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Sri Lanka

Full name Sajeewa Weerakoon

Born February 17, 1978, Galle

Current age 31 years 142 days

Major teams Sri Lanka, Burgher Recreation Club, Colts Cricket Club, Galle Cricket Club, Ruhuna, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox

Sajeewa Weerakoon
Batting and fielding averages
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s Ct St
First-class 129 156 46 1723 90 15.66 0 4 84 0
List A 86 43 20 349 53* 15.17 0 1 31 0
Twenty20 16 7 1 77 28 12.83 69 111.59 0 0 6 3 5 0
Bowling averages
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
First-class 129 24722 10625 541 7/40 19.63 2.57 45.6 31 9
List A 86 3746 2200 114 5/40 5/40 19.29 3.52 32.8 1 1 0
Twenty20 16 14 273 237 18 3/14 3/14 13.16 5.20 15.1 0 0 0
Career statistics
First-class debut 1995/96
Last First-class Basnahira South v Ruhuna at Colombo (Colts), Mar 12-15, 2009 scorecard
List A debut 1997/98
Last List A Badureliya Sports Club v Colts Cricket Club at Colombo (Colts), Feb 5, 2009 scorecard
Twenty20 debut Burgher Recreation Club v Sinhalese Sports Club at Colombo (NCC), Aug 17, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20 Ruhuna v Wayamba at Colombo (SSC), Apr 4, 2009 scorecard
Profile

The consistency with which Sajeewa Weerakoon, the left-arm spinner from Burgher RC, performed during the 2005 season for Sri Lanka A forced the hands of the selectors to finally include him in the national team to India for the three Tests ahead of established spinner Rangana Herath. Weerakoon has been knocking on the door for bigger honours for quite some time and the way he bowled this year against strong sides like South Africa A and New Zealand A confirmed the quality of his bowling. 2005 has been an outstanding year for him when he picked up 60 wickets for Sri Lanka A in seven first-class matches. His performance was one bright spark for the selectors who had been frustrated by the poor standards set by the batsmen. The consistency with which he has performed is not only consigned to the A team, but in the past three seasons he has won the best bowler award twice by topping 50 wickets in the Premier league for his club.

The former Sri Lanka captain and present A team manager, Anura Tennekoon, drew a close resemblance of Weerakoon's bowling action to another former Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Ajith de Silva. "Being quite tall Sajeewa is able to make use of his height to get that extra bit of bounce. He bowls a nagging line and length and uses the extra bounce."

Weerakoon picks the majority of his wickets by taking the ball away from the batsman towards the slips. He also bowls the arm ball for variation. So far he has proved his worth on pitches that have given him some kind of assistance. His real test comes when he bowls on flatter surfaces.
Saadi Thawfeeq (November 2005)

Latest Articles
Latest Photos

Jul 1, 2005

Sajeewa Weerakoon's profile

Sajeewa Weerakoon's profile

© Cricinfo Ltd

Jul 1, 2005

Sajeewa Weerakoon in action, Sri Lanka A v West Indies A, 2nd Test, Colombo, July 1

Sajeewa Weerakoon in action

© Cricinfo Ltd

Sep 8, 2004

Sajeewa Weerakoon

Sajeewa Weerakoon

© Cricinfo Ltd

Country Fixtures Country Results
Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (PSS)
Jul 12-16 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Colombo (SSC)
Jul 20-24 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Dambulla
Jul 30 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Dambulla
Aug 1 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Dambulla
Aug 3 (10:00 local, 04:30 GMT)
Complete fixtures »
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