Visa clearance delays Lankan Test captain’s county ambitions

Dimuth Karunaratne

• Dimuth contracted by Yorkshire for 2022 season

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

One of the few ambitions that Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne wants to fulfil is playing for an English county.

Last year he tried his best to realise that aspiration by representing Nottinghamshire, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the health protocols that he had to undergo travelling to the UK he ran short of time to represent the county.

Another opportunity has come his way for 2022 to play for another English county Yorkshire, and the start of that journey is not without any glitches.

Karunaratne was due to fly to the UK before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year to represent Yorkshire in their opening match of the season on 14 April but a delay in the issue of the visa has pushed back his departure.

“There was a slight delay in obtaining the NOC (No Objection Certificate) from Sri Lanka Cricket that is why I was late in applying for the UK visa. Yorkshire has indicated to me that the visa is okay but because of the New Year holidays the UK embassy is closed. I am expecting to receive the visa by Monday morning and if all works out well, I will be flying on Monday afternoon,” said Karunaratne.

By the visa delay Karunaratne will be missing only one of Yorkshire’s four county matches before he has to return home to lead his country on the tour of Bangladesh from 8-28 May for the two-Test series. Karunaratne will remain in Sri Lanka to prepare for the two Tests against Australia in July which will be followed by a further two Tests against Pakistan in August. After July, Yorkshire do not have any county matches till September as they will be playing in the county one-day competitions.

“Yorkshire commenced their season on 14 April (against Gloucestershire at Bristol). I have three weeks with Yorkshire to play three county matches on 21 (v Northamptonshire at Northampton), 28 April (v Kent at Leeds) and 5 May (v Essex at Chelmsford) before the Bangladesh Test series. I hope to return in September and play a further four county matches before the season ends,” said Karunaratne.

Yorkshire’s last four games are against Lancashire (Roses match) at Old Trafford (5-8 September), v Essex at Leeds (12-15 September), v Surrey at the Oval (20-23 September), and v Gloucestershire at Leeds (26-29 September).  

“Moneywise it is nothing big, but my passion to play county cricket is why I am going,” said 33-year-old Karunaratne who is considered as one of the best Test openers in the world.

“Most of our players have improved playing county cricket. I can improve my cricket by another 10-15 percent. We dominate a lot in home conditions but in English conditions our performances are not as good. If I can learn from playing county cricket I can share that experience with my team members. At the same time I want to improve my skill, that is why I am playing county cricket,” he said. Karunaratne disclosed that the offer to play for Yorkshire came from Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler who is the coordinator of Yorkshire cricket. “He is the one who asked me whether I was keen to play for Yorkshire for the first half of the season. I will be able to extend my contract next year as well. Yorkshire has indicated that they are prepared to go a long journey with me.”