Sport
16 January, 2023
Big-name recruit Damith Perera making an impact at Laane with professionalism
New Laanecoorie Dunolly recruit Damith Perera, hailing from Sri Lanka, has yet to turn 26 years old. But one look at his cricketing journey could already make you assume he is a veteran of the game. The left-handed wicketkeeper/ batsman is adding...
New Laanecoorie Dunolly recruit Damith Perera, hailing from Sri Lanka, has yet to turn 26 years old. But one look at his cricketing journey could already make you assume he is a veteran of the game.
The left-handed wicketkeeper/ batsman is adding a stint in Australia to his burgeoning cricket career, which has seen him play at a high level in Sri Lankan cricket for Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, which is located in the heart of commercial capital Colombo, and famous for being the local club of Sri Lankan cricket greats Muttiah Muralitharan and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
However, Perera has also travelled the world to play cricket, taking in stints in the United Kingdom, playing for Farnworth Social Circle in the Bolton League, while also playing for Ballyspallen in Northern Ireland in 2021.
The opportunity to come to Australia to play with Maryborough District Cricket Association powerhouse Laanecoorie Dunolly was one that was too good to ignore when the club came knocking, adding to the team’s stocks.
“I was playing in Sri Lanka with the Tamil Union Cricket Club, and after that, I had an offer to come to Australia. I thought it was a good opportunity for me — the cricket is good in Australia,” Perera said.
Perera was able to make an instant impact in Laane’s victory over Maryborough over the last two weeks as he made his debut for the team. Immediately, he looked relatively comfortable as he came out to bat on day one, scoring 21 runs at a brisk pace which is consistent with his first class career — one which has seen him make 2314 runs at an average of 42 in 34 matches, at a strike rate of 67.
Being able to put together high scores in cricket as a wicketkeeper/ batsman has been in vogue over the last 25 years, with the likes of Australian champion Adam Gilchrist, Sri Lankan superstar Kumar Sangakkara, India’s M.S Dhoni and South African Mark Boucher all revolutionising the game with their ability to counterpunch in either the middle order or the top order with the bat, on top of their ability with the gloves, paving the way for wicketkeepers to now have a requirement to provide strong resistance before the tail comes out to bat, while also having the ability to score quickly.
Nevertheless, Perera’s role at Laane will be much greater than whatever he might do with the bat — instead, it’s how he’ll work together with James Shorney behind the stumps.
Already, the duo have made an impact in their work together. In Saturday’s victory, both Shorney and Perera were able to keep at different times to keep one another fresh in the hot, oppressive conditions.
Perera has already found respect for Shorney’s ability.
“In Sri Lanka, I normally play as a wicketkeeper. Here, I’ve been able to work with James Shorney — he’s a really good keeper. After the tea break, I took over as keeper and it was good to do so,” he said.
Laane captain Matt Smith gave an insight into how Perera and Shorney have been working on their game at training since the former’s arrival.
“At training, Damith and James have been doing a lot of training together, and they pair up together and work on their keeping skills — going up to the stumps for the off-spinners, and working on staying low to the ground. It’s good to have James as well to have someone like Damith, who is a first-class keeper, working with him to continue to improve his own game as well,” he said.
“Damith got a start with the bat last week. He was a bit disappointed that he hit a half-tracker to a man on the fence to get caught, he probably felt it should have been hit on the grandstand like he managed earlier. He was very nervous given it was his first game in Australia, but he’ll be better off for the run. He looked better at training, having now been here for an extra week, and he’s a first-class keeper in Sri Lanka, so he’s very good behind the stumps. So to have that support, and be able to teach Jimmy behind the stumps at training, they kept 70 overs on Saturday and didn’t let one bye through. I thought it was fantastic.”
Perera wasn’t too keen to talk about his own achievements, instead paying tribute to Smith, who has helped him settle in, as well as the performance of Benjamin Gunn, who helped secure the win over the Owls with a five-wicket haul.
“Ben Gunn and Matt Smith were both good with the bat and ball. I enjoy playing with them and it was a good win,” he said.
“My teammates have been really good to me, Matt has been fantastic. Everybody has treated me well since I arrived.”
Smith said that he was lucky to be able to have Perera in the team after another recruit was forced to cancel at the last minute due to family commitments.
“We had an Indian player lined up, but unfortunately, his mother became really ill and pulled the pin. Fortunately, Damith was still available and fitted in with the timing of his cricket in Sri Lanka finishing up. Then he was able to get over here to play enough games before finals. So the opportunity arose — as they say, one window closes and another one opens,” he said.
Reflecting on Perera’s potential, on top of Indian recruit Samit Gohil’s form with bat and ball this season, Smith said that the professionalism of both of them looks set to rub off on their teammates for years to come.
“We’re lucky to have these two. Samit is a classy batsman who added to his season with 49 last week, and he is a quality character who bats well and his bowling was fantastic. He just built so much pressure with Gunn on Saturday, putting pressure on the run rate and other people reaped the rewards of such tight bowling,” he said.
“Samit and Damith are professional cricketers who set standards and lead the way at training and on game day. People take notice of what they are doing and it helps with their cricket. They are fierce competitors too, and they are team-first people as well — it’s about winning games of cricket and how they contribute to that.
“It showed in our fielding on Saturday. Apart from one catch that we probably should have taken, we fielded really well all around the ground. We knew that we wanted to get as many overs in as we could before tea, as we knew that once it came, the heat picks up a little more and you start to tire. So everything we put in came off.”