Sport
7 August, 2025
Test cricketer to join the Cats
MORTLAKE Cricket Club will have a high profile player in its ranks in the first half of the 2025/26 season, with Sri Lankan Test off-spinner Nishan Peiris expected to line up for the Cats for as many as eight games before Christmas.
“It certainly is one out of the box to recruit a Test player,” Mortlake premier division captain Todd Lamont said.
“Nishan is friends with KalhanSineth (who joined Mortlake in season 2024/25), through that friendship we first had discussions.
“We were lucky to snaffle him up.”
Peiris, Sri Lankan Test cap number 167, made his Test debut in the second Test against New Zealand at Galle in September 2024.
His debut was memorable, taking nine wickets with hauls of 3/33 and 6/170.
The 27 year-old has subsequently gone on to play two more Tests, both against Australia in Galle earlier this year.
After three matches, he has 12 wickets at an average of 43.33, with Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head among his victims.
Peiris, who plays domestically for the Colombo Cricket Club in Sri Lanka, has a first-class record of 207 wickets at 28.64 in 55 matches, and 89 wickets at 22.69 in 64 List A one-day games.
“We’re pretty stoked to have him, he should arrive around late September,” Lamont said.
“There will definitely be a pep in our step to line up with someone of that ilk.”
Peiris will return to Sri Lanka for his professional commitments as a contracted player at Christmas time.
“We are just excited to learn from him and pick his brain.”
Mortlake finished seventh in last season’s Warrnambool and Moyne District Cricket Association premier division.
“We started training last week which is slightly later than normal, there’s plenty of enthusiasm and we think we will be better this season,” Lamont said.
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