Sports
The return of the educated rugby player
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Kandy Sports Club dominated a third week of rugby in the domestic inter-club league tournament and what made the club even more proud was the stellar performance produced by centre Tharinda Ratwatte.
Kandy SC got the better of Police SC (33-19) in a game where Tharinda dazzled and also stood in the way of the ‘cops’ causing any form of an upset. He knew the length and breadth of the field and applied pressure on the right occasions to keep the policemen in check. We have to keep using his first name in this column because there is another Ratwatte (Nigel) playing in the same Kandy SC team. Nigel plays as fly half.
He scored twice in the game; the second was a beauty where he smothered a kick, collected and scored to stun the police team. Tharinda has a package to offer during a game where his amazing running skills are complemented by his defence work and accurate place kicking. Opposite teams have no clue what combinations he’ll produce during any given match day and it makes it even harder for the opposition because there are other hungry team members wearing the Kandy SC jersey and raring to go. Still Tharinda has been a cut above the rest thus far this season.
We have to look at what has gone into producing this player. He was educated at Trinity College Kandy and is the son of Trinity ‘Lion’ Ashan Ratwatte, who captained the school’s rugby team in 1983. Tharinda captained Trinity at rugby in 2014. And the great accomplishment by him is that unlike his father the son has always been in Bradby Shield winning sides. Ashan was once quoted making this statement in a newspaper about his son, “I thought I was a great player, but my son is better than I in every sphere. He has never lost a Bradby in his life”. Now that’s quite a statement made by a father whose name is written in the annals of ‘Trinity rugby’ as a player to remember.
The Ratwattes have deep roots running in the sport of rugby. From Dennis (Ashan’s father who also played the game) Ashan also saw his bothers Sheran, Roshan and Dilkshan also playing the game at top level. Interestingly Tharinda and Nigel are cousins, but the latter couldn’t play for Trinity’s First XV side because he left school prematurely to continue his education in South Africa.
Then there is this atmosphere at Trinity where the sport of rugby just makes you fall in love with the vibe that it creates. This is experienced by even the students who don’t play the game. The rugby culture at Trinity embeds in you that the school team can have bad days in rugby, but it cannot lose the Bradby; which is played against Royal College Colombo.
One wonders how it was for Tharinda to cope with pressure because it is not easy to play your game when everyone watching you from friends and relations to family members know the game inside out. But still he finished his school career on a high and won a ‘Lion’ for himself.
After leaving school he joined Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club (CR&FC) and had four seasons with the Red Shirts. While playing competitive rugby he completed his law degree and is an Attorney-at-Law at present.
He is 28 years old at present and when he looks back at the decision to crossover to Kandy SC it serves both the Nittawela club and himself; the latter from the perspective of doing national duty. When Tharinda was appointed as captain of the Sri Lanka representative side to contest the ‘rugby sevens’ event at Asian Games he grabbed the reins of the side quite boldly. This was a time when Sri Lanka Rugby was serving a ban and uncertainty engulfed the minds of the players in the island nation; where rugby is equally popular as cricket. The national team was forced to compete under the Olympic Council of Asia flag, but still the team went to China with high spirits to perform at their best. The results produced were not convincing, but the cream of the island’s rugby players were not left out of the Asian Games and that’s what must be applauded. Tharinda’s presence in the national squad as a player from Kandy SC is also encouraging because we’ve had a history of the players from the Nittawela Club making themselves unavailable for national duty on many occasions. He has made a couple of tours with the national side and had a proud moment when he got to score a try against New Zealand in ‘sevens rugby’ at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also got to captain the national under 19 team at the Asian Rugby Championships.
Coming back to Kandy SC the side saw the exit of key players like Fazil Marija, Gayan Weeraratne, Damith Dissanayake, Roshan Weeraratne and Vishwamithra Jayasinghe who retired from the game. This sees the side playing rugby with just a handful of quality players. This side needs a hero and if Kandy SC is searching for one that search has ended. Tharinda has the potential to marshal the players even though he is not the skipper. He is also earmarked as one of the future captains of Kandy SC. There is something inspiring about him when he is on the field. If he ‘sneezes’ something positive on the field he is certain that what he discharges can be very infectious.
This rugby season is all exciting with teams like Police and bottom seed CH&FC showing vast improvements in the first three weeks of rugby. Kandy SC plays against Air Force SC on Saturday (December 30) at Ratmalana. Kandy should be at full strength for this game and much is expected of Tharinda who is in fine form.
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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