Yarragon in the nets ready for season ahead

The Yarragon Cricket Club have been back in the nets, welcoming new faces and preparing for the return of summer competitions.

Two new players originally from Sri Lanka have signed up for the division 1 team and bring a wealth of experience to the club.

Mikey Athulathmudali moved to the region after playing first-class cricket in Colombo, Sri Lanka and later for Noble Park Cricket Club in Melbourne.

Living locally, Athulathmudali found the regular travel to Dandenong was becoming too difficult and decided to sign up for Yarragon for its “family-like” atmosphere.

“The leagues are pretty tough and compared with Melbourne it’s pretty similar … from my belief we’ve got good young players around, so I think it’s going to be a good competition,” he said.

Athulathmudali is a quality all-rounder and hopes to lead the clubs batting and bowling attack.

He won Noble Park’s Best and Fairest last season, where he averaged an impressive 35.36 runs with a high strike rate and took 18 wickets with his fast-medium bowling.

Kasun Chamara also joins the side as an exceptional keeper and top/middle order batsman. Last season, he made 337 runs and took 14 catches and 7 stumpings for the Parkmore Pirates.

Yarragon Cricket Club president and coach Jake Borsato said it’s fantastic to have new players on board and is encouraging everyone interested to sign up.

“Cricket is an avenue that’s extremely social so there’s a whole bunch of benefits of being able to catch up with mates and play an outside sport, which is something people have been deprived of for the last few months,” Borsato said.

While the start of the WDCA season will inevitably be delayed, it hasn’t stopped the division 1 team getting back to some hard work at training.

The Warragul and District Cricket Association’s summer season usually begins in October, but under Victorian Government restrictions it could be as late as November 5.

The state government outlined the roadmap out of restrictions, declaring community sport competitions will return when %80 of Victorians are fully vaccinated.

The coach has been stuck in Melbourne’s lockdown but said the division 1 team have high hopes this year.

“The clubs really had a strong off season, we’re quite comfortable with the squad we’ve assembled, and we’ve got some really high talent that’s going to come into the league,” Borsato said.

Borsato said despite interruptions to the cricket season, the club’s still hoping to make the most out of the cricket season.

Yarragon will be focusing on developing their junior cricketers this year and will run their Milo program for kids under 10.

“To get these young kids out and about enjoying the sun in the summer, playing cricket, playing a sport with their mates, that’s something the club really prides themselves on.

“We want the club and the league to be as strong as possible, and for that to happen we’ve got to get participation rates higher,” Borsato said.

Athulathmudali, like many at the club, hopes the cricket season will return as soon as possible.

“It’s like a stress reliever, playing cricket has always been my passion for the past 25 years I’ve been doing this,” he said.