As the country is engaged in an unprecedented war, days before its 61st Independence Day celebrations, Sanath Teran Jayasuriya, 39, scored his 28th One-day Int’l century last Saturday (Jan. 28).

That was against India in Dambulla. He first played for Sri Lanka in 1989. Those who were born that year are probably 19+ now. Still, when the man, named ‘Matara Mauler’ in the press, whacks one over the fence, like what he did that day against Pragyan Ojha, crowds love to shout ‘Come on Sana, come on!’ With his unorthodox approach to batting, his phenomenal record for the country and, most significantly, his great influence on the masses as a cricketer for two decades have made Sanath a personality apart. One who came from St. Servatius’ College, Matara, almost 100 miles away from Colombo, ‘Sana’ is probably the most charismatic sportsman of our times. But what really lies ahead for a cricketer with such captivating aura?

Jayasuriya is the first real ‘super star’ of local cricket. He became a ‘star’ of a subcontinent, especially after his pinch-hitting cameo in the victorious 1996 World Cup campaign. His well illustrated unorthodox batting virtually changed the way the role of batsmanship was looked at before him.

After being named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in ’97 –a rare salutation from the authorities for his strange yet influential batting, he captained Sri Lanka for 18 Test wins in 38 matches between Sep., ’99 and Nov., 2002 while losing in only 12. Once, in the year 2001, he captained his team to nine straight Test wins.

As captain of Sri Lanka in 118 ODIs since Jan., ’98, he saw the country winning in 66 matches, losing in only 47 and before leaving captaincy in Apr., 2003, saw Sri Lanka feature in a World Cup semi-final the same year in South Africa.

Most of all, his incredible 340 scored against India in ’97 and his innumerable number of knocks as a blistering opening bat down the years have made Sana the most exciting yet lovable cricketer of a generation. Beyond the play-field, his marriage, his kids and even his hobbies became news headlines of a celebrity. All these features have attributed to only one thing. Jayasuriya is THE most charismatic cricketer of his generation. But still, there is a problem.

The term ‘charisma’ is often considered one that cannot be defined easily. It has an origin from the Greek word ‘kharisma’ meaning ‘gift’ or ‘divine favour,’ referring to a rare characteristics found in certain human personalities. Such traits include extreme charm and a certain ‘magnetic’ quality of personality with innate, sophisticated personal persuasiveness.

German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) defined ‘charismatic authority’ to be one of three forms of authority, the other two being traditional or feudal authority and legal or rational authority. According to Weber, charisma is "... a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which s/he is "set apart" from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader."

In 1888, at the height of the 2nd Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection, renowned film critic, the late Cyril B. Perera wrote his famous article on the slain film star-cum-politician Vijaya Kumaratunga ‘Vijaya Kumaratunga: Kerismave Bheejaya Kotenada?’ (Where lays the seeds of the charisma of Kumaratunga?)

There Sibira, as Perera was very much known, argued that Vijaya, who rose magnanimously from his ordinary beginnings from an underprivileged catholic family at Seeduwa to later become the son-in-law of two of Sri Lanka’s Prime Ministers, after reaching the pinnacle of stardom in local cinema.

A strong advocate of humanistic politics, Vijaya, months before his brutal assassination, had been chosen the uncontested Presidential candidate from a strong leftist alliance which included communist stalwarts in the caliber of Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Peter Keuneman and Bernard Soysa. Perera’s conclusion in his famous article was that this charisma came in Vijaya’s way due to the well received roles he played in nearly a hundred of popular films while portraying the life of the ordinary.

Vijaya’s charisma was so big that after death, he rose as a legend in common man’s discourse. One of his confidantes, Amarasiri Jayasinghe, set fire to his own body and committed suicide on the day Vijaya’s funeral was held in Feb., ’88. Coming out of his starry life and the aristocratic family links, Vijaya mixed with the common man. He was an outcast of the aritocratic Horagolla Walawwa. He died on the road after being shot on his face. He created, after his passing away, a gaping hole in the common man’s psyche here. Can any one relate his charisma with that of Sanath Jayasuriya?

When Lionel Wagasinghe of St. Servatius’, the well-known first cricket coach of Jayasuriya, revealed this week that his school’s cricket was in disarray due to lack of funds, the story was expected to make shockwaves in these days of awesome commercialism where players happily appearing in ads creating doubts over their own credibility.

"When I was given the task of coaching a junior side (Under-11 and 13) by the then Principal of my school St. Servatius,’ the late G. A. Galappaththi, I identified this promising batsman… It was my norm to be always well disciplined and be mentally tough at any situation. That was how I carried my school to the top most division at junior level and produced players like Sanath and Ruchira Palliyaguru.

"... In fact, we don’t have funds now at our school to pay for our cricket coaches. We have to go after our Colombo old boys to beg for money every month," Wagasinghe, who still helps his school’s cricket voluntarily, told The Island.

Matara and his alma-mater there may be waiting for the call of the charisma of Sanath. The alma-mater means ‘Nourishing Mother’ in Latin. Mothers won’t ask for any help. Still they would always wish for the best of their sons and daughters. It’s usually considered that the duty of the sons and daughters is to look after their mothers at the time of need. The great southerners in this island are known to have such great human qualities. Sanath Jayasuriya, ‘Matara Mauler,’ the cricketing charisma of our times, should be knowing this fact better than us.