Ambalangoda cries for SLC support
Ambalangoda, a town in the southern coastal belt famous for its inheritance in traditional string-puppet dancing and masks, is nowadays well known for the number of cricketers that have reached the national level. From Ambalangoda players in the ranks of Ajith de Silva, Upul Tharanga, Saman Jayantha and of late Dinesh Chandimal have reached the national level while TM Dilshan, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal and Seekkuge Prasanna cut their teeth in first class cricket by making appearances for Singha Sports Club from Ambalangoda, early in their careers. The number of cricketers that have reached national representative cricket and first class are countless. Of late Dharmasoka College reached the Division I Under-19 limited overs final a week ago, depicting the immense talent available from the area. But sadly the 60 kilometre stretch ranging from Maggona to Galle including Ambalangoda runs sans a turf cricket ground. Yet Ambalangoda continues to produce classy cricket players to the national grid.
The only venue available cricketing venue in Ambalangoda is the Municipal ground at the centre of the town that entertains almost all the needs of the area, from sporting events to public carnivals and even funerals of distinguished VIPS.
Due to heavy and multiple usages the surface has an uneven lying and the present condition of the ground is appalling. Though the Municipal ground is relatively small in size and
When Singha SC was at its peak in the Inter-club Premier tournament SLC promised Ambalangoda a complete cricket ground six years ago. What they wanted from us was a plot of land where it could be constructed.
lacks a turf pitch, it still is a refuge for three top cricket playing schools and around four clubs from the area. In addition the ground is also the only venue to other sporting activities of other schools in Ambalangoda. And it is the home ground for cricket playing schools such as Dharmasoka, Sri Devananda and P. de S. Kularatne and lower division clubs, Singha SC, Leo SC and Rio SC.
“When Sanath Jayasuriya emerged from Matara politicians turned the Uyanwatta Stadium into a cricket ground. This only shunned many sports including cricket because it lost the interest of the people after the transformation. It is fine in Colombo but for Matara, Galle and Ambalangoda such a transformation is unfeasible. The Ambalangoda Municipal ground is a public ground and it’s an asset to the area where all sports personals make use of. We need a turf wicket and we also have a specific land for that. But for many years our appeal has been less entertained by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials, owing various reasons,” said Prema- siri Halambage, a prominent figure from the area who promotes cricket.
Though Ambalangoda has been a breeding ground for leading cricketers in Sri Lanka, the present situation that is experienced by its cricketers is agonising. A group of cricket enthusiasts, six years ago, knowing the inevitable situation that may arise, spearheaded a project to combine all cricket playing schools and clubs from the area with the sole intention of grooming its cricketers to the next level. Much has been done during the phase of six years but regrettably distance they could travel over the gravel is nearing an end.
The numbers of school players from Ambalangoda who are imported to Colombo schools have relatively increased in numbers in addition to talented club players who join leading clubs in Colombo aiming at the national cap. Though the nameless faction has done all that is possible to scout potential national players and groom them to a certain extent, the disappointing state of facilities in Ambalangoda leave them no other choice than to bless those cricketers at school and club level who seek greener pastures in Colombo, where facilities are up-to-date. The major barrier they face today is the lack of a proper ground facility for cricket in the area.
“When Singha SC was at its peak in the Inter-club Premier tournament SLC promised Ambalangoda a complete cricket ground six years ago. What they wanted from us was a plot of land where it could be brought up. When we brought this matter up to the Town Council and they obliged our need by presenting us a 14 acre land. There was a common agreement among Singha SC, the Town Council who were the authorities and SLC, who was to assist financially, which is the important role in the whole project,” said Paudduadara Milton, the key figure of the project and the head coach of Dharmasoka.
“As a club we managed to obtain authorization from the Environmental Authorities. We created a manmade canal around the land of the proposed ground to meet environmental conditions and spent nearly Rs. 600,000 to acquire the official certification. As agreed the Town Council and Singha SC have done its parts while the SLC have failed to implement the project due to change of committees over the period. We still have the land and the certifications and we brought this to the notice of the newly elected SLC officials but so far it remains as a pending project,” added Premasiri, volunteer who wishes to see Ambalangoda preserve its dominance in cricket.
Since six years Premasiri, Milton and many others who had joined them in preserving and producing the brand of cricketers unique to Ambalangoda has done a colossal task. Their project began in a small scale in 2006 by trying to merge Dharmasoka, Devananda and P. de S. Kularatne colleges under an area coaching staff. Though P. de S. Kularatne refused to agree to the plan, the project was proven to be successful after Dharmasoka and Devananda produced good results and good cricket over the years. With their attempt and dream of a cricket ground being delayed day after day, the ‘cricket lovers’ from Ambalangoda carried on with their development activities.
“Apart from Colombo, Ambalangoda is the only town that has a large number of coaches while producing talented cricketers each year. Initially we conducted coaching camps for coaches of Ambalangoda and we saw a rapid development in standards which reached the schools and clubs of the area in return. Today we still continue to work together but the programme does not run that effectively as it was used to, due to several reasons. Our honest aim is providing as much as players to the national stream and if we cannot do it directly from Ambalangoda with the disappointing state of facilities, we help these players move forward by sending them to Colombo,” added Milton.
Despite the major setback, which is the ground, Ambalangoda has maintained its standards and reached great heights in cricket since the game was introduced to the area in 1963. Unlike other areas of Sri Lanka, the Ambalangoda Town Council has been very supportive and they treat cricket with higher priority in their agenda. The authorities have been kind to give the three cricket playing schools two days each from a week for practices without charging a penny. The town authorities charge a nominal fee of Rs. 3,400 per day for an inter-club match and less than Rs. 1,000 per day for school cricket games. They also have allocated portions of the premises to Singha and Leo with aims of developing the sport. The clubs maintain indoor net facilities from their own budgets. Singha SC also provides accommodation facilities to schools, in a club house built by their own funds, when they host a match in Ambalangoda. All these facilities are being provided free of charge for the schools and cricketers of the area. But with nothing encouraging taking place these enthusiasts are gradually losing their flair in supporting cricket any further.
“At times we feel guilty for pushing these youngsters to a certain level without the important needs in our backyard. We have tried our best over the years and sadly the time has come to give up jumping to a bunch of sour grapes,” Premasiri and Milton stressed.