University of Edinburgh alumnus Vithushan Ehantharajah writes for ESPN Cricinfo, and has become one of the most prominent writers in cricket in recent years. Recently, The Student spoke to him about his time at Edinburgh, his career since, and how his time as a student journalist informs his work.
Vithushan studied Chemical Engineering at Edinburgh, and writing was initially something of a side project. However, despite having struggles with his degree, the university experience remained a productive one: “I reckon my course mates would probably be too nice to say so, but I was probably a bit of a burden on them to be honest.”
“I don’t know how much chemical engineering helped in my career in journalism, but I think a lot of the people I met were just really good and really encouraging people.”
One of these figures was a tutor who was hugely encouraging of Vithushan’s writing. He told me about how this experience helped show him a potential path forward in post-university life: “I have a letter I found the other day from one of my tutors, Dr. Jennifer Skilling, and it was basically a reference she’d given me for a Master’s in broadcast journalism.”
“I think it was the first time that… someone had articulated that I might be good… you know, I wrote for the student paper, I wrote a blog as well just on a bit of nonsense to be honest.”
“My mates were really encouraging for that, but that’s probably the first time I saw, well, the first time someone in, I suppose, a position of power on the academia side, was like, you know what? You’re not good at chemical engineering. You’re actually quite good at writing.”
This was a fascinating insight into how Vithushan’s hobby transformed into a potential career. However, if the people at the UoE were a source of inspiration, university sport was a little more disheartening. It was something of a rude awakening, and Vithushan recalls being surprised by “the depth of uni sport.”
“The arrogance of me, I think about it now … even the rubbish players are brilliant.”
Having played football and cricket at university, Vithushan also appears on the Football Ramble podcast, alongside his primary role covering cricket — we spoke about how this has influenced his job.
“The thing I found it helps you with massively is, you know, obviously with all my cricket work, there’s a lot of it is writing, but there’s also video and audio components to it as well and I feel like it’s got me more comfortable talking.”
“Obviously it’s quite a stuffy sport and the language sometimes can be a barrier to entry. And I’m not saying that I cut through that by not using the right terms or anything like that, but I think it has me speaking less formally.”
Communicating ideas in an approachable way has become especially important in cricket of late, with an increasingly contested and conflicted landscape in the sport. New, shorter format competitions are constantly emerging, and as the money in the game grows, so does the influence of politics.
However for a journalist, this is not necessarily always a source of intrigue: “I think the moving parts, particularly in English cricket, are really interesting. It’s also quite dull because it’s just the same thing over and over again.”
“Nothing’s going to change… I don’t see any kind of course correction, as it were beyond like, you know, maybe Australia, not necessarily being totally enamoured by, you know, private investment.”
More serious political matters are increasingly a pressing concern in the sport, especially regarding tensions in the Subcontinent. In the recent T20 World Cup, Bangladesh were forced to drop out due to political tensions with India, and the atmosphere in the India vs Pakistan match was chilly at best. Sadly, despondency is the most understandable reaction.
“It’s both frustrating and sad and it’s kind of exactly the kind of thing you shouldn’t be numb to, but at the same time, you know, on that particular issue, I don’t think there’s any end in sight.”
In more positive news, covering England’s test team over the past couple of years has been hugely enjoyable. For fans, their patchy record and careless attitude leaves many wanting more, but for journalists, there are stories aplenty.
“It’s never a boring game … I maintain I have the best job in the world beyond maybe Joe Root who gets to school hundreds for a living.”
“Every day is a joy and every day covering that team is something different.”
Despite this, Vithushan noted the bitterly disappointing recent Ashes Series in Australia: “I think they completely botched it.”
“They were quite arrogant in how they approached it… despite feigning a bit of humility, they probably just thought they were better than they were. Suddenly they thought Australia were worse than they are. Which, I suppose ultimately, you end up losing 4-1.”
Talking to Vithushan was a hugely enjoyable experience. Not only was it a valuable glimpse into covering top-level sport first-hand, but the anecdotes around his time at UoE and his path to journalism provide a fascinating insight into how he finds himself in a career he suits so well.
Image courtesy of Vithushan Ehantharajah.
