Five Josephian Cricket stars, Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne and Sadeera Samarawickrama were honoured at a gala event at Waters Edge Thursday evening. The four cricketers who kept the Josephian flag flying high in the cricket arena were honoured with awards of excellence at the colourful event named 'Joes Night of the Stars 2014'. The event saw the participation of past rectors, old boys and a number of guests in the field of cricket. St. Joseph's College has produced a number of cricket stars over the years and the five stars of the day, were worthy recipients of such honour. The national cricketes, Mathews, Perera, Vaas and Karunarathne are heroes of our day while the youngest, Samarawickrama is also following the footsteps of his fellow Josephians to become a legend.
Among the guests who graced the occasion were Sri Lanka's cricketing legends, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardena, Marvan Attapatu, Michael Tissera, Anura Tennakoon etc.
The guest speaker of the night, Mahela Jayawardene added colour to the event by briefing the award recipients and sharing few unknown facts about his teammates. "Vaasy is probably the bowler in international cricket, who would bowl his first delivery in the right spot; I have never seen anyone so accurate on his first delivery. He took Sri Lankan fast bowling to a whole new level. We all call Thisara 'Panda' not because of the way he looks but because of the way he moves around things. He is always with a smile" he said.
"Thisara is a brilliant team player on and off the field and mostly, Thisara loves his food. Dimuth is a fantastic player but he has not yet given his best in the international matches though we have seen his class few times. He's a real hard worker".
"I have seen young Sadeera in few games and at our training. I hope the very best for him as well. Finally, Angelo Mathews is a fantastic guy to have in your dressing room. It was a tough role for him when he first played for Sri Lanka under my captaincy but he established himself straightaway.
The way he has improved in the last two years is phenomenal." During the event, Angelo Mathews officially also launched the official Josephian Sports FB page.
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| Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne and Sadeera Samarawickrama with Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel, Rector of SJC, Brian Obeyesekere, head of the Committee of Management of the Josephian Sports Council and others. |
Courtesy: Daily News by Chinthana Wasala
