A cricketer must have confidence to be a good player, was the advice given to young players by former leg spinner Rangana Herath at the third Sportsinfo Cricket Inspiration Gamini Dissanayake lecture last week.
The lecture was organized by Sportsinfo the sports promotion network and was relayed on-line.
The best leg spinner produced by Sri Lanka, Herath captured 433 Test wickets during his 19-year career and paid a glowing tribute to the late Minister Gamini Dissanayake who worked hard to win Test status for Sri Lanka in 1981.
“Even when I was dropped from the team. I never gave up on my determination to get another chance soon. I always knew that I had the talent to get back into the team. When I could not get a place in the national team I got back to the club side and continued to play to build on my skills. This is my success story,” revealed Herath.
“When I went to England to play League cricket in 2009 I was recalled to join the National team to play a Test match against Pakistan in Galle. I captured many wickets and guided Sri Lanka to victory and was also adjudged man of the match,” recalled Herath.
“Some schoolboy cricketers think that they can get into the national team soon after leaving school. They don’t know the difference between playing at school level and national level. They have to develop on their skills to reach national level.
“Cricket is a team sport and we have to maintain discipline. We have to obey our coaches as well as senior players and officials in this gentleman’s game. As an outstation cricketer I had difficulties to adjust to the situation in Colombo”.
After retiring from cricket in 2018 Herath has now turned to coaching. He has followed up to level three coaching course that will offer him the opportunity to give back to cricket.
Meanwhile, Avishka Perera the Nalanda College first XI captain (2019/2020), received the Gamini Dissanayake ‘Spirit of Cricket’ award from Rangana Herath.
Herath was formally inducted into the ‘SPORTSINFO Legacy of Legend’ by SPORTSINFO Chairman Thilan Rangana and CEO, Nilakshi Ratnatunga for his achievements.