Lanka's young guns

This is boom time for the young guns in Sri Lanka, with the winds of change sweeping across the cricketing scenario in the island nation. The mood is clearly in favour of youngsters being blooded and it's not difficult to see why, writes S. DINAKAR.

AN express delivery at the fag end of the day cuts in a shade and crashes into the timber. Dilhara Fernando, the victor, throws his hands up in sheer joy following the kill. Mohammed Kaif, the vanquished, takes the long walk back.

The young wicket-keeper batsman, in the nervous 90s, thumps a senior pace bowler down the ground, and celebrates like any cricketer reaching his maiden Test hundred would. For Kumara Sangakkara, the moment marks a very special occasion in his fledgling career while Javagal Srinath can only watch in admiration.

This is boom time for the young guns in Sri Lanka, with the winds of change sweeping across the cricketing scenario in the island nation. The mood is clearly in favour of youngsters being blooded and it's not difficult to see why.

Sri Lanka has a very strong junior cricket structure, and those performing well are quickly drafted into the various National age-group sides, the key one being the 'A' team.

And both Fernando and Sangakkara have benefited immensely from their campaigns with the 'A' teams before moving on to bigger things. There is a lesson in it for India too.

Fernando means a lot to Sri Lankan cricket. He is quick, in fact very quick, possesses an aggressive streak, and has the look of a match-winner. "He can be the next phenomenon for Sri Lankan cricket after Muralitharan," says fast bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake and he must surely know.

At the picturesque Galle Stadium, the 22-year-old paceman from the coastal town of Kandana showed he was more than just someone who can hurl the cherry at speeds close to 150km.

Fernando might have been a touch erratic in his first spell, but he was a different customer altogether in his final burst, attacking the batsmen with pace, bounce and movement, opening the sluice gates and then doing further damage on day two. And it was here that the Galle Test changed course.

Lanka had a pretty useful pace attack, with the experienced left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa (if fit) forging a handy combination, but there was none with the 'fire' of Fernando, none who could knock the batsmen over at a blinding pace.

Yet, it has not all been smooth sailing for him so far. Fernando was just into his career when he suffered a stress fracture of the lower back and was lucky to be treated by Lankan psysio Alex Kontouri, arguably the best in the business.

He was then picked for the 'A' tour of Zimbabwe in 2000, and made his Test debut the same year against Pakistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, where he impressed in parts.

The South African trip that followed was a learning experience for Fernando. He got carried away by the bounce in the surfaces over there, went for runs, but also produced a five-wicket haul in Durban.

In short, he was a tearaway who needed to be honed. A stint at the Chennai-based MRF Pace Foundation, that preceded the current Indian tour, helped. And then Rumesh, along with bio-mechanical analysts from the Australian Cricket Academy, sorted out a couple of things in Fernando's action before the start of the new home season, principally on the falling away of the head at delivery point. All the hard work has definitely been worth it.

Sri Lanka has set its sights firmly on the World Cup 2003 in South Africa, and the accent is already on pace, with as many as five quicks in the squad. The preparation of a green pitch for the Galle Test is another case in point. And Fernando should be the sword arm in that campaign.

Sangakkara too is crucial in the Lankan scheme of things. A solid customer at No. 3 and a safe, efficient wicket-keeper. A cricketer who provides the side with so many options.

Yet, before the Galle Test, Sangakkara was under pressure. He had a forgettable run in domestic cricket following the England tour, was not among the runs in the 'A' Test series against Pakistan and failed in the first class tour game at the P. Sara ground where the Indians nailed him early.

Indeed, there was much speculation about the wicket-keeper batsman's slot for the Galle Test with the experienced Romesh Kaluwitharana also figuring in the squad. There were whispers that skipper Sanath Jayasuriya wanted Kaluwitharana while coach Dav Whatmore favoured Sangakkara.

Finally, it was the youngster from Kandy who walked out with the gloves when Jayasuriya inserted India. Actually, it would have been cruel had Sangakkara been omitted - he had been among runs against both South Africa (away) and England (home) in 2000-2001, besides 'keeping tidily.

Two knocks in those two series stood out - Sangakkara's 98 at Centurion and 95 in Kandy, both efforts coming in crunch situations when he held the innings together.

At Galle, the 22-year-old left-hander went one better, surviving a tentative initial phase and then proceeding to frustrate the Indian bowlers with a blend of caution and aggression. An innings that put the game beyond India.

He was strong off his legs, drove elegantly through the covers, yet the strokes he would remember most would be the two straight hit boundaries off Srinath that eventually took him to the three-figure mark with only the last-man Muralitharan for company.

A law student following the footsteps of his father, Sangakkara is believed to be a vibrant personality with an opinion on most things. He loves reading Oscar Wilde and reveals he has an impressive collection of The Sportstar too.

Not a natural 'keeper, Sangakkara, drafted in during the triangular one-day tournament at home involving Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan in 2000, was asked by the wily Whatmore to do both jobs, and this provided the side with the much-needed balance.

Keeping wickets and batting at No. 3 - Sangakkara was on the field for all but 27.5 overs in the Galle Test - can be demanding mentally and physically, but the youngster, according to physio Kontouri, is among the fittest members of the side.

Sangakkara is also known to be a cricketer who is not overly bothered by reputations and when Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton attempted to intimidate him mentally, he was quick to retaliate. Something that got him into trouble with Match Referee Hanumant Singh. A tough cookie, 'Sanga' certainly is.

Well, the soft-spoken Dilhara Fernando and the spunky Sangakkara may be very different personalities, but have this in common - they are precious for Sri Lanka.