By Tyler Lewis
ASHLEY CHANDRASINGHE PLAYED A SUBLIME HAND IN VICTORIA’S SECOND XI EARLIER THIS YEAR, WHICH ULTIMATELY PLAYED A ROLE IN HIM EARNING A SPOT ON HIS STATES ROOKIE LIST…
FEBRUARY, 2022.
Ashley Chandrasinghe has a perpetual thirst for runs that simply can’t be fulfilled.
Casey-South Melbourne’s meticulous opening bat is in tantalising form, coming off five half-centuries in eight hits since Christmas for the Swans, to go with 112 and 91 not out for the Victorian Second XI last week.
Chandrasinghe’s meteoric rise to one of Victoria more promising talents has been extraordinary, given last Saturday’s clash with Northcote was just his 34th game of Premier Cricket.
Despite looking oh so comfortable for the Vics at Jubilee Park last week, the left-hander revealed the score-card was somewhat deceiving, as he felt the ball with his name on it was never far away.
“I didn’t really feel set until I was on 50 or so, I felt at every stage of the game in the first innings that every ball could still get me out,” he said.
“At the start the wicket was a bit tacky and the bowlers were moving it both ways, which I hadn’t been used to a lot.
“At that level I felt I was I never really set so I tried to stay sharp for every ball, I guess it helped me play every ball on its merits.
“There were times – especially in the first innings – where I thought ‘I could play a slightly risky shot to take the pressure off’, but I think it’s good to get through that with a consistent mindset.
“I batted on all four days so it was a bit weird in the second innings, because I am on zero (again), but I have just batted for a long time and was seeing them well.
“I just had the same mindset as the first innings, I might be on 80, 90 or 100, but each ball can get me out,” Chandrasinghe said.
When Victoria waved Chandrasinghe in, just nine runs short of twin-tons, cricket romantics were left scratching their heads, and though he admits a brace of centuries would’ve been a neat accomplishment, he knew the clock was ticking.
“We were trying to win the game and at lunch we were saying 10-12 more overs and we will declare,” he said.
“I was trying to bat a bit more positively and I got to 85-90, there were probably two more overs left and we lost a few wickets so I didn’t get too much strike from the last two overs.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t try to get the back-to-back. I didn’t have any problems with the declaration, they gave me notice that they were trying to declare 10-12 overs after lunch, it didn’t pose any questions with me”.
In just his two games for the Victorian Second XI, Chandrasinghe is yet to register a score below 56 and has top scored in each of the four innings.
And while the longer format is evidently one he flourishes in without trepidation, the Buckley Ridges junior doesn’t rule himself out of the white ball format, as he feels a trip north last winter and some clarity with the Swans this season is making the format all the more easier.
“Obviously I prefer and am more comfortable playing red ball (cricket),” he said.
“White ball for me has its challenges, but the last two seasons I have felt that I have had a pretty clear role for what the Swans want me to do, which is pretty much bat the full 50 overs.
“That has helped me in terms of clarity around my role. I feel like the two seasons have been helped by going to Darwin (during the winter) and playing a lot of white ball there as well.
“I have had a lot of white ball games under my belt now; it’s been good to get that experience in the white ball format.
“While I was over there, in the white ball I wasn’t opening, I felt that was good for my game.
“Having to start in a different positon of the game, I felt I had to push the game on straight away rather than getting yourself in and taking the game on from there.
“I had to be positive from the beginning which I feel has helped this season. In the T20s I wasn’t opening either, I had to close out innings and games which I found really challenging, but I succeeded in more games than I thought I would’ve,” Chandrasinghe said.
The next month looms as one of the more exciting ones to date for the Casey-South Melbourne prodigy, with the Swans entrenched in the Vic Premier Cricket premiership race, and the potential for further higher honours on the horizon.
