Siriwardene Begins Full-Time Coaching at Plenty Valley

New Delhi, October 28: Former Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene, who represented her country for nearly two decades, is now channelling her experience into coaching. She has taken charge of young players at Plenty Valley Cricket Club in Victoria and has officially started her career as a full-time coach.

Having moved from international cricket to coaching, Siriwardene is now based in Melbourne's northern suburbs. Her focus is on developing the next crop of women cricketers. While she has previously combined playing with leadership and coaching roles, the 2026-27 season is the first in her career devoted solely to coaching.

Describing her role, Siriwardene said, "I am the coach of the women's teams at Plenty Valley Cricket Club in Victoria. This is my first year as a full-time coach. Last year I was captain-coach, so this is the first season I am not playing."

Her career statistics stand out in Sri Lankan women's cricket. She is the only player from her country to have crossed 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in women's One Day Internationals. She retired from the format with 2,029 runs and 124 wickets.

Siriwardene's international career began in 2003, when women's cricket in Sri Lanka operated outside the direct control of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board. Over the years, she has witnessed the sport grow into a more organised and professional setup. She recalled that when she began, there were about six clubs with an estimated 200 to 400 players. Newer structures now support the game and help retired players remain connected to it in different ways.

Her final international match was the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Melbourne. After retiring, she did not step away from cricket. She obtained her Level 2 coaching qualification and gained hands-on experience with the Sri Lanka Under-19 women's team before the first Under-19 Women's World Cup.

Seeking to expand her knowledge, she moved to Australia to further her coaching journey. There, she joined Wynnum-Manly Cricket Club in Brisbane as a player and assistant coach. This allowed her to understand Australia's club cricket structure and build her reputation as a coach.

She said her approach was to learn the environment from scratch, which meant experiencing cricket as a player in Australia. "I enjoyed it a lot. I realised cricket is still alive in me. Leaving my family in Sri Lanka was hard, but cricket helped a lot. The game here is very competitive and really enjoyable."

In 2024, while still in Australia, she joined Box Hill Cricket Club in Melbourne. A year later, she was appointed captain-coach at Plenty Valley. For the current season, she has stopped playing to concentrate fully on coaching. At Plenty Valley, she is balancing competitive ambitions with the long-term development of young cricketers.

She stressed that development matters as much as results. "We have many young players in our club, so my focus is on their growth along with results. We want to play to win, but preparing our young players and building a strong culture for them is also our goal."

Her move into coaching also reflects a larger trend in women's cricket, where former international players are taking on roles that allow them to keep contributing to the game. Shelley Nitschke of Australia and Charlotte Edwards of England are leading their national sides, and former England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor has started coaching in men's cricket.