Naveen Gunawardana

Naveen is a baby-faced, smiling assassin from the small town of Padukka in Sri Lanka, east of Colombo. Having been schooled at Thurstan College, Colombo, Naveen represented his region at a variety of different age group levels and has gone on to represent Sebastianites Cricket & Athletic Club as well as Chilaw Marians CC more recently at the elite level. A right-handed Lower order Batsman, Naveen is not known for his batting exploits but with ball-in-hand, his Left-arm Orthodox spin bowling exploits cannot be understated at this stage of his career.

With 308 wickets @ 14.71 across all formats from U19 through to Mercantile & U23 cricket, it was a fait accompli that we would see him in professional cricket in the very near future. Come 2018, Naveen was awarded his first senior call up, for Chilaw Marians CC in the One Day Provincial Premier tournament. In 4 games, he bagged 5 wickets @ 21.40 but surprisingly, was not sighted again until early 2020.

Aged 22 and with a lot more experience under his belt, he joined Sebastianites CAC for their 2020 First Class 3-day Premier Tournament. In just 6 games, he bagged an incredible 40 wickets @ 21.72 which included two 10-wicket hauls, 11-164 against SL Army and 10-133 against KTC.

Naveen joined Mildenhall CC for their 2022 East Anglian Premier League campaign and was exceptional, bagging 53 wickets @ 18.00 with a best of 5-33 against Horsford CC.

He returned in 2023, joining Orrell Red Triangle CC in the ECB Liverpool Premier League, bagging 60 wickets @ 18.40 in another tidy return for the crafty spinner.

An attacking spinner, Naveen is seeking his a return to the UK next summer and with his pure greed for wickets in the Professional game apparent, should be a mighty handful in league Cricket once again.