very strong teams throughout the season.

With skipper Suren Silva also capturing 60 wickets St. Benedict’s College always had a very effective bowling combination that surprised many an opposition. In addition wicket keeper batsman Nandalal emerged as their highest run getter with over 700 runs and also snapped up 40 victims behind the stumps.

This time of course they have started the season on a quiet note and had a minor setback when they went down to Royal College outright. But overall, their performances have been very satisfactory and had the opportunity of grabbing first innings honours in five of their previous outings.

The important fact is that the boys have shown a great amount of keenness to learn and improve their standard in all departments of the game.

But unfortunately some injuries to a couple of players have prevented them from making an impact on the field.

Incidentally this year’s captain and fourth year player Nisal Fonseka is still recovering from a severe double blow where he suffered a finger injury and also dislodged six teeth while batting in a match last season.

As a result he has struggled to get back his rhythm and form with the bat having compiled only a solitary half century against Isipatana College. Not only that, he has also been forced to give up his duties as the regular wicket keeper of the side.

The wicket keeping duties will now be in the hands of newcomer Rukshan Weerasinghe who has anyway risen to the occasion with a pleasing performance so far. He had a little bit of experience while making his appearance in a couple of games last season and was also selected to be among the top seven wicket keepers in the Coca Cola talent search.

The under 17 player has also shown promise of improving as a solid middle order batsman and had the opportunity of making a good hundred in the game against President’s College. Meanwhile third year player Dinushan Wanigasuriya is the vice captain of the team this season.

The all rounder has already picked up over 20 wickets from six outings this year with a best effort of four wickets in the match against Isipatana College and also has one half century to his credit.

Senior player Varuna Fernando is another who is recovering from an injury after he accumulated over 500 runs in the concluded season.

He has been able to carry that form this year to a certain extent having compiled a superb century against Kalutara MV and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia respectively.

In addition left arm spinner Dilushan Perera is making steady progress having captured over 25 wickets this year including a five wicket haul against Kalutara MV. Second year player and all rounder Eranga Ratnayake is another player who is much expected of having piled up nearly five hundred runs in the concluded season.

Newcomer Roy Shiron has also struck early form having collected over 350 runs this year with two good half centuries in the matches against Isipatana College and President’s College respectively.

Second year player and middle order batsman Sandun Sampath is another centurion in the team having reached the three figure mark in the clash against President’s College.

Another noteworthy performance came from fast bowler Sachin Peiris who hit a stubborn 45 in a last wicket stand of 56 runs against St. Peter’s College at Bambalapitiya.

Left arm spinner Shanon Patterson, Arjuna Perera, Dilan Angelo and Jason Perera are the rest of the members of the squad who are expected to make their appearances in the First Eleven team as the season progresses.