Chamodi Pabodha – a star in the making
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka Cricket’s excellent development structures has been a godsend for many up and coming players. It enables cricket coaches at the High Performance Center to identify new talents. District and Provincial Coaches along with Talent Scouts ensure that players with rare skills are fast tracked and their development is constantly monitored. Eventually, they go on to become stars of the great game. This wouldn’t have been possible if not for those people who identify these talents at grass root levels.
As Sri Lanka Under-19 overcame England Under-19 on Tuesday at Galle International Stadium, the exceptional skills of Chamodi Pabodha were highlighted.
Only 14, the young left-arm spinner bowls with good control and ended up with a five-wicket haul during the England clash. She has been a talking point in cricket circles during this tri-nation series that also involved Australia.
Chamodi is from far off Monaragala. Although school cricket among boys is huge, girls’ preferred sport is netball, basketball or even swimming.
While SLC has been putting in a conscious effort to popularize the sport among schools by giving them support and encouragement, cricket tournaments at district and provincial levels keep young players occupied. Like with men, the women too have a National Super League domestic tournament. The senior women’s side has created history in South Africa by winning a series and it’s no fluke because a lot of emphasis has been placed on women’s cricket by authorities in recent years.
Apsari Thilakaratne, the wife of former Test captain Hashan Thilakaratne, has been a key figure in promoting women’s cricket.
Sri Lanka took part in the first ever ICC Women’s World Cup in South Africa and didn’t fare too well. But there’s been a concentrated effort to improve performance and the Under-19 team won a tri-nation series in Bangladesh last year. Pakistan were the third participant. Now the Under-19 team will fancy their chances in the next Under-19 World Cup to be played in Thailand and Malaysia next year.
As for young prodigy Chamodi, she is eligible to play in two ICC Under-19 World Cups.
Mahesh Weerasinghe, a veteran cricket coach with over 35 years of experience has been put in charge of Sri Lanka women’s under-19 team. His support staff includes Umal Erandi and Lasanthi Madushani.Former wicketkeeper batsman Hemantha Devapriya is the Manager of the team.
