From the point of, asked to come at 7.30am in the morning to returning back the following day to Colombo at around 7.45pm in the night, what a journey it was. Although the organizers insisted on 7.30am knowing some, some were even in other places as early morning to be picked and tag along as well, but despite all that, the bunch of niners met at a decent 8.30 ish time to greet one another and to insert the stuff for the journey and decorate the bus with the niners banners and Royal flag.
The first bottle popped little after morning 9am and it was told 10 bottles were down by the time we reached Kandy and in the end the unlimited liquor accounted for at least 30 bottles. On the way with the usual pit stops, and with breakfast served and next was lunch.
The route was different to the usual and the lunch was fantastic and the boys changed to the t shirt afterwards. On reaching Pallekele we were ample minutes away from the whistle blown away leaving us precious time to walk that horrendous stretch for about 15min and to take a group photo and enter the grounds. Royal was sluggish to start off with and by the end of the first half Royal was leading 10-5 and all they had to do was to maintain it. Second half Trinity made inroads to Royal territory and in the end
22-17 still Royal walked away with heads held high and Trinity not only lost the 1st leg of the Bradby but the league as well altogether in their home den.
Heading back was tiresome and exhausting to all and entering our bus was like boarding a flight. The A/C was very much refreshing for all entering the bus and on the way “ Bamba’s” riotic chants “ Trinity sapada” and that hooligan trumpet of sorts was menacing.
The route to Hantana was to be scary since on two places some of the boys had to get down and make sure the driver had the measure of the two turns. Upon arriving close proximity to the Mount Royal Hotel we were shuttled by a van several times while some choosed to walk.
Upon changing, dinner was served and all hungrily indulged in the buffet that was mouthwatering. Next came the live music courtesy of our package and it went on and on with some superb music, even with the chef and his crew joining us in the singing past midnight to next day early morning. Next day was lazy but after breakfast after thanking the hotel staff everyone boarded the bus. For us the hotel was like a palace with its colonial architecture and the cottage windows coloring depicting blue, yellow and blue. The bus was parked nearby to a small village. The children in the village gathered around the bus from a distance to wave us and initially at the request of some “ Sanjaya” and later Lushanthan went and gave our Kelloggs choco packs and Lushanthan whose ambition to become a politician did justice to himself by indulging in a conversation with the village people.
After leaving Kandy the journey was long, while the backseat boys sang towards quarter to five, the lawyers remembered to open the lusty throats for a moment all in good spirits. We skipped lunch and straight away stopped at the famous “ Jinadasa Thalaguli shop” to have tea and fill our stomachs.
Upon continuing the journey some reminiscent days in school and some regarding their jobs had conversations, while for some as we were passing Nittambuwa, Yakkala it was time for them to say good bye and leave the bunch. By around 7.45pm we reached Royal College and after wishing one another well we all got into tuk tuks some uber’s and made way to home.
Throughout the journey Shashiranga and Ishinuwan diligently looked into everything, while Sajith was a live wire all along, our VP Madushanka did his part as well, some chipped in here and there, Bimsara from the time the bus arrived was busy coordinating and getting things done, Prabath’s talk’s stood out with specially when he asked Yasas whether he was a Doctor, Sanka with his DJ did his bits, and his two cents was something of note. Kodda’s SAITM debate was always going to be a discussed topic and it was Ishinuwan’s time to set the record straight while others joined in and gave bits of speeches, Madushanka bought about a solution in the form of introducing a loan scheme to University entering students and to offer scholarships to the marginalized and the unprivileged. And also to increase of funding in the state University while giving the real value to the State University’s while drawing the New Zealand experience where the NZ state universities are funded very well through government endowments and funds and even though private university’s exists the state University would have the real value since not only it gets the cream of the crop but because it was much more competitive since it would be better funded. A special “Thank you” should go to the President Mathisha for putting in a lot of effort and it was his leadership and the support that was extended to him that made a fulfilling experience for all of us.
Lushanthan’s talking was very insightful for a handful who first boarded the bus when leaving the hotel as he gave examples of government ministers influence and their corrupt undertakings.
One prime example was that of the customs advertising the Assistant Superintendent’s post calling for applications, having the exams for a thousand, having an English aptitude test and selecting a candidate based on a Minister’s influence. Which was pathetic to say the least.
And in the end it was time for me to call that taxi this time a fair taxi to head home with my school day fellow scouts Hasitha and Dasun and the last minute extra passenger Sajith to head home with a severe headache which I get when I skip a meal or stay to long in the sun which I have inherited with genes.
What a journey it was, to Kandy and back a truly enjoyable weekend with the boys and lots of happy memories to savor and some day to tell my grandchildren about it.
Kusal Mendis and seeing his toddler face that this boy would play in a different tier when the cricketing fraternity is discussing about giving context to test cricket, which by the end of this series here as well as in England with wins by Pakistan one would argue having four day cricket or preserve some of the traditions in test cricket going forward in an expressively evolving world.
unearthed by the selectors, to have a go at the Aussies, boy didn’t he rip through them in Pallekele. Like a child finishing his home work to get an ice cream from the ice cream vendor that had arrived near his house.
De Silva lit up Sri Lankan cricket. From skipper Mathews talking about partnership breaking bowling to chipping in with the bat both in the hill capital and in down south with worthy contributions and to a stellar performance at SSC it has been a tremendous contribution from the nonchalance player and by the time this historic test series has ended he’s probably within the records as one of the most runs scored for a debut three test series.
With just the T20 WC looming, Sri Lanka are yet to finalize their combinations and as a result the team is finding hard to get over that line. And mostly ending on the wrong side. It’s fair to say with recent reports of Malinga, there is no reason to panic, in Mathews we have more than a capable leader who reads the game well, although there is some criticism when it comes to his captaincy. Well yes, there is a big void in the current set up, but it also gives opportunity’s for other youngsters to step in. As far as the selectors are concerned they haven’t got the right combinations sorted, for instance when “May be the pressure from the media and others resulted in dropping a player like Lahiru Thirimanne. But what we should be looking at is the combination of the team when selecting. It’s not about 11 players who can hit hard when it comes to T20. The team should be balanced. There should be consolidation in the batting order and there should be someone who could adjust to conditions when they get into situations like this. I think from the players I saw (during the past), Thirimanne had the potential for that role after Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara). If we are looking at the future, we should keep players like him in the team giving them confidence. May be media will criticize when cricketers are failing, and if we are afraid of that and base our selections on that doing many changes that would be a problem”. This is what Aravinda had to say in a recent interview. Which makes perfect sense given the recent results.
The team heading into the world cup have a settled opening combination 
top of the order with some runs on their back and form to go with it. It’s after that where we haven’t capitalized, sometimes depending on the match situation this could change also, but then again this format is unpredictable, this is where some one in the likes of Thirimanne is suited to do a job Sangakkara used to do. If early wickets go he could consolidate or though he’s been seen as a defensive player he has the capability to maneuver the strike and keep that board ticking as it has been evident when in the past when playing against top oppositions evident by the way how he played running up to the 2014 T20WC final, where Sri Lanka’s maiden T20 triumph happened and finally got it’s hands on that silverware, and while much hype was surronded around Mahela and Sanga’s retirements and other players claiming they single handedly played a role in wining the WC final and midway with captaincy changes, 
Thirimanne’s contributions went unnoticed. In the past in the limited overs format when up against quality oppositions like Australia specially in that 2012 limited overs triangular which featured India also and last time around during the ASIA cup where he scored two centuries against Pakistan when the team needed it on both the occasions and specially when in that pressure final it was Thirimanne who held it together and did the job for us to get over that line. It’s just a matter of him finding that confidence and transforming it into T20. When it comes to Thirimanne, this is not on blowing his own trumphet but it was even widely regarded by Sangakkara also that he has a good cricketing brain and a certain calmness which this current team badly needs rather than throwing their wickets away when the situation demands to score at a consistent pace.
Moving on Mathews badly needs some runs under his belt, 
Kapugedera needs to connect more shots consistently and clear the ropes in whatever the way either by jumping out of the crease rather than wielding a sword like a warrior going to war. The middle order with the likes of Milinda Siriwardena 
haven’t been consistent but he has the inate ability to excute the ball over the ropes. Shehan Jayasuriya although has been given the chance and shown promise is yet to justify his inclusion with some consistent performances with both bat and ball and is the case with 
Thisara Perera our big “Panda” fondly known by Mahela. We are yet to see Dasun Shanaka live up to his reputation or whether he will he be another case study that shows the big gap between Sri Lanka’s domestic structure and International Cricket is yet to be seen.
is a sensation and should be managed properly and used wisely. It is questionable in the recently concluded asia cup why Mathews didn’t use him to upset the Bangaldeshi’s when they were three wickets down, in Mathews defense since Malinga wasn’t playing Chameera was to be kept to ball the death overs, which once again falls into Mathews defensive tactics. The experienced Rangana Herath
could well be playing his final T20 WC and would want to go out with a bang.
lalindrafiles 