Welbeck is delighted to announce the signing of Sri Lankan A opening batter Sangeeth Cooray for their 2022 Notts Prem campaign.

Sri Lanka’s next Test opener?

Cooray is, quite possibly, Sri Lanka’s next Test opening bat. A gritty, and accomplished left-hander, he is one of domestic cricket’s most consistent run-churners.

His exploits for Colts, in both first-class (2,896 runs at 41.37) and List A (1,109 runs at 36.96), has culminated with Sri Lankan Board, Emerging Players, and ‘A’ inclusion in recent years.

In June 2019, he struck scores of 88 and 61 for the latter against their Indian counterparts. He was then involved with the Emerging Players Tri-Series the following month.

In March 2020, he also showed his all-round prowess, bagging the wicket of Keaton Jennings during England’s tour of Sri Lanka.

Domestic dominance

In domestic cricket, he has been a stand-out performer since his barnstorming 2016/17 summer, where he averaged 68.33 and 71.12 in first-class and List A, respectively.

He has followed up with 612 runs at 32.21 (2017/18), 931 runs at 66.50 (2018/19), and 292 runs at 26.54 (2019/20).

Cooray has a penchant for banging out big scores. In Sri Lanka’s Premier Tournament (Tier A), he has 7 hundreds, including notable scores of 189 and 200.

UK success

The run machine is clearly destined for international cricket and his selection only seems a matter of time. For now, though, Cooray will continue to churn runs at domestic level before returning to the UK in 2022, following his two-season stint with Bradford League club Morley in 2017-18.

Whilst he didn’t perhaps score the volume of runs he’s clearly capable of during his two-season stint, he still managed 632 runs at 42.18 during his second outing. He did, though, show his ability with the ball, accounting for 60 wickets at 17.53 over his two seasons with his off-spin.

Sangeeth signs with Welbeck

An incredibly talented cricketer, Cooray is now set to return to the UK in 2022 having recently signed with Welbeck for their 2022 Nottinghamshire Cricket Board Premier League campaign.