Thurstanites - a determined lot

Thushan Jayasuriya

Thurstan College, which had a disappointing season last season hopes to make their presence felt in the current season with a number of top players in their side this season.

This year the Thurstanites are being led by fourth year coloursman Ramindu Kumarasinghe , A stylish batsman who scored over 400 runs last year. He will be assisted by Rajitha Perera and will have the support of experienced campaigners like Minhaj Jaleel and Kavindu Kulasekara

Thurstan College with a cricketing history of over 50 years has already produced a test cricketer in Niroshan Bandaratilleke in addition to national players Amitha de Costa and Hemantha Boteju.In addition,Thurstan has produced several fine club cricketers in Vernon Caldera, Diyanesh Rajaratnam, Jayalath Aponso,Upali Bandaratilleke, Saliya Wijewardene, Mahesh Jayasekara,Tissa Salgado, Sathya Jayasuriya, Shehan Kamileen and Deepal Madurapperuma. In recent years Thurstanites produced a fine cricketer in Umesh Karunaratne who had the distinction of being adjudged “Observer- Mobitel” Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 2008, while two years later Shehan Kamileen had a fine season scoring over 1000 runs.Last year’s Skipper Sajeewa Salgado also amassed over 1000 runs during the season.

However, they were able to put up their best performance in the last year’s vital Big Match where they took first innings honours over their opponents by piling up over three hundred runs in their first innings in a high scoring match played at the SSC grounds.

In addition to skipper Kumarasinghe, Minhaj Jaleel made 587 runs last season and captured 40 wickets, Kavindu Kulasekara scored over 700 runs last year with a top score of 158 against Joseph Vaz, and Charana Nanayakkara, Thimira Jayasinghe will provide the batting sparkle for Thurstan this year.

The new ball will be shared by Raveesha Lokuge and Charana Nanayakkara or Pamod Gunawardena . They boast of a fine spin attack comprising Minhaj Jaleel, Rajitha Perera, Ramindu Kumarasinghe and Kavindu Kulasekara.

Thurstan College Skipper Ramindu Kumarasinghe

Vice Captain Rajitha Perera

The Thurstanites are being coached by Sanjeewa Silva who is determined to produce a strong outfit with the assistance of Suneth Gunatilleke. They are getting all the encouragement and support from Master-In-Charge Asitha Samarawickrama and Principal Nihal Epa.

The rest of the players in the squad are Sajith Gunatilleke, Tharindu Silva, Kavindu Kulasekara, Thimira Jayasinghe, Udara Malwarage, Sahan Hewawitharana, Arjuna Radhawa, Chinthaka Udaya and Kavindu Peiris

Coach : Sanjeewa Silva
Asst.Coach : Suneth Gunatilleke
Master-In-Charge : Asitha Samarawickrama