One of the oldest cricket clubs in the country , Colombo Colts Cricket Club will be eagerly looking to attain double glory during the 2014/15 Sri Lanka domestic season after winning the Premier Limited Overs Tournament recently.
A Bit of History
Founded in 1873 as the first Ceylonese Cricket Club in Sri Lanka, Colombo Colts CC is playing a significant role in promoting and popularizing cricket in Sri Lanka and raising the standards of the game. Colts CC have been a dominant force in the domestic cricket circuits throughout the last decade and they have won the coveted Premier League Trophy five times since 2000. They also won the championship in the 2011/12 season and last season they ended as the Premier Plate Tournament winners after an average season.
Key Players
Boosted by many national stars and junior national players, Colts CC have a strong pedigree of talented players. The ‘One Man Army’ – Captain Marvel, Angelo Mathews is the appointed leader of Colts CC for the 2014/15 season, yet due to his national commitments he will be not taking part in any of the matches.
Vice-captain and leading off-spinner Dilruwan Perera has missed many limited-overs matches due to his national assignments as well yet he is expected to play a pivotal role in the latter part of the Premier League Trophy.
Fast-bowler Nuwan Kulasekara led Colts to the 50-overs title and the batting responsibilities were taken by the reliable middle order batsman Roshane Silva. He scored 260 runs in 6 innings during the recently concluded tournament and he averages 51.37 in his first-class career and has amassed nearly 4000 runs in 64 matches.
Left-handed duo of Kusal Janith Perera and Bhanuka Rajapakse have been performing exceptionally well in the recent past for the Havelock Town club scoring 239 and 210 in the Limited-overs tournament. Off-spinner Akila Dhananjaya, left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana and fast-bowler Ishan Jayarathne will have a heavy work load in the longer format of the game.
Young & New Blood
21-year old Essex wicket-keeper batsman from England Ben Foakes will bolster the Colts lineup with former Josephian batting prodigies and Sri Lanka under 19 stars, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Priyamal Perera who can be classy match-winners on their day. Seaming all-rounder Anuk Fernando from St. Sebastian College, Moratuwa will be a value added inclusion in the Colts team and new crossover from Moors SC, Shehan Jayasooriya adds the much-needed fire power to an already star-studded team.
Head Coach
Former Lankan off-spinner and loyal servant of Colts CC, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara will be coaching the champion Colts outfit for the second consecutive year. Fondly known as ‘Muthu’ has played 3 ODIs for Sri Lanka during an era where Muttiah Muralitharan was the leading spin choice. Pushpakumara has taken 285 scalps in his long 126-game first-class career and due to his superb knowledge of the game; he will definitely mould a champion side to attain double glory in the current season.
Full Squad
Angelo Mathews – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Medium Fast
Dilruwan Perera – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Nuwan Kulasekara – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Medium Fast
Kusal Janith Perera – Left Hand Bat – Wicket Keeper
Bhanuka Rajapakse – Left Hand Bat – Right Arm Medium
Roshane Silva – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Ishan Jayarathne – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Fast
Sachith Pathirana – Left Hand Bat – Left Arm Orthodox
Madura Lakmal – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Fast
Shehan Jayasooriya – Left Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Sadeera Samarawickrama – Right Hand Bat – Wicket Keeper
Priyamal Perera – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Akila Dhananjaya – Left Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Anuk Fernando – Left Hand Bat – Left Arm Medium Fast
Shehan Fernando – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Angelo Jayasinghe – Right Hand Bat – Right Arm Off Spin
Ben Foakes – Right Hand Bat – Wicket Keeper
Harsha Rajapaksa – Left Hand Bat – Left Arm Orthodox
Cricket Club Previews – Colts CC- Coach
