Interviews Thread

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Sanath uncle

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Interview: Thilan Walallawita, the Middlesex spinner saved from the Boxing Day tsunami

Thilan Walallawita made his first-class debut last week as he seeks to become a mainstay of the Middlesex attack



Thilan Walallawita was five years old and being carried in his father’s arms when his family scrambled to safety on Boxing Day 2004.

Walallawita, now 22, made his first-class debut for Middlesex last week and knows how lucky he is to be alive after being caught up in the devastating tsunami that hit south western Sri Lanka 16 years ago.

His family had decided that day to travel from their home in Colombo to visit a Bhuddist temple near Galle. On the way home they stopped for tea in a beachside cafe. Moments later the wave hit.

Walallawita takes up the story. “A few minutes after arriving my dad went outside to look through the window. He told me he saw a massive wave building up. I had never seen him so scared before. He shouted, 'Everyone get out’. There was a bridge we had to get across but it had been washed away. We had to leave our car on the side of the road. He had to carry me. We had to run. I could see the second and third waves coming behind us. We had to get up to high ground. We literally ran up the hill as fast as we could. The first wave was okay. The second got worse and then the third one was worse again. It steadily got worse and worse.

“I could see my mum dragging my sister along and I could see the water coming. It was terrifying. I was young. I am 100 percent sure I started crying. You could hear people screaming. The waves were very noisy. The water was dirty, churning up all the stuff on the land. We waded through water to reach the higher ground before the second wave could come.

“We called my grandparents who were in Colombo. They did not believe us. They thought we were joking. We told them to switch on the TV. As soon as he saw the news my grandfather came to get us. Somehow he managed to reach us and pick us up despite all the roads being blocked. We waited on a hill for a few hours for them to arrive.”

The following morning his parents returned to a scene of utter devastation, looking for their car. “We found it inside a house. The funny thing is that car is still running in Colombo. But my parents saw some awful things. There were dead bodies all over the place. There were cars everywhere. The coastal train was off the track. It was heartbreaking for them to see.

“We are just thankful my dad looked out the window of the cafe. It was a lucky escape. As I got older the memories washed away a bit but I still carry with me how we ran to safety.”

Walallawita moved to England aged 12. His father played club cricket here and wanted his children to be educated in this country. He joined Potters Bar Cricket Club soon after arriving in England and worked his way into the first team, from there into Middlesex age groups, the second XI and a first-class debut last week against Surrey at the Oval. He dismissed England Test players Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, taking two for 109 in the match. He kept his place for the second round of the Bob Willis Trophy that started on Saturday with Middlesex playing Hampshire at Radlett. A left-arm spinner, Walallawita models himself on Rangana Herath, the great Sri Lankan left armer.

“My debut was perfect. Playing in a big Test ground was really memorable, especially against Surrey. It has been a very good experience. I was very pleased with the way I bowled. Getting out two Test batters was memorable and I felt really comfortable playing with my team-mates. The weather has been perfect and really dry. We know at this stage of the season we are going to get turning wickets and it was a plus for the spinners,” he said.

The unique circumstances of this season have helped Walallawita. He expects his British passport to arrive soon but at the moment is playing as an overseas player. In normal times Middlesex would sign an established international as an overseas player but Covid wiped out such deals, giving Walallawita an unexpected first-team chance.

“I would say my ideal bowler is Rangana Herath. He has been a role model since I was young. I always wanted to be a bowler like him. I started under-14s cricket and it has been a long journey since then. I’ve played a lot of games for the Middlesex second team. It has been a long hard three years in the second team waiting for my passport but the best thing is that it helped me gather a lot of information from the spinners and batters. That helped me get to this stage and perform well in my first game.

“I’m hoping to secure my spot in the first team now. I want to learn from the guys and become a better player and hopefully as a team win the Bob Willis Trophy. Next year I will be playing as a local player and then I can push on.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2020/08/08/interview-thilan-walallawita-middlesex-spinner-saved-boxing/

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Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin in one frame, discussing spin is a treat for any cricket fan. The treat gets grander when both off-spinners reveal their fondness for bowling leg-spin.

In the chat with Murali, Ashwin revealed how the Sri Lanka legend had stopped him from bowling leg-spin when the duo were playing together for Chennai Super Kings in the early years of IPL.

Murali: I bowled leg spin for a few years in my school days, the reason was Ruwan Kalpage, also a Sri Lanka cricketer, who was also an off-spinner. There was another Test spinner in our age-group, a left-arm spinner. With two spinners playing in our team, I didn’t get a place. So for variation, I bowled leg-spin for a few days and they selected me for a season.

I have confidence in bowling leg-spin but not sure it would have come out well in Test cricket. Bowling leg spin and spinning the ball, bowling googlies is easy but landing the ball correctly is difficult.

Ashwin: You saying this made me remember, to play U-19 cricket, you’ll bowl leg spin to get into the team but when I wanted to bowl leg spin, remember what you told me? ‘Why are you bowling leg spin? Bowl off-spin, you do that very well.’ Why did you say that to me?

Murali: Me bowling leg spin was to get into the U-19 side. Now you are going to try and play for India and the selectors say then only want leg spinners, the onus is on experience. Only when you take wickets, you will get the confidence. It’s about proving yourself. Not just proving yourself by bowling leg spin. Instead, take more wickets by bowling off-spin that’s a challenge. Even I got dropped in my career.

They’ve dropped me from one-dayers but I didn’t bowl leg spin. I challenged them with my off-spin and took wickets. So I thought you forgot that challenge, that’s why I said it.

Ashwin: Now you’re saying this but after you told me that I only bowled carom balls and off-spin. I didn’t bowl leg-spin even next year.

Murali: That’s why you are here now.

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Murali, who has more than 1300 international wickets – the most – also narrated how he started off as a fast bowler during his school days.

“I was interested in the game when I was very young. I started playing I was 8 but as a fast bowler, spin didn’t come naturally to me.

“When I came to U-13 levels my coach told me so you’re not going to get any taller, so fast bowling won’t be your thing. Bowl off-spin instead, he said, and taught me. The first ball I bowled spun, because I automatically put my wrist into it,” he added.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/why-did-you-stop-me-from-bowling-leg-spin-ashwin-asks-murali-sri-lanka-legend-gives-stunning-reply/story-Fm0NBVlK0NLyE1TrWbKK0M.html

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In an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka Cricket website http://www.srilankacricket.lk , the 28-year old BRC skipper Bhanuka Rajapaksa says, ‘I am so overjoyed to have found out that it is the highest number of sixes world record in first class cricket having researched on the available statistics.’ He follows up declaring his intentions that ‘my real cricket dream is to play for Sri Lanka in the Test format, and I believe I’ve proved that I’m worthy test match material going by my run making statistics having scored 850 runs this season as well as 800 runs in 2019.’

(Q). Your comments on your epoch 50 sixes in the concluded tournament?

(A). “I’m overjoyed to have done it. In fact I checked the available world first class statistics and found that no other batsman has hit 50 sixes in a tournament.”

(Q). Something reminiscent of the Sanath Jayasuriya macho in your batting?

(A). “I always believe in batting in my natural flair which I back myself with to deliver with the bat. I believe in always putting pressure on the bowlers. That is my style.”

(Q). Your twin centuries against the NCC were awesome considering the second one came batting at No.8 and when your side had lost half the side for 50 runs?

(A). “It was a difficult situation. In fact, I didn’t want to bat so late, but it was a team decision and I’m glad it paid off.”

(Q). It was some real big hitting sort of exhibition batting. You were not overawed by the situation?

(A). “No, because I backed myself to do it. It is my natural flair of batting.”

(Q). “What are your future plans?

(A). “Although I have been considered as an ODI player and T20 player at national level, my real dream is to make it to the Sri Lanka Test team and play for about 5 to 6 years. I believe I’ve backed it with the necessary runs. 850 runs this year and 800 runs last year.”

(Q). You’ve set up quite a number of records?

(A). Yes, apart from the 50 sixes, I equaled the record for the highest number of sixes in an innings of 19 in 2019 in the same tournament and it was the third highest in the world in first class cricket.

(Q). How would you describe your team’s performance this year?

(A). “I am quite pleased the way we played. At the start of the season we were not given much of a chance and regarded by some as a team that would be demoted. Given that feeling, we fared really well to beat one of the top teams in domestic cricket the SSC as well as Saracens SC and came close to beating NCC who escaped through their last pair hanging on.”

(Q). You’ve a role model in batting?

(A). Yes, Australia’s Michael Hussey whom I have had the fortune of meeting and discussing the game a few times. I’ve also followed Kumar (Sangakkara) aiya.”

https://cricket.lk/2020/09/50-sixes-phantom-batsman-bhanuka-rajapaksa-says-my-real-dream-is-to-represent-sri-lanka-in-test-cricket/

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• විනාඩි පහක් කතා නොකර සිටීම

අපේ ලෝක පූජිත මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන් කියන්නෙ කතා කරන්න ගියාම නොනවත්වා කතා කරන කෙනෙක්. සංචාරයකදි අපි ටීම් එක බස් රථයක ගමන් කරමින් සිටියේ. සුපුරුදු පරිදි එකිනෙකා එක එක දේ ගැන කතා කරමින් ගියේ. හරි අද අපි තරගයක් පවත්වමු. විනාඩි පහක් කතා නොකර සිටීම තමයි මේ තරගයේ ස්වභාවය වුණේ. ඔන්න ඉතින් ඔක්කොමලා සයිලන්ස්. හැබැයි තත්ත්පර කීපයකට විතරයි. මුරලි සුපුරුදු පරිදි එයාගෙ කතාව පටන් ගත්තා. අපට නොනවත්වා හිනා ගියා.

• එංගලන්තයේ දී ඩ්‍රැකියුලා ෆිල්ම් එකක් බලලා එන අතරේ චණ්ඩි කොලු රෑනකට මැදිවීම.

වතාවක් එංගලන්තයේ දීර්ඝ සංචාරයක් යෙදී තිබුණා. ඉතින් විවේකයක් ලද මොහොතක කළමණාකරුගේ අවසරය ඇතිව මම සනත් අයියා, රුචිර පෙරේරා සහ තවත් දෙතුන් දෙනෙක් එකතුවෙලා හොල්මන් ෆිල්ම් එකක් බලන්න ගියා. ෆිල්ම් එක බලද්දි අපි සෑහෙන්න බය වුණා. ඒ බය එක්ක තමයි නැවත එන්න පිටත් වුණේ. එන්න තිබුණෙ පාළු පාරකින්. ෆයින් ගස් තිබෙන කැලෑවක් වගේ තැනක්. මිනිස්සුත් පෙනෙන්නට හිටියෙ නැහැ. මේ අතරේ එක පාරටම මෝටර් බයික්වල නැගි කොල්ලො කණ්‍ඩායමක් අපිව වට කරලා අපට ගහන්න වගේ හැදුවා. කර කියා ගන්න දෙයක් නැතුව අපි අසරණ වෙලා හිටියෙ. මේ වෙලාවෙ රුචිර පෙරේරා එයාගෙ ජංගම දුරකථනය අරගෙන ටී ෂර්ට් එක අස්සෙන් ගේ අර කොල්ලො වෙත යොමු කරලා. උඹලට දැන්යන්න යන්නෙ කියලා කෑ ගැහුවා. ඒ මදාවි කොලු රෑන වැටි වැටී දුවන්න පටන් ගත්තා. අපට නවත්ව ගන්න බැරි විදියට හිනා. හැබැයි එතැන හිටපු එක තරුණයෙක් රුචිරගෙ ජංගම දුරකථනයේ ආලෝකය දැකලා ආයෙත් පෙර විදියටම සෙට් එක අපි දිහාට ආවා. ඒ පාර නම් ඉතින් හරි වරෙල්ලා ගහගන්නනෙ ඕනෙ උඹලට කියලා මමයි රුචිරයි ඉදිරියට ගියා. ඒ පාර උන් ආයෙත් වේගයෙන් මෝටර් සයිකල් පදවාගෙන යන්න ගියා. අපි හෝටලයට ආවා. හැබැයි හොල්මන් ෆිල්ම් එක බලලා සනත් අයියා නම් හොඳටම බයවෙලා හිටියෙ.

කොහොමත් එංගලන්තෙ පරණ හෝටල්වල හොල්මන් තියෙනවාය කියලා කතාවක් තියෙනවා. මේ නිසා අපේ සමහර ක්‍රීඩකයින් තනියම කාමරේ නිදාගන්න පවා බය වූ අවස්ථා තිබුණා.

• ඇමරිකාවෙ සිට ගෙවන පවුල් දිවියේ විස්තරත් කියමු.

ජීවිතයේ දුක සැප බලන්නට කෙනෙක් ඉන්න ඕනෑ. ඉරේෂා මගේ බිරිඳ එක්ක අපි ජීවිතය දුක සැප බෙදා ගනිමින් ජීවත් වෙනවා. ඒක ලොකු හයියක්. විශේෂයෙන්ම මේ වගේ රටකට ආවාම තනියම ජීවිතය ගෙවීම ලෙහෙසි දෙයක් නෙවෙයි. බිරිඳ සහ දරු දෙදෙනා නිසා පාළුවක් නැහැ. සමහර වෙලාවට ලංකාවෙ හිටියට වඩා වැඩි කාලයක් පවුල සමග ගත කරන්න ලැබෙනවා. ඒකත් හොඳ දෙයක්.

• තවත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයින් ඔබ සිටින පළාතේ සිටිනවද?

පුලස්ති ගුණරත්න සහ සජිත් ප්‍රනාන්දු එහෙම මෙහිදී හමු වෙනවා. ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය ක්‍රීඩකයින් බොහොමයක් ක්‍රීඩා කරන සෙන්චරි නමින් ක්‍රිකට් ක්ලබ් එකක් එහෙමත් තියෙනවා. ඉඳ හිටලා මාත් ඒ ක්ලබ් එකට ගිහින් එයාලා එක්ක පුහුණුවීම් කරන්නෙ ශරීර සෞඛ්‍යය පවත්වාගෙන යාමටයි.

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[Ramesh]

https://www.facebook.com/153516655618/posts/10158549669760619/?vh=e&d=n

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[Bada]