Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
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Asitha Fernando holds up the ball with which he took five wickets at Lord’s
Rumesh Ratnayake at Lord’s in 1991, the first Sri Lankan bowler to take five wickets at this hallowed venue
LORD’S: Sri Lanka’s current tour to England may not have generated the desired results, but nevertheless, it has produced some standout players who have made use of the opportunity to carve a niche for themselves in the history of the game.
Fast bowler Asitha Fernando is one of them. In the second cricket Test at Lord’s, he became only the second bowler from Sri Lanka to have his name inscribed in the prestigious honours board when he took five England wickets for 102 in the first innings.
Another fast bowler, Rumesh Ratnayake, was the only one till then to have had this honour for Sri Lanka. He took 5/69 in England’s first innings in 1991.
“Very happy that I was able to place my name amongst the legends. Rumesh Sir wished me in a message,” said Fernando.
“Actually, it is a dream. It is the dream of any cricketer. I’ve always dreamed of it and tried hard, so that if I had the opportunity to bowl at Lord’s, I would ensure I entered my name in the honours board. Eventually I was able to do that.”
Fernando is one of the few bowlers who has been able to make the adjustment of bowling with the Australian Kookaburra ball at home and the Dukes ball that is used in England.
“There is a huge difference between the two balls, the seam is different, and it swings differently,” said Fernando. “England play with the Dukes ball throughout their season every year, we get to play with it only when we come to England. Their bowlers know how to bowl with it. They have mastered it very well.”
“What we have to learn from them is their line and length and how they move the ball. We came to England early to try and get used to it. We are not far behind them. But the line and length they bowl we sometimes miss during certain sessions. It happens to everyone.”
Fernando is the leading wicket-taker from both sides in the series. His 14 wickets have come at a cost of 20.14. He has a good strike rate too, capturing a wicket every 29 balls in comparison to England’s leading bowlers Gus Atkinson (11 wickets, strike rate 31) and Chris Woakes (10 wickets, strike rate 39).
“I have been playing Test cricket for some time so I know how to bowl with the red ball. In consultation with the coaches coming to England, I devised a plan on how to bowl line and length,” said Fernando. “You get bowler friendly wickets in England, so you don’t have to make big changes. The ball also helps the bowler. So, we mostly practise line and length. That has been my success.”
In both Tests, Sri Lanka let go of their grip due to one session of poor bowling.
From 259-6 at the end of day two at Manchester, Sri Lanka allowed England to recover and post a healthy total of 358 due to some listless bowling in the first session of day three. Then again at Lord’s, after capturing six England first innings wickets for 216, they let the game out of their clutches, allowing the hosts to run up a massive 427.
“It happened to us in both Tests, it is in those sessions that we lost control of the match,” said Fernando. “We are discussing how we should plan our bowling attack. In the second innings, we did it by attacking them with bouncers and bowling to a field. Because it was successful we hope to go into the next Test also with that plan.”
Fernando’s success in cricket can be attributed to Anton Costa, who was his school coach at St. Sebastian’s College, Katuneriya, and still continues to guide him. “From my childhood days, it has been Anton Costa. He is the one who has guided me to come this far. He has always been behind me. Even now, he always calls me before, and also after, the match. He has not released me from his grip.”
Born in Katuneriya, a village in the North Western Province near Wennappuwa and Marawila, 27-year-old Fernando has played in a few white ball matches for Sri Lanka, but it is in Test cricket that he has shone. In 16 Tests, he has captured 59 wickets at a healthy average of 25.06, and has become the spearhead of his country’s Test bowling attack.
