Thilan Samaraweera in Australian Coaching Set-Up-by Michael Roberts
Source:Thuppahis
Thilan Samaraweera may not have possessed the natural talents of an Aravinda, Kumar or Mahela, but he was (and is) an intelligent and industrious man who worked at his trade. He also faced that traumatic episode when the Sri Lankan coach was attacked by Pakistani jihadists as they headed for the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on the 3rd March 2009. He was one of those injured by shrapnel (like Tharanga Paranavithana) and despatched to hospital.
Sri Lankan player Thilan Samaraweera is taken aboard an ambulance on March 4, 2009 shortly after flying home from Pakistan where the Sri Lankan team was ambushed by gunmen just before entering a cricket stadium in Lahore. Seven players were wounded in the attack that also killed eight Pakistani nationals and drew wide spread international condemnation. AFP PHOTO/ISHARA S. KODIKARA
I recall chatting with him about this incident at the restaurant attached to the SSC grounds in Colombo: I was impressed by his clinical review of the events that transpired then at Lahore.
It is not surprising, therefore, that he has moved into the arena of cricket coaching. But (perhaps unsurprisingly) the Sri Lankan cricket establishment has missed out here. Thilan is now one of Australaia’s coaching aides and will be in charge of aset of promising Australian cricketers scheduled to particpate in a ten-day training camp at the famed the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in August.
The full report on this impending visit can be located here: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/australia-news-pucovski-to-head-to-india-for-10-day-training-camp-1326104
03 Mar 2009, LAHORE, Pakistan — epa01653561 Sri Lankan cricketers board a Pakistani Air Force helicopter, as they are air lifted from Gadaffic cricket stadium, after unknown gunmen attacked Sri Lankan cricket team, in Lahore Pakistan on 03 March 2009. Unidentified gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s cricket team when it was being escorted to a local stadium in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, leaving six policemen and two civilians dead and four Sri Lankan players injured, media reports and officials said. EPA/RAHAT DAR — Image by © RAHAT DAR/epa/Corbis
03 Mar 2009, LAHORE, Pakistan — epa01653561 Sri Lankan cricketers board a Pakistani Air Force helicopter, as they are air lifted from Gadaffic cricket stadium, after unknown gunmen attacked Sri Lankan cricket team, in Lahore Pakistan on 03 March 2009. Unidentified gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s cricket team when it was being escorted to a local stadium in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, leaving six policemen and two civilians dead and four Sri Lankan players injured, media reports and officials said. EPA/RAHAT DAR — Image by © RAHAT DAR/epa/Corbis
