CRICKET.com.au – Shashikala Siriwardene’s cricketing career took her across the globe, from a debut in the West Indies all the way to her final game in Melbourne 17 years later.
In a strange way, it is fitting that the former Sri Lankan captain’s head coaching career began only 55 kilometres from where her international playing career ended.
“I’m at Plenty Valley Cricket Club in Victoria as the coach of the women’s teams”, Siriwardene told cricket.com.au.
“It is my first year purely as a coach. I was a captain-coach last year so this is my first season not playing.”
The only Sri Lankan cricketer to pass 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in women’s ODI cricket (she hit 2,029 runs and took 124 wickets in the format), Siriwardene’s arrival in Australia’s club cricket scene came three years after her final game for Sri Lanka at the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
“After I retired, I started doing my Level 2 coaching and wanted to get more involved. I was able to work with the Under 19 Sri Lankan team before the inaugural Under 19 Women’s World Cup and really enjoyed it,” she said.
“I wanted to keep growing my experience, so I moved to Australia to learn more as I was forming my coaching career.”
Wynnum-Manly in Brisbane was her first club, where she signed on as player and an assistant coach.
“When I moved here, I thought that because it is a new atmosphere, I should experience it from the ground up, so that meant experiencing cricket in Australia as a player,” Siriwardene said.
“I really enjoyed it. I realised that I still have cricket in me. It was tough moving to a new country with a lot of my family back in Sri Lanka but the cricket helped a lot, it was competitive and very enjoyable.”
She would move to Box Hill Cricket Club in Melbourne in 2024 before crossing to Plenty Valley in 2025 as captain-coach before solely focusing on her coaching position for the 2026-27 summer.
“We have a lot of young players at our club, so for me it has been focusing on development, but also on results,” she said.
“We are wanting to play to win but also develop our young players and really create a strong culture for these girls.”
Siriwardene’s experience is extensive, having made her debut more than 23 years ago in 2003 when women’s cricket in Sri Lanka was not under the control of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.
She has seen women’s cricket evolve both in her own country and across the world into a full-time profession.
“When I started, there were like six clubs, maybe 200 to 400 players involved,” she said.
“Since then, we have seen a lot of growth, with new structures and systems in place to keep cricket growing and even keeping retired players within the game through different avenues.”
Cricket is continuing to see an influx of women’s coaches around the world. Shelley Nitschke (Australia) and Charlotte Edwards (England) both are head coaches of their respective countries, while former wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor is the fielding and wicketkeeping coach for the England men’s team.
“There are huge opportunities now for past players to stay in the game, whether it be through coaching or other paths,” Siriwardene said.
“It’s very important for us to give back to the game. We have been playing for generations and need to continue to grow women’s cricket and teach the younger players coming through.
“If even one young girl can learn from us and it helps them, then that makes it important, no matter the level. We need to give back what we gain from cricket.”
With her coaching career in its infancy, Siriwardene is making sure that she is enjoying every moment as she keeps an eye on future opportunities at the top level.
“I love coaching, love helping our players and seeing them improve. It gives me a lot of satisfaction,” she said.
“I want to keep coaching for as long as I can, no matter what level. I would eventually love to coach at the state level in Australia, or even coach Sri Lanka one day.
“But right now, I’m still learning, I’ll never stop learning, but I am really enjoying myself and happy to just be involved in the game.”