Prabath Jayasuriya destined for great things
by Rex Clementine
At every juncture, Sri Lankan teams have found quality spinners to carry their hopes forward. First it was Murali for 20 years as the national cricket built up a reputation as a formidable outfit at home. Then as he moved out, Rangana Herath emerged winning us many games at home and the occasional one overseas like in Durban 2011, a historic win in our cricket. It seems that Prabath Jayasuriya will do exactly the same.
Unlike Murali and Herath, Prabath didn’t emerge from a cricketing hub. There was lot of cricket being played in Kandy and Kurunegala, the hometowns of the two former greats. Prabath is from Matale, an area that is more popular for hockey than cricket. But he moved to Colombo to pursue his cricket interests and has had a terrific start.
Prabath now has 43 wickets in six Tests. The record for the fastest Sri Lankan to 50 wickets in Tests is co-owned by Dilruwan Perera and Ramesh Mendis, both of whom reached the landmark in 11 Tests. All indications are Prabath will reach the milestone in his next Test match getting there in double quick time.
The World Record for the fastest bowler to 50 Test wickets is held by Australian Charlie Turner, who in 1888 got there in his sixth Test match. That was 135 years ago. The second quickest to the 50 mark are Englishman Tom Richardson and South African Vernon Philander, both of whom got there in seven Tests. Prabath will probably join them in Galle next week.
Prabath was a late bloomer. He was set to make his Test debut two years ago, but having failed a skinfold test, he had become ineligible for selections and he had to wait for one more year. Eventually, when the Test cap was handed to him against the Aussies he was 30. There were doubts as to whether Sri Lanka were heading in the right direction as there were so many other young spinners in the circuit, particularly two clever left-arm spinners in Lasith Embuldeniya and Praveen Jayawickrama.
What convinced captain Dimuth Karunaratne is Prabath’s control. While all other spin bowlers had wicket taking abilities in helpful conditions, they let off the pressure by bowling a loose ball or two every over. With Prabath there was discipline and control and he won the nod over the others last year and played a crucial role as Sri Lanka recorded come from behind wins over Australia and Pakistan to square the series.
These are early days for Prabath and it remains to be seen how he goes about his business when matches are being played at other centers like SSC, which is more batsmen friendly. Or even P. Sara Oval or Pallekele, venues which do not offer help for spinners from day one. More importantly it remains to be seen how he performs when Sri Lanka travel overseas.
But in this one-year period, Prabath has earned the right to be Sri Lanka’s go to man. Bowling long spells during barren periods and persevering without losing hope are hallmarks of a good bowler. Like in the case of Herath and Murali before him, there are no dramas with Prabath. He is quite content to do the job for the team with little fuss.
Prabath needs to be commended for not giving up on his dreams having made the tough journey from Matale to Colombo. It looked all lost when he was axed after the skinfold fiasco and Praveen Jayawickrama had a dream debut against Bangladesh. But he has bounced back in style and after just six Tests has gone onto become Sri Lanka’s most trusted spinner. If Dimuth Karunaratne is asked that question at the press briefing next week, he will answer in the affirmative.
