Cricket 2022: Australian batting prodigy Ashley Chandrasinghe scores maiden domestic century

Australian batting prodigy Ashley Chandrasinghe announced himself with a century on debut for Victoria.

Ashley Chandrasinghe scored a century on debut for Victoria. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty

A 20-year-old future Test star, taken under the wing of Usman Khawaja, has announced himself with a stunning Sheffield Shield century on debut for Victoria.

Prodigious talent Ashley Chandrasinghe showcased an almost lost skill amongst modern batsmen to knuckle down for 311 balls for his hundred against Tasmania in an innings that showcased his enormous potential as a future pillar of Australian batting.

Presented by coach Chris Rogers with Victoria’s 870th cap on Saturday in Hobart, Chandrasinghe conquered a raging green top against a top class Tasmanian seam attack to join West Australian Teague Wyllie as Australia’s next big thing.

The cricket world has now taken notice of the boy from Upper Beaconsfield who has come via the Northern Territory, and so has another stylish left-hander, Khawaja.

“It’s funny, I was at an ACA (Australian Cricketers’ Association) event with a whole bunch of pros and rookies, and Ussie came up to me and said ‘we’re the only brown ones here, we’ve got to stick together.’”

Ashley Chandrasinghe scored a century on debut for Victoria. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty

While people of south Asian heritage make up about 65 per cent of organised cricketers in Australia, Usman Khawaja and Ashton Agar remain Australia’s only recent male Test cricketers of subcontinental origin.

“I never really thought about my background in juniors, but coming up the pathways it was something I definitely noticed a lot more”, said Chandrasinghe.

Like Khawaja, he’s developed unique ways of keeping a level head - he doesn’t always remove his helmet, as is customary when one reaches a hundred.

“It started in Darwin actually, I was on 99 and started thinking about my celebration and how I was going to take the helmet off - I ended up getting out,”

“Now, if I feel like my mind’s starting to move away from the next ball and I’m letting in distractions, I won’t take the helmet off,”

“A hundred’s not enough, so why celebrate it?”

“If I feel like I’m in a good headspace, I’ll take it off”.

Chandrasinghe must have been in a good headspace on Sunday because he did momentarily remove his helmet to mark his incredible milestone – although it was understated just like Wyllie, who has said ‘if accountants don’t celebrate lodging tax returns why should I celebrate scoring hundreds?’

What a shot to bring up a #SheffieldShield century on debut! Unreal patience and discipline from 20yo Ashley Chandrasinghe to notch a ton on debut! @MarshGlobal | #PlayOfTheDaypic.twitter.com/KUy3i4r9Ef

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) October 30, 2022

He’s forged a reputation of devouring runs and being notoriously difficult to remove from the crease, with a compact technique that evokes memories of Michael Hussey.

“My batting coach (Owen Mottau) always said to me if you’re not at the crease, you can’t score runs,”

Chandrasinghe speaks with the introspection of a man who has had to go through the more difficult pathways to professional sport.

While most of his state peers attended big APS schools with first-class cricketing facilities and coaching at hand, Chandrasinghe attended Berwick Grammar, a school better known for its debate team than its athletes.

“Playing club cricket on Saturdays rather than school cricket really accelerated my development I think, playing with an older group at a young age”

Dropped from the Victorian state pathways at 17, Chandrasinghe was forced to look elsewhere for opportunity.

While lots of prospects move interstate, not many move to a state without a Shield side and an inverted season.

“One of dad’s family friends called and asked whether I’d come up for a weekend for a game - he said Darwin cricket was going to explode, and I’d want to be there when it did”.

Ashley Chandrasinghe showed poise beyond his years. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty

That was more than three years ago - Darwin is now a top-tier cricketing destination for players wanting to keep match practice in the southern winter, with an attractive all-year summer lifestyle on offer.

It belatedly earned him his first-grade debut for Casey-South Melbourne in 2020, and he made it worth the wait, batting almost 6 and a half hours for a classy 144.

It’s been a meteoric rise for Chandrasinghe, who peeled off a record-breaking five consecutive hundreds for Waratah in the Darwin Premier competition before another 110 for Victoria’s Second XI in September.

Despite the attention of the cricket world on him, Chandrasinghe isn’t looking too far ahead.

“I was really just aiming to crack the Shield side this year - after that it’s really just taking it a ball at a time”.