More outstation schools have taken to cricket- Rauff

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports correspondent at Madawala

There was a time when cricket was confined to schools only in the big cities and very few schools from the outstation towns played the game which many thought was an elite sport. But this situation has changed and more and more schools from the outstations have taken to the game,” said the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association M.T.A. Rauff. He made these observations when he addressed the Colours Award ceremony of Madina Central College held at the College Auditorium on Sunday evening.

Also present on this occasion were national cricketer Jehan Mubarak and Senior Manager Coach and Development of Sri Lanka Cricket Malcolm Perera.

Rauff said that both Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association and Sri Lanka Cricket have done their very best to take cricket to the villages.

They have distributed cricket equipment and also provided the necessary infrastructure and conducted cricket coaching clinics regularly.

It is in the outstations that you find the best cricketing talents and what more example do you require than two legendaries Muthiah Muralitharan and Kumar Snagakkara who both hail from Kandy.

He said if you take a look at some of the present top cricketers, they have had their beginnings in the outstations before coming to Colombo to develop their cricket. Therefore it is of paramount importance that cricket in the outstations at all levels must be encouraged and hidden talents must be searched.

He said that it is a fallacy that sports could disrupt studies. Take the case of Jehan Mubarak who is present this evening he excelled in both studies and sports, carrying away many prizes in both. He has excelled at cricket and aquatic sports and has represented the country in both sports. To cap these he has a degree in Science.

Therefore both sports and studies should go together. If you concentrate only on studies, you will live in a close world though you may excel in that field. When you participate in sports, it teaches you a lot of many other things including team work, leadership and to accept both victory and defeat in the same vein. This is so essential when you go out into the world and live as responsible citizens.

Malcolm Perera, Manager Coaching Sri Lanka Cricket said that Madina Central College is the first school from the township of Madawala to play cricket and under the guidance of that top sportsman and coach Mohammed Zarook they won the junior cricket championship over a quarter century ago.

They have also produced top cricketers like Mohammed Rifan, Mohammed Zameer and Mohammed Shifan who played cricket for Kandy Youths in the Sara Trophy cricket tournament. Then Madawala has also produced some top class hockey players who not only represented the national team but also captained them.

He said that Sri Lanka Cricket under the Chairmanship of D.S. de Silva is playing an important role to develop cricket in the outstations.

Regular coaching clinics is conducted in Kandy for young cricketers. He was instrumental in the construction of the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium which hosted three World Cup matches. Pallekelle Cricket Stadium is only a few kilometres from Madawala and even Madina Central’s big match against Azhar Central was played at this venue last month.

Also playing a major role in developing outstation cricket is SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and the other members of the Interim Committee.

He said that Madina Central should endeavour to play more school cricket matches and it is only when cricket could be developed.

Colours and other awards were presented to outstanding sportsmen from the school later in the evening.