Could Australia's community cricket environ get to host the biggest superstars of the world this year? (Twitter/MulgraveCC) A community cricket club in Melbourne — Mulgrave Cricket Club, who play in Melbourne’s Eastern Cricket Association (ECA), a third-tier competition — has claimed it is in talks with international stars Chris Gayle, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers to appear in suburban T20 matches this summer.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, who lives in Melbourne’s east following his retirement from international cricket, played six matches for Mulgrave last year, scoring 132 runs in the ECA’s T20 Cup as Mulgrave were beaten in the final.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Upul Tharanga would also join the Mulgrave CC team this year, while Sanath Jayasuriya would be serving as coach.
Mulgrave president Malin Pullenayegam said on the 1116Sen podcast earlier this week: “We wanted to show the local cricketing community we can get stars like Dilshan, Tharanga and Jayasuriya.”
“With Dilshan’s involvement and the backing of some good sponsors, we are on a recruitment drive. We are having discussions with AB de Villiers, Brian Lara and Yuvraj Singh, and though they are to be confirmed, these are the potential signings,” he said.
A social media teaser post by Mulgrave CC that has set the club cricket world alight (Facebook/MulgraveCC)
Dilshan, the captain of the ‘Sri Lanka Legends’ team at the Road Safety World Series tournament, had convinced Tharanga and Jayasuriya to join Mulgrave. As it would seem from the latest reports, Dilshan’s scouting spanned more than just the Sri Lanka Legends team at that tournament.
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