Chaminda Vaas

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Chaminda Vaas
Personal information
Full name	Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas
Born	27 January 1974 (1974-01-27) (age 34)
	Mattumagala, Sri Lanka
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Left arm fast medium
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Sri Lanka
Test debut (cap 63)	26 August 1994: v Pakistan
Last Test	8 August 2008: v India
ODI debut (cap 75)	15 February 1994: v India
Last ODI	27 August 2008:v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1990/91-present	Colts Cricket Club
2003	Hampshire
2005	Worcestershire
2007	Middlesex
Career statistics
	Tests	ODIs	FC	LA
Matches	107	322	185	380
Runs scored	2,998	2,025	5,072	2,606
Batting average	24.17	13.68	25.61	15.15
100s/50s	1/13	0/1	4/23	0/3
Top score	100*	50*	134	62*
Balls bowled	22,664	15,775	35,209	18,346
Wickets	348	400	648	477
Bowling average	29.31	27.53	24.95	26.68
5 wickets in innings	12	4	27	4
10 wickets in match	2	n/a	3	n/a
Best bowling	7/71	8/19	7/54	8/19
Catches/stumpings	30/–	60/–	53/–	74/–
Source: CricketArchive, 11 October 2008

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas, (born 27 January 1974 in Mattumagala), usually known as Chaminda Vaas, is a Sri Lankan cricketer who is regarded as being the best fast bowler to come out of the country. According to Bill Frindall, scorer and statistician for BBC Radio's Test Match Special, Chaminda is actually his penultimate given name, therefore his initials should read WPUJC. In 2004 he gained recognition for his talent when he was selected for the World Test and one-day XI at the inaugural ICC Awards. He was once again selected for the World Test XI at the 2005 awards.

Contents 1 Bowling style 2 Career highlights 3 Records 4 Allrounder 5 County Cricket 6 References

Bowling style

He is a left arm swing bowler. Vaas opens the bowling for Sri Lanka and is noted for his indipper. Also among his arsenal is an off cutter which is well disguised. He has added reverse-swing to his armoury, a skill that has made him a consistent wicket-taker even on bland subcontinental pitches. Although his pace has dropped over the years, he has masterful control of line and length.

Career highlights

A past student of the prestigious St. Joseph's College in Colombo, he made his debut for the Sri Lankan cricket team in 1994. He made an impact in his first year of international cricket as he helped Sri Lanka to their maiden Test Match victory away from home, against New Zealand at Napier. Vaas took 5-47 in the first innings and 5-43 in the second.

In 2001-02 he took 26 wickets in a series win against the West Indies. This included a match haul of 14 wickets, a feat only achieved by two fast bowlers in the subcontinent, the other being Imran Khan. He was recently selected for the Afro Asia cup but dropped out due to county commitments.

At the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, held in the South Africa, Vaas nipped out 23 wickets, becoming the outright leading wicket taker in the tournament. This included a best of 6-25 against Bangladesh, where Vaas also took a hat-trick with the first three deliveries of the Bangladesh innings.

In 2004, Vaas was also selected for the ICC World XI at the inaugural ICC awards.

On 26th June 2007 he made his maiden test century, playing against Bangladesh he hit 100 not out in a total of 577-6 declared in Colombo. This came in his 97th Test Match, which at the time was a record for the most number of Tests before scoring a maiden century (since overtaken by Anil Kumble. Soon after in November 2007, Vaas played his 100th test match against England, in what was also Sanath Jayasuriya's final test match for Sri Lanka.

In August 2008, Vaas crossed yet another landmark, when he had Yuvraj Singh caught off his bowling in the fourth One Day match. Yuvraj Singh became Vaas' 400th ODI victim, by doing this Vaas joined the illustrious company of Wasim Akram,Waqar Younis and his team mate Muttiah Muralitharan as being the only bowlers in international cricket to have taken 400 ODI wickets.

Records

Chaminda Vaas is Sri Lanka's most successful fast bowler ever, having taken over 300 Test wickets. He has been the head of the Sri Lankan bowling attack for many years. He achieved his 300th wicket on 12 December 2005) against India, becoming just the second Sri Lankan bowler to do so, after Muttiah Muralitharan. He has also taken 400 One Day International wickets, again only one of two Sri Lankans to do so. As of the 30th of March 2007 only 3 bowlers have taken more ODI wickets. His tally includes two hat tricks, the first against Zimbabwe which came in the middle of a devastating spell of 8 for 19, the best bowling figures in one-day internationals, Zimbabwe were dismissed for 38 which was the lowest score in one day internationals. The other hattrick came in the 2003 World Cup against Bangladesh and was achieved with the first three balls of the game.This had never before been seen in One Day International cricket.

Allrounder

Vaas is also a useful batsman down the order, and has reached 2500 Test runs, including 12 Test half-centuries and a century. Only 10 bowlers in Test history to have taken 200 wickets have scored more runs than Vaas[1].

As a fieldsman, he is noted for his strong arm.

County Cricket

He has joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2007 cricket season as an Overseas registration.