Cream of domestic cricketers in action

SLC inter-club domestic season starts:

Chris Dhambarage

The cream of the Sri Lankan domestic cricketers will be seen in action when the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) organized inter club domestic season for the 2010/11 year gets underway on December 1 with the Premier Tier ‘A’ limited overs tournament in Colombo.

A total of eleven top teams will be vying for honours in this 50 over tournament in two groups for a rich prize money of Rs. 750, 000 with the runners up set to receive a cash award of Rs. 500,000.

This year of course the tournament format has been changed and the teams have been divided into two separate groups unlike it was in last year’s competition.

However the reigning champions Tamil Union are pitted in group ‘A’ along with the last year’s runners up Chilaw Marians CC. The rest of the teams in this group are Lankan CC, Baduraliya CC, NCC and CCC.

The group ‘B’ will comprise of five teams namely Colts CC, SSC, Ragama CC, Bloomfield and Saracens CC. The two top teams from each group will qualify to play in the semifinals and the final is scheduled for December 18.

In fact the defending champions Tamil Union will have the opportunity of meeting the last year’s runners up Chilaw Marians CC in their opening fixture on December 1 at the P. Saravanamuttu Oval.

Tamil Union will start their campaign confidently under new captain Jeevan Mendis and under the guidance of former Sri Lanka Shadow Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe.

The team has been boosted with the arrival of paceman Chanaka Welagedera from Moors SC and Chaminda Vidanapathirana from the CCC. In addition they will have the services of Sri Lanka youth cap and former Mahanama opening batsman Dhanushka Gunatilleke.

In contrast Chilaw Marians CC have retained almost the same team that performed duties last season and will be out avenge their previous defeat. The team will be captained by dashing opening batsman Mahela Udawatte and will include senior players in the caliber of Dinuk Hettiaracchi, Amal Athulathmudali, Janaka Gunaratne, Gayan Wijekoon and Shamindra Eranga.

Meanwhile two stalwarts from CCC Jehan Mubarak and Chamara Kapugedera have crossed over to the neighboring club NCC while former Sri Lanka opening batsman and another regular member of the Maitland Crescent club Michael van Dort has moved towards Ragama CC.

However CCC have managed to recruit two players from their rival club NCC Chanaka Wijesinghe and Sandun Dias. They will also have the services of Malintha Gajanayake of Bloomfield fame and Thilina Masmulla who represented Sri Lanka Army Sports Club last season.

Three promising Sri Lanka youth players Romesh Buddhika (Mahinda), Lahiru Jayaratne (St. Peter’s) and and Rukshan Jaleel (Trinity) all have joined Ragama CC and look set to make their first class debut during the upcoming season.

Ragama CC will be led by dynamic opening batsman Kaushalya Weeraratne and will have all their regulars Malinga Bandara, Lahiru Thirimanna, Indika de Saram, Ian Daniel and Wimanga Perera.

SSC captained by wicket keeper batsman Kaushal Silva have got the services of three outstanding schoolboy cricketers namely Kithruwan Vithanage (Royal), Charith Jayampathy (D. S. Senanayake) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Royal).

However the key player in the SSC line up will be all rounder Sachithra Senanayake who is fresh after a successful campaign last season where he made his presence felt for his club and province in all forms of the game.

In fact he was named Best Bowler in the Inter Provincial limited over tournament and was the leading wicket taker in the inter provincial Twenty20 tournament.

The underdogs Badulaliya CC will have a new captain this season in Tillekeratne Sampath with Damith Indika from Army SC and Shalika Karunanayake from SSC also joining the club.

Meanwhile Saracens CC will have the services of three new players this season in Roy Silva from Colts CC, Lassana Dias from Baduraliya CC and Geeth Alwis who in fact is making a comeback after a lapse of one year.

The newcomers to the Premier Tier ‘A’ tournament Lankan CC are well prepared to meet the challenges this season with a combination of youth and experience. The team will be captained by former Sri Lanka all rounder Hasantha Fernando.

The new faces in the Lankan CC lineup include Damitha Hunukumbura (Moors), Harsha Vithana (Ragama CC), Dilshan Vitharana (Baduraliya CC) and Chanaka Wijesinghe (NCC).

The teams:

Group ‘A’: Lankan CC, Baduraliya CC, NCC, CCC, Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians CC

Group ‘B’: Colts CC, SSC, Ragama CC, Bloomfield, Saracens CC,

The fixtures:

(December 1): Lankan CC v Baduraliya CC at Reid Avenue, NCC v CCC at Maitland Place, Tamil Union v Chilaw Marians CC at P. Sara Oval, Colts CC v SSC at Havelock Park, Ragama CC v Bloomfield at Thurstan ground,

(December 3): Baduraliya CC v NCC at Maitland Place, Chilaw Marians CC v Lankan CC at Katunayake, CCC v Tamil Union at Maitland Crescent, Bloomfield v SSC at Maitland Place, Saracens CC v Colts CC at Havelock Park

(December 5): Baduraliya CC v Chilaw Marians CC at Panadura, CCC v Lankan CC at Maitland Crescent, NCC v Tamil Union at Maitland Place, Saracens CC v Bloomfield at Reid Avenue, SSC v Ragama CC at Maitland Place

(December 7): CCC v Baduraliya CC at CCC, NCC v Chilaw Marians CC at Maitland Place, Tamil Union v Lankan CC at P. Sara Oval, Colts CC v Ragama CC at Havelock Park, SSC v Saracens CC Maitland Place

(December 9): Chilaw Marians CC v CCC at Katunayake, Lankan CC v NCC at Maitland Place, Tamil Union v Baduraliya CC at P. Sara Oval, Bloomfield v Colts CC at Reid Avenue, Ragama CC v Saracens CC at Thurstan ground

(December 15): First semifinal – winner group A v runners up group B

(December 15): Second semifinal – winner group B v runners up group A

(December 18): Final

Team		Captain		   	 Coach

Tamil Union	Jeevan Mendis		Chandika Hathurusinghe  
Chilaw Marians	Mahela Udawatte		Mahesh Weerasinghe
Ragama CC	Kaushalya Weeraratne	Dharshana Gamage
NCC		Upul Tharanga		Hemantha Devappriya
CCC		Nisal Randhika		Charith Senanayake 
Bloomfield	Chamara Silva		Dhammika Perera 
Colts CC	Malintha Warnapura	Nishantha Weerasinghe   
SSC		Kaushal Silva		Avishka Gunawardena  
Baduraliya CC	Tillekeratne Sampath	Dumindu Hemal  
Saracens CC	Samith Dushantha	Dinesh Kumarasinghe  
Lankan CC	Hasantha Fernando	Geethika Warnakula