The mother speaks about tales common to all growing cricketers — of broken window-panes during courtyard games — but she also gives details about the extraordinary support she gave to her son’s career. With his father working as a clerk in the health department and his mother a saleswoman at a souvenir shop, Sanath’s parents had a tough time making ends meet.

Despite the fact that he is now one of the most affluent cricketers on the island, there are still things in his mannerism that reminds the mother of the days of struggle.

“Look at the way he touches his pads before he faces every ball. That’s because during his early days he had to wear over-sized second-hand pads. There was always the need to adjust them. It became a habit,” Breeda says.

The late trips to Colombo that Breeda used to undertake when her son went to play cricket in the Capital are now a thing of past. “When he was in Colombo, I would go and meet him after returning from work. The 80-km journey by bus took long and I used to return home by midnight.

“He used to tell me to avoid these trips but I wanted to see him and also check if he needed some money,” says the deeply religious woman who spends a lot of time these days at the Buddhist temple behind their house that welcomes visitors with a Buddham Sharnam Gacchami sign.

The mother proudly says that, like herself, her son is also a strong believer in Buddhism. “Every time he is here, he goes to a famous temple here and they tie a white thread around his wrists and that’s the reason for his strength. That’s why he is so fit at 40, and I think he will play the next World Cup as well,” she says.

... contd.