Former first class leg spin bowler Suranjith Silva was among spectators who witnessed Sri Lanka play against England in the recent Test match in Galle where another spinner Rangana Herath played his farewell match.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Suranjith who played in 127 First Class matches said he moved to Australia as he felt there were better prospects for him and eventually decided to offer his services as a coach after being overlooked by Sri Lankan team selectors.
“There was a time I was bowling at my best and expected to receive a call to represent the Sri Lanka team, but it did not happen and that was when I decided to move on and now I am happy to be coaching young spinners in Melbourne,” said Suranjith a product of St. Sebastian’s College who played for SSC after initially representing Sebastianites in the inter club tournament.
Some of his team-mates in the Sri Lanka Under-19 team were Mahela Jayawardena, Avishka Gunawardena and Suranga Wijenayake. At SSC Suranjith played alongside Arjuna Ranatunga, Marvan Jayawardena, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela, Avishka, Promodya Wickramasinghe and Tilan Samaraweera.
In the domestic set-up Suranjith had a haul of 379 wickets which included two 10-wicket match bags and a career-best 8 for 130. He also played for Badureliya CC, BRC and Lankan CC where he had his final match and finished with figures of 7 for 52 against Police SC in 2009.
Suranjith is now a Level Two coach in Australia and was also the head coach of Panadura SC in the 2013-14 season where he guided players like Prasanna Jayawardena, Chamara Silva, Charitha Buddhika, Dilruwan Perera and Sajeewa de Silva.
But Suranjith also harbours thoughts of coaching Sri Lankan spinners who he said will always be the backbone of the country’s bowling and winning matches.
“I was very fortunate to play with spinners like Muralideran and Rangana Herath in the club scene and I think today’s spinners need more commitment. We have so many of them coming through but they have to really work hard for success”, said Suranjith.