Lakmal begins his County stint tomorrow at Lord’s  

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Suranga Lakmal will be in action in County Cricket tomorrow (Thursday) when Derbyshire take on Middlesex at the Home of Cricket. Altogether eight County games will start on Thursday and Derbyshire under new coach Mickey Arthur will be pinning their hopes on the ex Sri Lanka fast bowler.

Lakmal retired from Test cricket following the recent Bangalore Test against India and travelled to London last week ahead of his county assignment.

Arthur who was coach of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2021 December, convinced East Midlands County to sign up Lakmal.

“Suranga has fitted in incredibly well and has bowled at the nets today ahead of our first game at Lord’s on Thursday. The boys love him and we are so happy he is with us,” Arthur told The Island.

The 35-year-old Lakmal is a farmer’s son from rural Suriyawewa and represented Sri Lanka for 13 years in an unblemished career.

Lakmal was appointed Sri Lanka’s Test captain during the tour of West Indies in 2018 and created history by becoming the only Asian captain to win a Test match in Barbados.

Lakmal is the nation’s second most successful fast bowler behind Chaminda Vaas. His 171 wickets in Test cricket is the fourth-highest by a Sri Lankan.

Lakmal will not be the only Sri Lankan playing County Cricket this season. Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne is waiting for his British visa and he will be representing Yorkshire. Karunaratne will become the first Sri Lankan to play for Yorkshire and unlike Lakmal, he will not be available for the full season due to international commitments. Test series against Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan will coincide with the English summer and Karunaratne will be available only for a handful of County games.