Alistair Bushe: The day I partnered future World Cup star in season-changing victory

The date is easy to remember - July 13, 2000 - and the sun was shining as I walked (or was it trembled?) out to meet Pulasthi Gunaratne, future Sri Lankan World Cup cricketer, in the middle.

In less than two years from now Pula would be taking the new ball for Sri Lanka against the likes of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, but here he was at The Meadow in Downpatrick, trying to eke out some runs with the Waringstown tail for company.

We were firm friends, he had lived in our family home for a time as he recovered from a dangerous bout of chicken pox when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, but in our respective cricketing abilities, we were worlds apart.

Batting was not his stronger suit, but he was gloriously effective that memorable summer.

Let’s be frank, I wasn’t first choice that July day. It was holiday season and our captain Alan Waite must have gone through almost every name in his notebook before he finally called me.

At 106 for seven batting first, we were in the proverbial mire, and I was due in next. Pulasthi was our last hope of a defendable total, smashing the odd boundary with Ian Morrison for company.

As their partnership extended, so my nerves grew, that familiar feeling as the next man in, the nerves in the pit of your stomach, mine heightened by being a third eleven regular about to be thrust onto local cricket’s biggest stage.

Soon, the wait was finally over, Ian was lbw to the Pakistan all-rounder Riswan, and here was me walking out to face one of the canniest overseas professionals of the time.

As I took guard for my first ball I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The fielders were spread far and wide, I counted at least five on the boundary, I almost would have needed binoculars to have spotted them. I had no idea why they were affording this third eleven batsman such respect, it was the field you would expect for a top-order batsman, not someone who nudges and nurdles, mostly through the leg-side and for whom boundaries came only very occasionally against bowlers of much less pedigree than this one.

Perhaps my anonymity was my weapon, Downpatrick fearing (without foundation) that Waite had planted a dangerous secret weapon at number 10.

I was struggling to hold my composure as Riswan came into bowl but his delivery was generously full, I pushed forward on a wonderfully true pitch and the ball went off the middle of the bat down to long-on for the most comfortable of singles.

I jogged down to the other end, trying to contain my excitement, to convey the impression that what I had just done was routine, that I fully expected to play such a composed stroke. In reality I was just relieved that the ignominy of a golden duck had been avoided.

With the nerves gone, I milked the moment. What a place to make your debut. The Meadow was where I had grown up watching so many of Waringstown’s Challenge Cup finals in the 1980s and 1990s, and here I was, building a key partnership with a future international cricketer - you can’t beat this.

Before I searched for the scorecard online I was convinced that mine and Pulasthi’s partnership was about 35 runs, it was actually just 18. I remembered being in the middle for about 30 minutes, but I actually faced only eight balls for my three runs in about 15 minutes at the crease. The passage of time since that day had gloriously exaggerated my contribution.

Alas, I still convince myself that by supporting Pula as he passed 50 and we recovered from 125 from eight to 144 all out changed the course of that match, but also the season.

In 2000 Waringstown were in their first season back in Section One after relegation in 1998 and the campaign could easily have gone either way. But by coming back from the dead in this match, they went on a run that would ultimately result in an unexpected Section One title.

But back to that day at The Meadow. I was fielding at mid-off when Downpatrick batted and for the first time in my life was just a few feet from an international class bowler operating on a fast and bouncy pitch. It was the cricketing equivalent of being ringside in a brutally short heavyweight boxing match. My memory is of terrified Downpatrick batsmen trying not to back away and of my brother Jonathan taking the ball high above his head behind the stumps. I’ve never seen a wicketkeeper standing that far back in a club match before or since. Pulasthi went on to take 4-10 as we won easily and that doesn’t do justice to a ferocious spell of bowling.

My contribution to the summer of 2000 was tiny, but no-one can take away those unforgettable 15 minutes at the crease with a legend.

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