SLSM scorches Oman Cricket Club
The Sri Lankan School Muscat’s (SLSM) Under 16 cricket team made the country proud as they performed excellently at the 2013/ 2014 Under 16 School Cricket tournament, organized by the Oman Cricket Club (OCC).
With six wins and two losses, the team beat the Indian School Muscat, Pakistan School Muscat, Bangladesh School Muscat, Bocher Olympic Centre, Gulf Cricket Centre and the Al Hail Cricket Academy.
Sri Lankan School Muscat is second on the points table with 29 points. Indian School Wadi Kabir is leading with 38 points. Bangladesh School Muscat is third with 23 points. Indian School Mucat, Indian School Daarsit and Pakistan School have only gained 19 points each in this tournament. There are two matches to be played against Muscat Cricket Club and Indian School SEEB.
The Lankan boys beat Indian School Muscat by one wicket and Bangladesh School Muscat by nine wickets. They also beat the Pakistan team by 115 runs and won by 283 runs against Gulf Cricket Centre.
Master- in- Charge of cricket at the school, Janake Gunathilake said that commitment and hard work were the two key elements that had led the team to their recent victories.
“The school’s cricket Coach, Desmond Bernard, is working really hard. Already our team beat the champions of last season too, so I hope they will do their best in the matches to be played this season in order to finish at the top,” he said.
He hopes SLSM will be able to produce more talented cricketers in the future, especially those good enough to force their way into the Oman national team.
“The Under 16 captain for the 2011/ 2012 season Gayash Dias and the Under 16 captain for the 2012/2013 season Gimash Dias are now representing the Oman National Under 19 team. Gayash Dias also became the Man of the Series in the 2013 Under 19 Challenge Cup which was held in Thailand,” the MIC stated.
Al Fyed, who is the captain of the Under 16 team, said that while being the Vice Captain last year he was able to learn a lot from the side’s seniors and the coach.
“We are confident that we will be able to win more matches in the future. At the beginning of the tournament we made some mistakes that led to two losses but quickly we managed to correct them with the support of our coach,” he said.
He said that they are in a good position to finish the season as they were able to beat the Indian School Muscat team, who became last year’s champions.
Vice Captain Indunil Udara said beating the Indian School Muscat has been a great achievement this season.
“It was team spirit that led to the wins. We were not concerned about personal records but only about team achievements. I hope to represent the Sri Lankan national team in the future,” a hopeful Indunil said.
Gimash Dias, who has been in Oman since he was very young, said he started playing cricket from the age of seven.
“Our school not only trained us with one of the best coaches but also gave us the opportunity to play against challenging teams,” Gimash revealed, adding that the experience had helped him to be selected to the Oman Under 19 national team.
Captain Al Fayd recorded 224 runs against the Gulf Cricket Centre and 102 against the Pakistan School Muscat. Indunil Udara also scored 98 against Gulf Cricket Centre. Kalana Marasinghe scored 87 runs against the Al Hail Cricket Academy.
The Sri Lankan School Muscat is the largest Lankan school outside Sri Lanka headed by a Sri Lankan principal and teachers and managed by a board of directors from the Sri Lankan community in Oman.
Established in 1989, the school has over 1,100 students of Sri Lankan and 20 other nationalities.
Al Fayd, Gimash Dias, Indunil Udara and M. Fahad contributed to the team’s victories with excellent bowling.
Principal Somabandu Kodikara said that a positive winning attitude and enthusiasm towards the game led to the recent victories. He said the school is providing its student cricketers with all facilities including the best training and part i c i p ation in a number of tournaments.