Sports
CH rugby captain Madusanka wants to shape the careers of youth
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Colombo Hockey & Football Club (CH&FC) is making a massive effort to finish among the top four teams in the on-going inter-club league rugby tournament. CH&FC skipper Prasath Madusanka is spearheading that effort despite the Maitland Crescent Club not allowing space at the club’s ground for rugby practices. The club’s ground is exclusively used for cricket and hockey only at present. However, the club’s players receive all the other backing from the club to pursue rugby; the officials of the club are hiring out Race Course grounds for regular practices at a cost. Despite the challenges staring in their faces the CH&FC players are training hard to finish high on the points table after the conclusion of the second round.
As much as Madusanka focuses on his game he has an eye on the youngsters who have joined the club after having had promising school rugby seasons. “We are now forced to play with school leavers and even play them in the starting line-up. That’s a huge opportunity for them,” said Madusanka. He added that the seniors have a responsibility towards shaping the rugby futures of young talent before the former hang up their boots.
Madusanka, who plays hooker, said that he was happy with the contributions made by the new recruits. But he said that club rugby teaches many lessons and the ‘young blood’ must be receptive to them. “Sometimes I get dazed for a few seconds just after breaking up from a scrum. That’s how hard and brutal club rugby is at present,” explained Madusanka who is at present easily the best hooker in the country. He has held on to his place in the club and national side, the latter since making his debut in the Asian Five Nations in 2015.
The year 2015 was one of his finest; he has memories of being picked as the highest try scorer in the league rugby season. He played for Havelocks Sports Club that season.
He couldn’t refuse a tempting offer CH&FC made to him when he was at Havelocks. Madusanka looks back at that past and said that he switches clubs due to better benefits offered by the Gymkhana Club (CH&FC). He reminisced how the crossover was initiated by CH&FC player Rohitha Rajapakse.
However Madusanka warns that it’s increasingly hard for rugby players who are gainfully employed to at private companies to continue playing serious rugby. This he said is because private companies demand so much at work from employees who are also committed rugby players. According to him so many talented rugby players have already left the country in search of employment. It’s in this backdrop that Madusanka reminded this writer that CH&FC is one club that continued to pay half of the players’ salaries during the covid pandemic and the following financial crisis during which period there was no rugby.
When he looks back at the journey, he has made in club rugby he cherishes making one correct decision. “The importance of managing my office work with the same enthusiasm I show for rugby was drilled into my mind by Milanga Chandiram and I’m ever so grateful to him for guiding me,” said Madusanka who works as a Senior Marketing Executive at Sri Lankan Insurance. He has served this company for 11 long years. He recalled how helpful rugby contacts have been in bringing business to his company.
As much as he cherishes the moments he plays for CH&FC Madusanka loves the time he spends with the national team and represents the country at international tournaments. His first overseas tournament with the national team was in 2015 for the Asian Five Nations where Sri Lanka finished as runners-up. He said that his dream is to be a member of the national team that wins this tournament in the future.
He has trained hard to cement his place in the national side. He remembers taking over as hooker from Achala Perera and Dulanjana. Rugby critics have said that he is one of the most potential try scorers for any team he represents when attacking the goal line from 10 metres out. These are some of his thoughts on playing in the pivotal position of hooker. “You have to be very experienced and so accustomed to playing in this position before start really contributing to the game and the team. And the good thing is that hookers have a longer spanning rugby career compared to those playing in other positions. But hookers have also have some much to do in the set pieces,” said Madusanka. He said that with age and experience he has taught himself to have the same satisfaction as the try scorer if he feeds that try with any kind of help.
Another important factor in this sportsman’s career is that he has a supportive wife and two loving kids. His wife Kithma Chamodi has gifted him with two lovely sons, Yewen (6) and Yehan (1). Yewen who schools at Isipathana College has already taken to rugby and represents the school’s under 10 team in tag rugby tournaments. He is probably the youngest kid out their playing under 10 tag rugby at age 6!
Now aged 30 Madusanka sees the challenges ahead of rugby. According to him the popularity of all sports has taken a dip and it’s of concern for him. “Right now rugby is second to cricket in this island in the popularity ratings. But I don’t for how long that will last. The spectator interest for rugby is also thinning and this could be due to the high prices of tickets at club rugby matches. CH&FC not charging a gate at matches they host at Race Course must be lauded at a time like this,” concluded Madusanka
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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