Noble Park’s Janaka Liyanabadalge wins VSDCA Val Holten Medal

At 42, Janaka Liyanabadalge is like a fine wine, getting better with age, and he proved it by winning the VSDCA Holten Medal on Wednesday night

Evergreen all-rounder Janaka Liyanabadalge has been crowned the VSDCA Holten Medallist for 2022-23.

The Noble Park skipper was outstanding with bat and ball, finishing the home-and-away season with 539 runs and 17 wickets in 11 outings.

The averaged 53.90 with the bat, ranking ninth overall for total runs, with a high score of 117 and best bowling of 6-68 against Balwyn.

Liyanabadalge finished the season in dominant fashion scoring at least 35 in his last nine knocks and was rewarded by the umpires with votes in six of his last seven matches, including four threes.

A best-on-ground performance in the final round saw him pip Hoppers Crossing opener Simon Lambert by three votes, while Caulfield’s Daniel Forbes was a further vote back in third.

Janaka Liyanabadalge wins the 2022-23 VSDCA Holten Medal.

Janaka Liyanabadalge in action for Noble Park. Picture: Valeriu Campan

At 42, Liyanabadalge remains one of the competitions premier players and continues the Bulls recent success, joining Issy Perera and Mevan Fernando as Subbies champion.

However, he had no idea he was in the running when he walked into the MCG on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t expect this, I just came with my friends,” Liyanabadalge said.

“I think this is a life achievement for me, I don’t have any words.

“Actually when I was on stage my wife was ringing me but I couldn’t answer the phone, she was at work otherwise she would have been here with me.”

“My season was really good, last year I scored 480 runs and took 30-something wickets, but I didn’t bowl as much (this season) because I was the captain and with the bat I think I did a really good job.”

Liyanabadalge was a young star in Sri Lanka, playing in the Under-19 World Cup in 2000 and playing 157 First Class matches, scoring 8253 runs and taking 308 wickets.

However, when he couldn’t break into the international team, he moved to Australia, playing for Narre Warren in the Dandenong District before joining Noble Park in 2020-21.

Janaka Liyanabadalge in action for Noble Park. Picture: Valeriu Campan

He’s since scored 1358 runs for the Bulls at an average of 43.81 and been named in the VSDCA Team of the Year in the past two seasons.

“When I was in my 30s I was knocking on the door to play for Sri Lanka but unfortunately I was unlucky and didn’t get the chance,” he said.

“I played for Narre for five or six years but when we went down, everyone knows Issy Perera and he’s one of my good friends, and he told me to come to Noble Park.

“So I went and it was a totally different ball game and I was loving it.

“They want me to play, I’m still thinking but maybe now I’ll play another year.

“The first year I played for Noble Park I played only nine games but scored 330 runs so people told me to play another season and I scored really well so I played again.

“Now they want me to play again but let’s see what happens.”

In his first season at Hoppers Crossing, Lambert was superb opening the batting, scoring 626 runs – at 56.91 – to rank fifth overall in Subbies and snared 14 wickets and 13 catches

He topped scored with 123 against eventual premier Spotswood and also hit 90 against Endeavour Hills, 85 against Werribee and 83 against Melton.

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Forbes, meanwhile, was a consistent contributor for North-South premier Caulfield, knocking up 459 runs at an average of 51 and taking 10 wickets.

In other awards, Yarraville’s Aiden Salvado was crowned the VSDCA’s best young player with the Gale Medal after scoring 653 runs – ranked fourth overall.

Melton’s Ben Macrae, who hit a Subbies best 722 runs was named captain of the Team of the Year, named alongside Liyanabadalge, Salvado, Lambert, David Tantsis-Hall, Henry Cullen, Aaron Shellie, Nish Perera, Peter Cassidy, Dan Schuppan, Will Sist and Gayan Sirisoma.

Ormond and VSDCA great John Craig was elevated to Legend status, while Werribee’s Kirk Norton was inducted into the Hall of Fame and Kew was crowned club champion with the Ken Fewster Shield.