Sri Lankan journeyman in line for shock Shield debut

Sri Lankan club cricket star Ruwantha Kellapotha is in line to play his first first-class match in almost a decade after earning a shock call-up to Victoria's Marsh Sheffield Shield squad.

The uncontracted leg-spinning allrounder has been called into the Vics’ 13-player squad for their clash with Western Australia at the Junction Oval beginning on Monday following a calf injury to veteran tweaker Jon Holland.

Holland picked up the injury during Victoria's Shield match against South Australia in Adelaide last week, which saw Redbacks opener Henry Hunt bat through the entire fourth day for 97 not out to secure a draw.

Fringe Test seamer Scott Boland, who starred with 4-60 and 2-49 last week, will also miss the match against WA with his workloads being managed ahead of the upcoming NRMA Insurance Test Series against the West Indies and South Africa.

Kellapotha's inclusion alongside emerging off-spinner Todd Murphy is intriguing given Victoria have two other leg-spinners on their 27-player contract list in Wil Parker and Tom O'Connell.

"We're really excited to welcome Ruwantha into the Victorian set-up, he's performed strongly in Victorian Premier Cricket and with the injury to Jon, we think he can make an impact straight away," said David Hussey, Cricket Victoria Head of Male Cricket.

"Scott and Jon going out of the side will test our bowling stocks but it will also present an opportunity to players like Mitch Perry, Todd Murphy or Cam McClure to step up."

Parker, 20, played his last Shield game in November last year, while 22-year-old O'Connell's previous appearance for Victoria was a one-day match in September 2018.

But those absences pale in comparison to Kellapotha's who played his last top-flight match in March 2013 for Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club in Sri Lanka's domestic first-class competition.

It's been a remarkable journey for the 31-year-old originally from the central Sri Lankan city of Kandy who just 18 months ago was playing club cricket in suburban Melbourne.

A rapid ascension through Premier Cricket with Casey-South Melbourne last summer earned him a Big Bash deal as an overseas replacement player for Melbourne Renegades for the coming season and now has him on the verge of a debut for Victoria.

He has played in Australia for nearly a decade, mostly in the Dandenong District Cricket Association, but would represent Victoria as an overseas player having played 20 first-class games in Sri Lanka between 2011-2013.

If selected on Monday, he would become the first international recruit to play for Victoria men's team since Fawad Ahmed in February 2013, which was before he obtained his Australia citizenship.

Kellapotha dominated his first season of Premier Cricket, topping the competition's wicket tally with 37 scalps at 15.59 to lead Casey to a grand final appearance in March.

He has been on Cricket Victoria's radar for some time with state selectors picking him to play in two second XI fixtures last season and he impressed head coach Chris Rogers during the Top End T20 tournament in August where he featured in three games for the Melbourne Renegades Academy.

"My journey to here has been a bit different," Kellapotha said last month. "I played first-class cricket back in Sri Lanka, came to Melbourne in 2013 to play local cricket and then last year went to Premier Cricket.

"I'd achieved what I wanted to achieve in local cricket, so I wanted to see what I could do in Premier Cricket. Now I want to see what I can do at the highest level."

Victoria squad v Western Australia: Peter Handscomb (c), Travis Dean, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Ruwantha Kellapotha, Nic Maddinson, Cameron McClure, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Mitch Perry, Will Pucovski, Matt Short, Will Sutherland