As the Sri Lankans swaggered towards the field for the first net session after their biggest win at home, they, like the fort in the background of the Galle stadium, had a majestic aura surrounding them. Post-SSC, there is a certain buzz about them. The catering staff at the clubhouse put the evening snacks on backburner and the construction workers, perched atop the building, took an untimely break. There had been so many performers in the Lankan team from the first Test, it was tough to describe the fans’ interest with the usual ‘all eyes on’ prefix.Ajantha Mendis waved to labourers on the top floor. Muttiah Muralitharan got busy giving sound bytes to be at a venue where he collects bucket loads of wickets. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene, fresh from his Bradmanesque show at the SSC, shook a few officious hands on the way to the central square. While Tillakaratne Dilshan, delighted by his career-saving ton, was full of beans on the field.In the middle of these performers, there was one centurion from the previous Test who went about his job unnoticed. As was the case at the SSC where his 127 got lost in the crowd of runs, Thilan Samaraweera didn’t trigger collective turning of heads nor the outstanding middle order batsman stood out on field. The quintessential backroom boy’s ton might haven’t been too significant a contribution, but in it meant a lot for the batsman on a comeback trail, trying to cement his place in the Test side. He happens to be one of a rare breed of cricketers who are Test specialists and that, in turn, has meant existence of obscurity as they don’t figure in the highly visible arena of shorter version. Samaraweera made his ODI debut in 1998 but a highest of 33 from 17 games meant he wasn’t cut out for the slam-bang variety.The 31-year-old, though, isn’t quite ready to be slotted as merely a batsman who succeeds in Tests. “I started off as a one-day cricketer. People think I am more suited to Test cricket, but in the last 12 months, I did really well in a domestic T20 tournament, and was the leading scorer there. I have changed my game a little bit,” he says. 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. “The most important thing is runs because of the confidence factor. I scored heavily in the domestic competition, 650 or so in seven innings with four hundreds. When I went to the West Indies, there was a little bit of pressure before the first Test match because I was coming back after 20 months, but after I scored that 60, I settled down in the team,” the batsman said . Often Samaraweera is called a backyard bully since four of the seven Test tons have been at the SSC. But since this has been a season of change, a high score in Galle can change things for him. And in case it happens, he is certain to make heads turn when he enters the field for the third Test.
