Former Sri Lankan Test captain Suranga Lakmal joins Runaway Bay Cricket Club

A local cricket club has made one of the biggest signings in Gold Coast local sporting history as they added a former Test cricket captain to their ranks for the upcoming season. Details inside

Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal celebrates after dismissing New Zealand's Trent Boult (not pictured) during the second day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on August 15, 2019. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)

Runaway Bay Cricket Club has secured one of the biggest signings in Gold Coast cricket history with former Sri Lankan Test captain Suranga Lakmal joining the club as a player-coach.

The Sri Lankan pace bowler took 288 first class wickets across 70 Tests, 86 ODIs and 11 T20 Internationals between 2009 and 2022 before recently moving to Queensland - a state he has had plenty of success previously.

Lakmal tore through the Australian batting line-up at the Gabba in 2019 with a five-wicket haul.

“It’s just beyond exciting for a small club like ours to have someone of that calibre coach and play for us,” Runaway Bay Cricket Club board member Brendon Rademakers said.

“A couple of years ago, we had Scott Muller, who had played two Tests for Australia under Steve Waugh and who had been a fantastic domestic performer.

“But when you’ve got a guy with 70 Tests and 170 Test wickets, he really is the biggest thing that’s ever happened to our club.”

Sri Lankan bowler Suranga Lakmal shows the ball after taking 5 wickets on day two of the First Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka at The Gabba in Brisbane, Friday, January 25, 2019. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

The stunning coup will send shockwaves across the Gold Coast cricket community with the 2024/25 wooden spooners finding a razor sharp edge in Lakmal.

Runaway Bay were last crowned Gold Coast champions in 1992/93.

Rademakers said when the club discovered Lakmal was living in Ipswich and coaching at the Brisbane Cricket Academy they knew he was the man they wanted to lead their program.

“Once we made the inital inroads, it was a matter of just getting him down to the club and looking at the facilities and telling him a bit about our vision moving forward,” Rademakers said.

“Luckily he really liked the place, he thought we had a great set-up for a local cricket club.

“He loved everything about it, he wants to go on his own coaching journey now he’s living in Australia, so it just ticked the boxes for everyone.

“I think one of the clinchers was we’re known as the family club, it’s on all our social media.

“For a guy who’s just moved to Australia, his English is not perfect, he’s got a young family, I think that played a lot into it as well.”

Rademakers was excited to see the impact Lakmal would have on the club both on and off the field.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys in comparison to the other clubs, so a guy of that level being instrumental in their development will be huge,” he said.
“We do have a high quality cluster of juniors coming through, he could turbo charge their development and we could be talking about long-time success at the club just from this one guy.”

Originally published as Former Sri Lankan Test captain Suranga Lakmal joins Runaway Bay Cricket Club