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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Asanka Gurusinha, the former Sri Lanka cricketer is currently on holiday with his family in Sri Lanka. A left-hand batsman of immense talent, Gurusinha occupied the important position of no. 3 in the Sri Lankan batting line up.

With the country possessing so many stroke makers in the side during his time (1985-1997), the Sri Lankan innings revolved around his solid batting. He formed an integral part of Sri Lanka winning the World Cup in 1996 with his style of batting which was not as flamboyant as the rest of his team mates.

The 'Daily News' caught up with Gurusinha during the launch of Cricket-Aid at Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters.

SRI LANKA CRICKET TODAY: "From the time I played and now I think cricket has improved. The players are very professional.

I know a lot of people will say they are earning a lot of money but they have got to work for it. They are out of the country for a long time and they sacrifice so many things in life. To me they deserve everything they get.

"Today people are looking at Sri Lanka as a good side. Some 15-20 years ago if we didn't perform it was treated as just another thing.

'Anyway they are not doing well' was the opinion. The present team, if they play well together they have a good chance of performing at the 2007 World Cup. We came into the semis in 2003. I cannot see whey they can't improve on that performance in four years. They've got to work hard.

The coaching staff will play a huge role. Sri Lanka is performing now but they are still not at 100 percent. You can push them to that figure. Sri Lanka is a side who can really give Australia a good run."

WORLD CUP 1996: "Winning the World Cup in 1996 was the highlight of my career. It is a great feeling to know that you have won it.

Winning it helped Sri Lanka cricket to go to the next level where we are right now. The World Cup win helped them in a big way, especially with sponsorship. Every country needs it. The key factor to winning the World Cup was playing together.

We all had differences but we put everything aside and worked towards one goal. We were all talented and we had a lot of experience. That side was the most experienced that played in the 1996 World Cup. We just put all that together as one team and the results speaks for itself.

"We thought India was the biggest hurdle. Pakistan was always up and down - winning today and losing tomorrow. On paper that Indian side was a classic one. We knew Australia was always very good.

The team started to believe in themselves when we kept on winning game after game. We didn't change the side too much at all. The confidence was there.

The openers (Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana) were given the greenlight to go ahead and blast the daylight out of the bowlers in the first 15 overs. They were told they won't be dropped even if they failed. That confidence was fantastic to tell a player.

In cricket that's the biggest problem when players are not sure whether they are going to play tomorrow. The whole team then eventually suffers.

"We had faith in our middle-order. We knew it was the strongest in the competition. We had batting from 3-7. If we got the start from the openers we were halfway through. As a team we communicated very well throughout that period and it really paid off."

COMING OF DAV WHATMORE: "Dav coming as coach changed our thinking. He taught us to set goals. We had individual goals as well as team goals. We had to work together to achieve all that and we mentally prepared ourselves towards achieving that.

The Australian tour prior to the World Cup changed us a lot. Murali (Muralitharan) was called for throwing and the team was accused of ball tampering. Every player was angry about these accusations. It really brought us together. We just wanted to do something and show the world that we were good enough to be there."

BEST AND WORST INNINGS: "My first Test hundred against Pakistan at the Sara Stadium (1995) ranks very high. As a 19-year-old just out of school I didn't know much about pressure. (Gurusinha made 116 out of a record unbeaten fourth wicket stand of 240 with captain Arjuna Ranatunga).

The hundred (143) I got at the MCG (Melbourne) against Australia in 1995 is also one of the best because there was a lot of pressure.

As a senior batsman in the side I knew how important it was for the country to try and save a Test match. It was was one of the best bowling attacks that I faced - McGrath, McDermott, Reiffel and Warne.

"The twin centuries (119 & 102) at Hamilton in 1991 were on a green top. It was flying all over. I actually give a little bit of credit to Stanley Jayasinghe (the manager). He had a very good knowledge of wickets and knew how to read them.

He will go from the airport to the ground and make sure our practice tracks are very similar to the match track. I can still remember at Hamilton when we walked into the training session and looked at the practice wickets and said 'what the hell is this?'

The practice wickets were green and we got hit all over. We trained two days on that surface and were prepared when we walked into the Test. We were used to the seam movement and all that.

That training helped me a lot when I went out to bat.

"One innings that I don't want to remember is against Zimbabwe at Harare in 1994. They were bowling wide outside off stump and we lost a lot of wickets as well. I was told to just keep batting and I ended up making the third slowest hundred in Test cricket batting for 535 minutes. I wouldn't do that again if I am given another chance."

RETIRING PREMATURELY: "I think I probably had another 2-3 years of cricket, at least till the 1999 World Cup. Sometimes when I look back I think I should have continued but I don't have any regrets now. I wasn't enjoying the game so much after the 1996 World Cup and I found myself difficult to motivate myself.

Still, I went to play for North Melbourne for a season. We had the New Zealand tour in 1997. They picked me for it. Because I was playing cricket in Melbourne I requested to fly direct to New Zealand. But the Cricket Board at that time was adamant that I come home and go to New Zealand which was ridiculous.

I told them that I was pulling out of the tour. The Melbourne club knew what I was going through and they told me they were willing to help me. They offered me some very good terms so I decided to live there. Looking back I think I made the right decision."

GIVING SOMETHING BACK: "l've always wanted to give something back to Sri Lanka cricket. They have approached me twice to coach their 'A' teams and on both occasions I was not in a position to accept because of my family and work commitments.

It was not a decision you can make easily because your family is in Australia and I will be based in Colombo. It was a tough decision and it was very tough to say 'no'. I have got the highest coaching qualification in Australia which is the level 3. I did the exam with people like Australians Greg Chappell, Wayne Phillips and South African Jimmy Cook. Sri Lanka's Jerome Jayaratne was also there.

I have worked very closely with Cricket Australia and the Victorian state side. I not only have the experience of playing international cricket but acquired the knowledge to give something back in coaching. Living in Australia and looking at the structure there I think I am in a better position to give something back to my country."

DISAPPOINTMENTS: "I should have scored more fifties because I had a lot of forties in my Test career. Whenever I have made a fifty I have turned that into a hundred. I got seven hundreds and eight fifties.

If I am given another chance that's the area I will concentrate on improving.

"Most of the time in my career I was walking to the middle in the first or second over. It was more like steadying the innings and making sure the rest of the batsmen played around me. Sometimes I walked in when we were 150-1 and I really had to push it. I felt that I played dual roles.

The plan for me was to play a long innings because we had stroke makers like Aravinda (de Silva), Arjuna (Ranatunga), Roshan (Mahanama) and Hashan (Tillakaratne). I changed my game to suit the needs of the team. At school (Nalanda College) I was a bit aggressive.

THAT SENSATIONAL LOSS AT THE SSC: (Gurusinha was accused of not taking the initiative and scoring runs in the 1992 Test against Australia which Sri Lanka lost by 16 runs after dominating the match for four days. He was unbeaten on 31).

"I just followed instructions. I did exactly what I was asked to do. I actually sent some messages asking whether I could go after the bowling because we were losing wickets. The messages came back to say 'no' but to push some singles and see how it went.

We lost wickets so quickly there was not enough time to do too much. After sitting pretty at 130-2 at tea (chasing 181) we panicked. A rush of blood took over and we threw our wickets away. Some players who walked out to bat were shivering."

FAMILY & FUTURE: "My son Yuwantha (15) is playing under 17 cricket for his school. He is in his final two years. Like me he bats left-handed and also keeps wickets. He is also a good squash player.

My daughter Onella (11) is very good at netball and recently won the best player of the tournament award. They have settled to the Australian system of living, but for me and my wife Oshi, Sri Lanka will always be home.

"I am working for a newspaper company in Melbourne called "Leader" which is a subsidiary of News Ltd. owned by Rupert Murdock, the newspaper tycoon. We have 30 suburban newspapers printed every week.

I am managing two papers and a complete branch. Two years ago I stopped playing cricket and coaching because of work but I am still doing a little bit with my son. After their education we might probably retire in Sri Lanka."

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