Tamil Union’s recipe for success

Champions team Tamil Union 

The Tamil Union pavilion is named after one of their famous cricketers Mahadevan Sathasivam

• Wins three SLC Major Inter-Club titles in nine months

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

When Tamil Union won the SLC Major Limited-Over final against Army SC by seven wickets (D/L method) last week they completed a hat-trick of titles in domestic cricket within a period of nine months, a feat they had not achieved since their Centenary Year in 1999-2000 when they lifted the Premier Trophy Limited-Over, the Under 23 tournament and the Donovan Andree trophy.

The winning streak began with a win in the SLC Major Clubs Limited-Over in November last year and ended with them retaining the title with another win in the same tournament held nine months later in August 2022. In between, Tamil Union won the SLC Major Clubs Emerging three-day tournament held in April 2022.

“In today’s set up, to win is a huge thing because it is becoming very competitive and the standards are so much higher for cricket,” said Tamil Union’s general secretary Balan Asirwatham. “We go back a long way, but in those days in cricket the seriousness was never there. Today it is so competitive, it will become even more difficult as we go along. 

“Look at the way Army SC has come up and Ace Capital CC (formerly Ports Authority) they are getting foreign cricketers to come. We did it some time back. But look at the talent we have. What is the point of bringing foreign cricketers and depriving our players who are as good?”

The recipe for Tamil Union’s success was put down to two factors by Asirwatham, a long-standing member of the 123-year-old club and six-time general secretary – the coaching of Ruwan Kalpage and the strict disciplinary measures that are in place at the club.

“I would say mainly it was due to Ruwan Kalpage coming as coach. The results that you see are the seeds he has sown. You have to give credit to him. He was with us for two years and left us during the Emerging three-day tournament to take up an appointment with Sri Lanka Cricket as head coach of the emerging team,” said Asirwatham. 

“When Kalpage took over we were almost relegated that year in the Major league. Due to Covid-19 we couldn’t finish the season properly and we were one but the last. We had won the Major Limited-Over under him. To come up like this after being on the verge of relegation it was his guidance that has brought in results without doubt.”

Kalpage brought in many improvements to Tamil Union that has helped them become a force to be reckoned with in domestic cricket.  “With Ruwan coming in, we were the first to get a sports psychologist Dr. Amila de Alwis to help us. It was Ruwan who started this fitness test – the two-kilometre run and the skinfold test at Tamil Union, long before Sri Lanka Cricket. The different things he brought to the club and his presence made a huge difference,” said Asirwatham.

Today Dr. Amila de Alwis’ services has been acquired by head coach Jehan Mubarak for the Sri Lanka Under19 team.

“Discipline is key to Tamil Union’s success. Whatever it is for a team to play well, discipline has to be there, not only on the field but also outside it. After matches we don’t give liquor. We are very strict on that. We have a very young team. What are you teaching them,” said Asiriwatham.

“If discipline was there our cricketers would have been performing much better than they are doing right now. If you teach a lesson by taking action you’ll find others falling in line. They know that you are serious. At Tamil Union if any of our seniors step out of the line they are in for a rude shock. This culture was adopted by the club in the last few years. We saw what was happening with so many senior cricketers. Discipline was lacking, we were failing because we were giving into them because they were senior cricketers. That is something that won’t happen anymore at Tamil Union.”

This is an eye-opener for the rest of the clubs in the domestic circuit.

Other factors that have made Tamil Union a champion side is that they have a good selection committee and a cricket committee with people like Prakash Schaafter, Charinda Fernando, Pradeep Jayaprakash and Dushan Soza who heads the selection committee.  

“These people are not only good cricketers and have a love for the game but they spend a lot of time on cricket which is needed. We have a dedicated lot. End of this month we will have our AGM. “Generally, we are allowed to serve three years in one of the top posts. We have spoken to the cricket and selection committees that whoever takes over we would like to value these people and keep them going for the benefit of the club. We don’t want any changes to the administration. “When you have changes it will become a bit of an issue. We have a cricket policy drawn up by the general committee and followed. We will somehow continue where cricket is concerned,” said Asirwatham.