Saliya Ahangama; Jack of all trades

by Rex Clementine

Very few guys have mastered all key areas in cricket like Saliya Ahangama, former Sri Lanka fast bowler. He was an impactful swing bowler in his heydays and after retirement did commentaries, coached SSC and was Secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket. Now domiciled in Australia, he is a fountain of knowledge having been amidst thick of things during several turning points of Sri Lankan cricket.

A product of S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia, Saliya’s house was a stone’s throw from the school. His older brothers were cricketers and it is by playing with guys who were older than him that he learned the fundamentals of the game. ‘Playing against older boys makes you tougher. I always believe the youngest in the family can go on to become the best sportsman because he has faced bigger challenges growing up and when he plays with his contemporaries, he comes out with his shoulders held high,” Ahangama recalls.

“At school, I had some very good coaches and that helped me immensely. Mr. Orville Abeynayake, Mr. George Ponniah and Mr. P.I. Pieris helped me grow as a cricketer and more importantly as a responsible human being.”

“I had self-confidence from a young age. I remember at the age of 17, I went up to my dad and said that I didn’t want to do higher studies but wanted to go and play cricket in England. Those four years in England toughened me up. You are all by yourself and you learn things quickly.”

Ahangama became an instant star in his first series representing Sri Lanka. He claimed 18 wickets against India in a three Test series in 1985 as Sri Lanka recorded their first ever series win in the history.”

“Mohammad Azharuddin came to Sri Lanka with a massive reputation. He had made three hundreds in a row in his debut series against England. I knocked off his helmet during a warm-up game. I knew I had the wood over him and in the SSC Test dismissed him twice.”

“It was a memorable series for us. India were the better team on paper but they weren’t prepared. We were well prepared. I remember at P. Sara Oval when we won our first Test, India had four wickets in hand and had to survive one session to save the game. When we came in for the tea break, Mr. Abu Fuard told captain Duleep Mendis to give me the new ball which was due after tea. So, I shared the new ball with Ashantha de Mel and claimed two wickets including that of Ravi Shastri, who was putting on a stubborn resistance.”

“Mr. Fuard was ahead of his times. He had made lot of enemies, but I can tell you that he only had the best interests of the game.”

“Lots of fond moments in that series. A 20-year-old Aravinda de Silva opening batting at SSC was told by Mr. Fuard that there’s no harm in losing a Test match trying to win it. I think that input helped shape Aravinda’s attitude towards the game. Then he goes on to face the first ball of the innings and hammers of all people Kapil Dev for a six. Mr. Fuard gave Aravinda the license to play his shots. That was like giving a ten-year-old the keys to the Kandos factory.”

“There was Ranjan Madugalle, a superb technician. We talk about Roy Dias, Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene when it comes to technique but Ranjan was on equal terms with them.”

“We had good leaders thankfully. I remember once SSC had given me the cold shoulder and I was so angry for I had done well in the domestic competition. I wrote a letter to President J.R. Jayawardene, who was the Patron of SSC. Within a couple of days justice was done.”

“Then there was Mr. Gamini Dissanayake. There was a coup to get rid of the captain and Mr. Dissanayake sensed it. He called for a meeting immediately and said in no uncertain terms that the captain will not be removed on the behest of the senior players. With Mr. Dissanayake, it was either my way or the highway. You needed that kind of strong leadership at that point.”

Another character that Ahangama is so fond of is late Guy de Alwis. They were contemporaries at school and represented SSC after S. Thomas’.

“Guy was an amazingly gifted cricketer. More than anything his self-belief was his biggest plus point. A lot of people talk these days about M.S. Dhoni, who doesn’t bat during practices. Guy de Alwis did that some 40 years ago. He knew what he was capable of. While he worked extremely hard on his fitness and wicket keeping, he wasn’t bothered about his batting because he knew that was his strong point. Once the SSC captain told him that unless he practices batting during training he wasn’t going to get selected. Guy refused to toe the line. He was given an ultimatum. Guy then told off the captain and never played cricket again. He always called a spade a spade. We miss characters like that these days.”

“Once at SSC, there was a move to get rid of Ranatungas. The reason that was given was attitude, not runs or wickets. Everyone thought that I would back the decision as I was part of the Royal – Thomian group. But I disagreed. I was the vice-captain of the side and I refused to drop him. Then, I called up Mr. Anura Tennekoon and told him the problem. Mr. Tennekoon is a fair man and he ensured that players were picked on merit and weren’t dropped on flimsy grounds. We need honourable men like Mr. Tennekoon running cricket.”

Ahangama was SLC Secretary when the chucking controversy unfolded in Australia. He had many sleepless nights trying to resolve matters and clearing Murali. “It was a tough time. When Murali was no balled in Adelaide, a Sri Lankan in Adelaide called the team hotel and told Mr. Ranjit Fernando, the Manager that the umpire had taken leave from work for stress. That summed up our case. We argued how can a person on stress leave undertake an international match. The case was dropped.”

Ahangama, 64 now, is a grandfather. But that doesn’t stop his coaching. He is a highly sought after cricket coach in Australia.