By Tyler Lewis
“I think the scores say yes, but that’s the sort of thing I am trying to figure out.”
Despite making four centuries in as many hits, Casey South Melbourne Victorian Rookie Ashley Chandrasinghe isn’t sure if this is the best he’s ever felt in the middle.
Playing for the Warratah Warriors in the Carlton Mid Premier Grade competition in Darwin, Chandrasinghe started his season with a pair of ducks and a score of 35, before making four consecutive triple-figure scores.
His fourth came on Saturday, as the left-hander nudged an unbeaten 166 against Darwin – an attack led by former Shield speedster Jake Reed.
The fourth century in as many hits equals the competitions record, formerly solely held by Jake Weatherald.
And while it would be easy to assume Chandrasinghe is seeing the ball better than normal, he did reveal he struggled on Saturday on his way to 166 not out.
“Obviously really happy and proud of results,” he said.
“Batting wise I feel like – particularly with Saturday’s innings – I sort of felt a bit, not out of touch, but I wasn’t clicking the way I would’ve liked to.
“I guess that’s what time in the middle does, when you spend a lot of time out there then things sort of just fall into place… luckily for me that sort of happened.”
Although his form is swiftly becoming the talk of the town both north and south, the 20-year-old avoided the thought of equalling Weatherald’s record.
“Definitely not at the start, it wasn’t in my mind to begin with, only maybe towards the end of the day,” he said.
“You sort of think about it a little bit, but I tried my best not to think about it and just keep batting.
“I tried to think of it as being in, not to make 100, but to bat the 80 overs.”
Despite four tons under the belt already, Chandrasinghe’s belly is by no means full.
There’s still one item left on the agenda: a white-ball ton.
“The main thing coming to Darwin was to play more games and to try and work on my white-ball skillset and mindset,” he said.
“I am mainly just working on a few shots and trying to experiment them in a game as well.
“I’m obviously playing red ball at the moment and right now I am trying to just bat as long as I can.
“But the aim here was to make a white-ball hundred, which I haven’t been able to do just yet.
“I just missed out yesterday (Sunday), which was a bit unfortunate, but that was the aim in Darwin.”
Chandrasinghe was caught on the fence in his pursuit for his maiden white-ball century on Sunday, falling for 95.
Inclusive of his two ducks to begin the Darwin summer, Chandrasinghe has compiled 876 runs at 54.75 across his 17 all-format matches.
