Bury Sport
Sri Lankan international signs for Bury
7:50pm Thursday 16th February 2012
AFTER suffering a Test series whitewash at the hands of Pakistan, England’s former world number one squad may be fearing the worst as they prepare to head to Sri Lanka.
The country has established itself as one of the leading lights of the world cricket scene, producing fantastic cricketers, such as Muralitharan, Malinga, Sangakkara and Dilshan.
That production line has attracted the talent scouts at Bury Cricket Club, who have signed up Milinda Siriwardana as their overseas player for the coming season.
“We have been following Milinda's career with interest for a number of years, and, having tried previously to land him, once we found out he was looking to travel to the UK for the first time we jumped at the opportunity,” said Bury’s first team captain Simon Belston.
The 26-year-old all-rounder has been part of the Sri Lankan international set-up since he was 18, performing for their under-19s academy before making the step up to A team last year.
He has also carved out a reputation as a Twenty/20 specialist, recently making Sri Lanka’s provisional national squad before weighing in with some explosive performances for Ruhuna in the qualifying rounds of the IPL.
“He has competed against the likes of Dwayne Bravo and a star-studded Leicestershire team, which included England's latest hottest prospect James Taylor and Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq, so we know he can perform at a high level,” said Belston.
“Milinda is a tall, elegant left-handed batsmen who likes to dominate from the off. He is also a genuine all-rounder, bowling slow left arm orthodox, and has more than 100 first class wickets to his name.
“We always go into the season with a fair amount of optimism and if Milinda hits his straps early, who knows where we can go?”
Bury have started their winter nets training, which will continue every Monday night at Old Trafford up until the start of the Manchester and District Cricket Association Premier League season in April.
As well as the addition of Milinda, New Zealand batsman Rhys McCarthy, who is UK qualified, will also be returning.
“Rhys was a very important player for us last year, scoring some vital runs, and will be a great asset to our team.”