Great Harwood will see the return of their hard-hitting Sri Lankan professional, Thikshila de Silva next summer.

The international all-rounder enjoyed a tremendous maiden Lancashire League stint, hitting 838 runs at 36.40  alongside 51 wickets at 16.71 to finish as one of the divisions leading professionals.

T20 specialist

The strongly-built batting all-rounder is regarded as one of the most explosive (and biggest six-hitting) batsmen in Sri Lankan domestic cricket. The T20 specialist stormed last summers (2018/19) MCA Premier T20 League belting 256 runs at 64, to finish top of the tournament run charts.

His four innings produced scores of 56 from 26 balls, 66 (33), 71 (36) and 63 (19), all with a strike-rate of 224.56. In final, against Mas Unichela, his 19-ball 63 included 7 of his tournament’s 20 sixes, evidencing his striking ability. The dashing stroke-maker, who also bowls genuine seam-up, has re-announced himself and is eager to return to the National fold, after making 3 T20 international appearances in January 2017.

Explosive

Thikshila’s journey

De Silva’s cricketing journey started at Devapathiraja College (Raggama), then Mahinda College in Galle. He represented Moors Sports Club Under-23s in 2013/14, before moving to Galle Cricket Club the same season. De Silva, though, has since moved clubs to Chilaw Marians in 2014/15, with whom he made his first-class debut.

He enjoyed a magnificent debut season averaging 25.71 and 19.80 with bat and ball respectively. His explosive power had already generated national interest and, following his incredible Under-23 (Division 1) T20 tournament in 2016, where he smashed 243 runs at 48.60 with a strike-rate of 238.23, he was swiftly included in the Sri Lankan T20 squad for the South African series.

De Silva though, is a genuine all-rounder who bowls swiftly with the ability to shape the ball, ideal for T20 cricket. He continues to learn his trade for Chilaw Marians, alongside fellow Sri Lankan internationals Isuru Udana, Asitha Fernando and Mahela Udawatte.

Thikshila batting during the CricX v Taibu match this summer.

Eager to impress, the hard-hitting Sri Lankan all-rounder headed to England last summer and did just that. He also starred during the CricX v Tatenda Taibu T20 matches at Formby in July and is now set to return to Great Harwood again for the 2020 season.