Trinity sans 5 seniors will be no pushover as talent abounds
Coach Kavinda Jayasuriya's steady hand on the tiller has ensured that Trinity College's fortunes have not slipped badly in the post-Sampath Perera years. This season will provide a stern test. Can they find adequate replacements for the likes of Hasitha Boyagoda, Thisaru Dilshan, Hasintha Jayasuriya, Vimukthi Nethumal and Trevor Percival?
Boyagoda's loss will be huge. The thrilling centuries he reeled off on his return from the World Cup will be difficult to replicate. Similarly, left-arm spinner Vimukthi Nethumal captured a bagful of wickets. Someone has to step up and fill the gap.
The captaincy has been entrusted to aggressive left-hander Pubudu Bandara. His was a success story last year. 127 not out against St. Aloysius, 76 and 68 vs S. Thomas', 96 vs Dharmasoka and unbeaten 50s against Ananda would suggest he is up to the challenge to lead from the front, is expected.
Another hugely influential figure could be off-spinner cum batsman Kavishka Senadheera. A regular wicket-taker last season, he had a best of 6/86 vs Thurstan, and a match bag of 8 against DS Senanayake. Senadheera showed last weekend that he is more than capable of coming up with the runs when the chips are down.
Brisk, medium pacie Ruvin Pieris will lead the pack as far as the pace attack goes. He gets good bounce, being a fairly tall lad. No slouch with the bat, he can contribute.
Abishek Anandakumar is probably the future face of Trinity cricket. Just 16 years of age, he made a massive hundred in a Provincial game. An unbeaten 110 vs Nalanda showed his talent. What Trinity would like to see is more consistency from him.
Stumper Ashan Lokuketiya is competent at his job. A battling unbeaten 72 against the Thomians proved that his equally, if not more, efficient in front of the stumps too.
The younger sibling Avishka Senadheera is a batsman pure and simple. His knocks of 69 and 41 in the Nalanda match gave more than an inkling of his ability and talent.
Chanuka Kumarasinghe made quite a few 20s in the last season. The team expects him to convert those into more substantial contributions. His off-spin can be quite handy. Left-arm spinner Kavindu Dias bids to emulate Nethumal. A success in the Under-17 tournament, Dias raised expectations with a 4-wicket haul against St. Servatius last week.
Umar Raizan and Dinitha Siriwardena made impressive starts to the season in their opening game. They will do well to continue. Jeff Weerasinghe proved a particularly difficult batsman to dislodge in the games he played in 2017/18. Waiting in the wings are Dumantha Bandara, Kaveen Sasitharan, Agbo Amarasinghe and Uvindu Wimaladharma.
The following players made the cut for the opening game last weekend. Pubudu Bandara (Captain), Kavishka Senadheera, Ruvin Pieris, Abishek Anandakumar, Ashan Lokuketiya, Jeff Weerasinghe, Avishka Senadheera, Chanuka Kumarasinghe, Uvindu Wimaladharma, Umar Raizan, Dinitha Siriwardena, Deemantha Bandara, Agbo Amarasinghe, Kavindu Dias, Kaveen Sasitharan.