The man who made Matara famous

Mother Breeda recalls her Tsunami experience to drive home the point. “I was in the market buying vegetables that day when the place got suddenly flooded. Somehow I got hold of a tree but I was losing my grip. Then I shouted, ‘I am Jayasuriya’s mother’, and soon I was rescued,” she says, with a smile on her face even as she narrates the harrowing experience of getting unconscious and being taken to a hospital in Colombo.

The man who changed Samarweera’s approach to the game happens to be the ‘A’ team coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe, who explains the turnaround. “Once when Samaraweera was dropped, I had asked the then Sri Lankan coach, Tom Moody, about what he could do to make a comeback. He had said Samaraweera needed to improve his strike rate,” said Hathurusinghe.

So before the start of the season, a target was set for the batsman. “Previously his strike rate was in the 30s and I asked him to get to about 60,” recalled the Lanka ‘A’ coach. Things changed as Samaraweera changed gears and more importantly retained his consistency. A call to the West Indies saw him continue his form.