Westmeadows bolsters line-up ahead of maiden Senior Division campaign
VTCA Senior Division newcomers Westmeadows have snared a former Sri Lanka first class all-rounder ahead of its debut campaign in the turf association’s top flight.
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Westmeadows has bolstered its line-up ahead of a maiden VTCA Senior Division campaign with a former Sri Lanka First Class star.
Malith Cooray will join the Warriors from beaten Division 1 West grand finalists Glenroy for 2020-21, adding class with bat and ball.
The all-rounder scored 370 runs last season, fifth most in the competition, and claimed 19 wickets, good enough for equal 12th overall.
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Cooray joins an already strong core with captain-coach Tarek Moughanie, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Danny Law, Dean Pitts and Jackson Smith all impressing as the club won promotion to the top flight.
Moughanie said it would be a nice headache to have trying to slot Cooray in.
“We got onto him pretty quickly, we started speaking to him the week after the grand final,” he said.
“We looked at him and thought this guy is a very good player and playing in a better team with less pressure he can play with more freedom.
“He’s a First Class cricketer in Sri Lanka, so he’s a quality player and we’re excited to get him on board.
“The biggest challenge at the moment is figuring out where we’ll bat him.”
Cooray played just one season at Glenroy having crossed from Division 2 club Altona Roosters, where he made 488 runs and took 23 wickets in 2018-19.
The Warriors are looking forward to the challenge in Senior Division.
The club has plans in place to begin training as soon as government restrictions are eased.
Moughanie said the club had been training on the centre wicket last season and would look to continue that practice as part of return-to-training protocols.
The experienced batsman believes the competition will be limited to one-dayers only this season.
“It looks like we’ll play one-dayers only, given the limited number of weeks.
“I think we’re looking at mid to late November so we’ll probably lose six or seven weeks and give us 13 weeks.
“Once we’re able to we should be able to a wicket up quite quickly, in a week or two, given footy hasn’t been played.
“Wickets should be a bit harder and faster this year and we’ll leave a bit more grass on it to give something for the batters and bowlers.”