Dhanushka Mitipolaarachchi reveals how freak injury ended his First Class cricket dream

Gold Coast’s cricketer of the year has revealed for the time the devastating knee injury that cruelled his dream of representing Sri Lanka and delivered the all-rounder instead to Queensland.

Dhanushka Mitipolaarachchi bowling in 2020. Picture: Troy Jegers

Gold Coast cricketer of the year Dhanushka Mitipolaarachchi has revealed for the time the devastating knee injury that cruelled his dream of representing Sri Lanka in test cricket and delivered the all-rounder instead to Queensland.

The 38-year-old Southport-Labrador all-rounder has been a mainstay of Coast cricket for the past decade but had never spoken publicly of the circumstances that brought his first-class career in Sri Lanka to a premature end.

An on-field collision left Mitipolaarachchi unable to walk for four months and began a harrowing two years of re-injury and rehab that left him weighing up whether to give the game away for good.

After winning the Gold Coast’s ultimate individual honour for the first time, Mitipolaarachchi has reflected on the fight back that led him across continents to find a new home.

“It happened in a game, we had a massive collision, so one guy came straight at me and hit the inside of the knee and broke it,” Mitipolaarachchi said of the day his life changed forever.

Cricket Gold Coast 2024-25 player of the year Dhanushka Mitipolaarachchi with Cricket Gold Coast president Paul Graham and vice president Mark Middleton.

“With time it has got better. I still wear the knee guard to make sure to keep it stable.

“I did some treatment, a couple of operations but it has never got quite 100 per cent recovered.”

At the time, his first-class career in his home country of Sri Lanka had only just gotten started but as quickly as he realised his dream, it was just as soon snatched away in the blink of an eye.

“It was difficult because we didn’t have any work or anything apart from playing cricket,” he said.

“I was injured for two years, I couldn’t even walk sometimes for like three, four months.

“I did the treatment on-and-off and then tried to get back to cricket.

“I did one game and then I got injured again, it happened quite a few times and that’s when I thought finally ‘I’ll probably give it up - it’s the best option’.”

With his dream cruelly taken away from him, Mitipolaarachchi set his sights on playing on the Gold Coast to fill the void in his schedule and heart.

“I didn’t plan to play a long time, I came to Gold Coast then I got married back home and then came back here with the family and my missus wanted to continue study here in Australia so that’s how I ended up living here,” he said.

Mitipolaarachchi first signed with Burleigh before joining Broadbeach Robina when he decided to make Queensland his home.

“I was playing for Broadbeach when I moved here so that club was really supportive,” he said.

“Paul Azzopardi (Broadbeach Robina Cricket Club president) was really supportive of me until I found my feet in Australia.

“He helped me out a lot, more than a friend, more than a player.”

Between balancing cricket, raising his young family and working, Mitipolaarachchi is hopeful he has a few more years left in the tank to make one last push for a First Grade premiership.

“I’m 38 years old so hopefully I can push on another few years,” he said

“I already won a couple of premierships so (hopefully) win another couple.”