In RLirsuit of a childhood drea

CHANNA WICKREMESEKERA on an up and coming cricketer

Kevin lndulanka

Tissera first went to the i\l[elbourne Cricket Ground as an e ight-year- o ld. His artist dad Vernon had created a portrait of Sci Lankan 'spin wiz' Muttb.iah Muralitharan which he wanted tO present to h.im in perso n. Understand.ing that the team was rra.ining there, Vernon decided to take his two boys Kevin and George to the 'G' to present the portrait to the Sri Lankan hero \X'fhilst such a trip to the 'home of sport' may have been one to saviour for some, at the time it was not one Kevin rel ished

Simp ly put, cricket was not one of bis passions. His older brother George was the cricketer in the fam.ily.

Forward ten years, and all chat has changed. In fact, Vernon cla.irns, that trip to the MCG was the changing point in Kevin's life

"A t d1e MCG, I was told by one of the Sri Lankan officials that l would be ab le tO meet with Murali and present him with the pa.inting," recalls Verno n However sent on somewhat of a 90-minme ouclancl.ish chase, Vernon ·was despondent as he fmrnd out chat Murali and the rest of the Sri tea m had left the venue.

Ti.red, sad and d isappointed, it was at this time d1at Kevin spoke up and promised his dad diat be wo Ltld one day p la y at the J',,fCG.

"Prior tO tbat, Kevin didn't really take to cricket as much as h.is brod1er, but something changed that day." (Late r on that day Vernon was able to hand over his painting thanks to the helps of Cham.inda Vass).

That was tbe beginni ng of a dream for young Kevin. No\,~ the boy who didn't necessarily want much to do wid1 cricket, grew an trnbridled love for the game He began to read avidly about cricket, and got invo lved in d1e game at schoo l. Cartoons now gave way to cricket o n TV. While h is brother George played the game more as a means of relaxation, Kevin seemed to indulge in it with a passion

Kevin's Ltltimate passion for the game was rewarded recently when he was chosen as one of th ree young Victorians to participate in Cricket Australia's new in.i tiative, the Multicul tural Leadership Program. The program, which is a.imed at changing the face of Austral.ian cricket, will provide d1e participants d1e oppormnity to ga.in an underscand.ing of all d1e facets of the game - in and out of the groun d s - and turn d1em into nmlcicttltural ambassadors for the sport in Australia.

Since then Kevin had grow n and matured into to hoe yo ung cricketer. Representing his schools and clubs from the age of 9 a_nd onwards, he had developed into a promising right arm leg spinner with a penchant for aggressive stroke play. Under Kevin's deputy leadership h is primar y school, St. Joseph's in Springvale, Melbourn be won their maiden premiership in 2005. This loYe for the game would only become deeper whilst at secondary school, where he represented Mazenod College's schoo l cricket team in every year level from 7 to 12, even taking up leadership responsibilities as vice-capca.in in Years 8 and 9 to captaincy in Year l 0, as well as captain.ing the First XI in Year 12.

Whilst there have been setbacks, where Kevin's talents had not always been recognised at club !eve~ he persisted .in his quietly determined way, not allowing Utde obstacles co hale his progress. To take his cricket forward, he b egan co get expert coaching by Owen Mottau and De. Rene Fe rdinand s, bod1 of whom, as Kevin expla.ins , continue co play a crucial part in his developmen t.

"Withont the likes of Owen Motcau who has h elped me wholeheartedly with my batting and love of the game, and Dr. Rene Ferdinands who has taken the time out of his busy schedu le to work closely wid1 me so that m y 'leggies' develop, I wouldn't drean1 of being in the pos ition now where 1 can potentiall y go far with my cricket," says [(evin.

He a lso said that he has benefited &om the Young Cricketer's Development Program (fYCDIBP), a unique program developed in Melbourne. Cofounded b y his fad1er and one of his c lose friends Johann Jayasi nha , the not- for- profit organisation takes young boys on cricket rours so chat they may experience tl1e Ufe of an international crkketer with regards to touting, rned.ia commitments and tbe like.

Participating in the inaugural tour to Sci Lanka in 2009, and the following tour in 2010 as captain of the team, dus as he puts it, is where he really wanted to be as a cricketer.

"The rou rs were some of d1e best times you could have. Not only cl.id you ge t ro e.xperience some of the th.i ngs international cricketers do, but you do so with yo ur mates around you Capta.ining the team in the second tour was a privilege, and to be able to win four out of the six games we played was a massive improvement from the previous yea r, and really so l.id.ihed d1e belief mat anything is possible w id1 a bit of bard work."

Despite his modest successes in cricket so far, Kevin has not allowed me sport to totall y dominate his life. He studied hard to obtain excellent VCE results and enter un.iversity ch.is year

However, for the first six monms to a ye ar, hi s s rud.ies will take a back seat as he flies to Sci Lanka whe re he will be training during the off-season This can only lead to greate r success for this affable yorn1g man who lives and breathes the sport.

Kevi n has been b lessed by a family that understand s bis passion. His failier Vernon w ho is Sci Lankan and mother Led1i who is lnd.ian, bo d1 love d1e spo r t and have supported and nurtured Kevin's love for it His brother George has always been a great fo il to me rising yo1mg star, despite their being many a fight between the two owing to a gam e of backyard cricket! Whilst d1a.nking his family, Kevin also mentioned some of the other people who have helped h.im ind efinite ly who have shaped lus actions roday. They include Owen Mottau, dr. Rene Ferdinands, Ravi Rathnayaka, Manjula Munasinha, Duleep Saraweera, Adrian Jones, Peter i\fath isoa, Johann Jayasinha, Kirk and J 1tl.ian Lawrence, Aldo Cerner and Dr. Nihal Henatigala. Perhaps it is too earl y to predict but given Kevin's passion it may not be long before he can keep that promise to hi s fad1er. We all wa.it for that day.