Talent and potential are two different things. While the former is gifted to many sportsmen, the latter always backs them up in their success.
Shevon Daniel of St. Joseph’s College had talent from his young age but it was his performances with the bat that put him above the rest in the concluded Inter-Schools cricket season.
The 17-year-old elegant left-hander and third year coloursman enjoyed probably his best season with the First XI Team as St. Joseph’s emerged champions in the Under-19 Division One Tier ‘A’ Cricket Tournament.
Daniel may not be the highest run-getter in the tournament but his ability to make an impact when it is really needed has made him one of the most destructive batsmen to emerge this season.
He displayed this to the maximum in the high profile final encounter where he compiled a match winning 146 not out from 133 deliveries against Royal College at the NCC Grounds in Maitland Place.
This was easily his best performance for the current season and certainly he seems to have preserved the best for the last as St. Joseph’s came out victorious by a comprehensive margin.
Daniel has made it a habit of making an impact at the big occasions and even during his junior cricket days he has produced some outstanding match winning performances for his team.
He led the Western Province North Team to win the Prima Under-15 Inter-Provincial title in 2019 while scoring over 250 runs in that tournament.
Daniel showed his class probably for the first time at a major tournament final as he hit a match winning 86 from 49 balls to collect the Best Batsman of the final award and the Man-of-the-Final award.
Thereafter, he realised his real potential and began to play with more responsibility for his school and was named as the captain of the Under-15 Cricket Team.
But more importantly, Daniel built up a reputation as a batsman who would make a big score for his team at the most vital situation.
In 2017, he accumulated a total of 640 runs in cluding two centuries against Maris Stella College and Prince of Wales College in addition to scoring three half-centuries.
That was exactly the perfect start for his successful school cricket career and thereafter, he went from strength to strength to emerge as a key batsman in the line-up.
By the time Daniel played in the Under-15 Cricket Tournament, he had all the potential to make it to the senior team and scored a First XI century against St. Anne’s College at the age of 14.
He dominated the Under-15 Tournament during his first year in 2018 and piled up 820 runs inclusive of four centuries against Mahinda College, Thurstan College, St. Sebastian’s College and D. S. Senanayake College in addition to three fifties. Daniel started the 2020/21 cricket season with a lot of confidence and was considered as the premier batsman in the team which also included few other talented players.
He began the traditional fixtures in style with a century against Wesley College but thereafter, he could not keep the same momentum during the rest of the matches.
But in the limited over tournament he was completely different and was very much determined to see that his team would reach the final.
He made valuable contributions against St. Sebastian’s, St. Thomas’, Matara, St. Anne’s and St. Benedict’s before he delivered the final blow with a memorable century in the final against Royal.
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