Sri Lanka Test star bound for Melbourne club cricket

Sri Lanka's in-form Test batsman Lahiru Thirimanne has committed to playing suburban club cricket in Melbourne this summer.

Mulgrave Cricket Club, which plays in the Victorian capital's Eastern Cricket Association (ECA), the third tier of club cricket, made headlines earlier this winter with claims they were close to signing the likes of Brian Lara, Chris Gayle or Yuvraj Singh.

Gayle confirmed to cricket.com.au he was aware of Mulgrave's interest during Australia's tour of the Caribbean in July but was non-committal about joining the club.

Instead Mulgrave have confirmed Thirimanne will turn out for the club while he is visiting family in Melbourne this summer.

Thirimanne's arrival deepens the strong existing Sri Lanka connection for the club, which is captained by former Sri Lanka star Tillakaratne Dilshan and which has also secured another ex-international in Upul Tharanga this summer.

The club will be coached by legendary Sri Lanka batsman Sanath Jayasuriya.

Mulgrave announced this week they had secured Thirimanne, the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket in 2021, with 659 runs at 50.69 and two centuries, against England and Bangladesh.

Thirimanne has played 42 Tests in a decade-long international career and was part of Sri Lanka's Test teams that toured Australia in 2013 and 2019.

His first of four ODI centuries from the 127 matches he's played came against the Aussies in Adelaide in 2013, batting at No.3 behind Dilshan and Tharanga, his new Mulgrave teammates.

And was famously the batter at the non-striker's end when Ravi Ashwin tried a 'Mankad' dismissal in a Gabba ODI in February 2012.

Dilshan, who now lives in Beaconsfield in Melbourne’s outer south-eastern suburbs following his retirement from international cricket, played six matches for Mulgrave last summer, scoring 132 runs in the ECA's T20 Cup as Mulgrave were beaten in the grand final by Donvale.

It is unclear when, or even if, Thirimanne plans to visit family given Australia's tightly controlled international borders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ECA has a player points cap of 23 for its first XI fixtures, but that does not apply to limited-overs competitions.

Players are allocated points based on the highest level of cricket they have reached. The ECA this winter amended their player points system to add in a category for Test players for the first time, which carry the maximum five points each.

Thirimanne and Tharanga would each attract five points if they played in the club's first XI fixtures.

The club's earlier ambitions to lure a bevy of left-handed superstars was for the ECA's T20 Cup, which features three preliminary matches before a knock-out phase of up to three more games, all slotted in among the one- and two-day fixtures between November and February.

The ECA's playing conditions for the T20 Cup say just one 'marquee' player can feature in an XI.

Gayle, who smashed seven sixes in a match-winning 67 off 38 balls against the Aussies in a T20 in St Lucia last month, had his eyes on the looming T20 World Cup, but was aware of Mulgrave's interest.

"I've seen that rumour around but I haven't spoken to them directly," Gayle told cricket.com.au. "A particular agent mentioned it to me and asked if I was interested.

"I know Australia is very keen to have Chris Gayle over at some point in time to play some cricket.

I love Australia, I love being in Australia. The quarantine for 14 days is going to be tough (but) you have to take those things into consideration."