Four-straight centurion reveals coach was dissatisfied after third

A Victorian rookie contracted player continues to put his name up in lights after achieving a mammoth feat in the Darwin Premier Cricket competition.

Left hand batter Ashley Chandrasinghe has achieved the unimaginable scoring his fourth consecutive hundred in Darwin Premier Cricket on Saturday.

The Casey South Melbourne star began his season in the Northern Territory with two ducks, marking a stunning turnaround in form.

On Saturday, Chandrasinghe was unbeaten on 166 at the end of day‘s play against Darwin, placing his Waratahs in prime position at 4-401 from 80 overs.

The Victorian rookie’s unbeaten 166 at Gardens Ova came off 234 balls featuring 17 fours and two sixes.

In previous weeks, he scored 102 against Southern Districts, 123 against PINT and 108 against Nightcliff.

He scored 172 and 156 last season as a 19-year-old.

Chandrasinghe, of Sri Lankan background, is nearing the record set by South Australian state cricketer Jake Weatherald who scored six hundreds in a season in 2015.

While Chandrasinghe dominates the bowlers in the top end, he revealed that his Waratah’s coach and former Sri Lankan first-class cricketer Udara Weerasinghe demanded more from him after his third consecutive ton.

“Udara being the head coach, we did speak after my third hundred about… how I could have gone about batting from the 60th over period onwards and getting a big score and that I can still be in for the back end where it is easier to scorem,” Chandrasinghe said.

Udara Weerasinghe is the captain-coach of the Waratahs. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

“He was saying, obviously three in a row is pretty good but they weren’t very big hundreds.

“I ended up doing much better than what I did in the previous game so that was a big help.”

The run scoring machine also said playing with other cricketers in the NT Cricket 365 competition, a competition which brings state contracted players to the NT to play, also helped his game.

“Looking at other players in the 365, in my team or in the other teams, you can see what other players do tactically which is really handy to pick up on new skills and tactics and how they go about things,” he said.

Chandrasinghe said it was cool achieving the feat.

“Obviously it is something I have never done before and I was batting with Jaga as well who was batting really well so it was a good moment in the middle.”

Jagadeswara Koduru from Northcote scored 147 from 153 balls in the game featuring 20 boundaries including four sixes.

The opener who also can bat in the middle order said he was challenged early in the innings and found his rhythm later on.

“I thought I struggled a little bit early on,” he said.

“They did bowl pretty well but for myself I wasn’t feeling the best, timing was a bit off and my bat wasn’t coming down as well as I would have liked it to.

“But I think that is what happens when you spend time in the middle, it sort of falls into place after a while in the middle which is nice that it fell into place and you can chase in.

“And it helps at Gardens Oval that it is pretty flat and a nice oval.”

Waratah's Ashley Chandrasinghe playing in Darwin. Picture: Roz Lavercombe

Chandrasinghe spoke about the key to his consistency.

“My coaches have always been big on you’re only as good as your last score so in the next game you always start on zero so I think that is the approach I sort of take,” he said.

“Obviously you get confidence going into the next round but ultimately you start on zero and you got to start all over again.”

As Chandrasinghe heads goes for a fifth-straight ton in the next round, he has appreciated the support he has received including messages from his Victorian state colleagues.

“They did get around me which is pretty nice,” he said about the Waratah’s players.

“They sort of know how much it means to me as well.

“It was nice to get support from guys back at home from the Swans and the guys here and people you haven’t really had a lot to do with but they give you messages of support which is nice.

“Not long after the game, Matt Short sent me a message telling me I’m going pretty well so that was nice of him.”

Coach Chris Rogers also contacted Chandrasinghe after he scored his third-straight hundred.

Waratah’s will take on Tracy Village in their next game starting on August 6.