Cricket Victoria appoint Dulip Samaraweera as Women’s Head Coach

Cricket Victoria is pleased to announce the appointment of Dulip Samaraweera as the new Head Coach of the Victorian women’s team.  

 Samaraweera, who has been acting in the Head Coach position, will lead Cricket Victoria’s women’s team for the next two seasons. 

 Cricket Victoria General Manager of Cricket Performance Graham Manou welcomed the permanent appointment. 

 “I’d like to congratulate Dulip on being appointed to the Head Coach position. Dulip has been part of our program for many years now and took over as interim head coach in the latter stages of 2023,” Manou said. 

 “While acting in the role, Dulip has proven the quality of his relationships and coaching experience. That combination has started to deliver results already, on and off the field.  

 Samaraweera is a former Test and One-Day International player for Sri Lanka and grew up playing for Colts Cricket Club in Colombo.  

 Cricket Victoria Head of Female Cricket Sharelle McMahon said: 

 “Dulip has already made such a positive impact on our cricket performance team, so to promote someone internally to lead our women’s squad is very exciting and something Cricket Victoria is immensely proud of.” 

 Samaraweera initially joined Cricket Victoria as a specialist batting coach in 2008, before being named as interim-Head Coach in November last year.  

 Samaraweera was thrilled for the opportunity to lead a talented Victorian squad he believed was well-positioned to achieve success next season.  

 “I’m very grateful for this opportunity to lead a really special group of dedicated and determined athletes during such a promising time for women’s cricket in Victoria,” said Samaraweera. 

 “We have the world’s best players representing Victoria and it’s such an exciting environment to be a part of. It’s not often you get an opportunity to guide a group with this level of talent and I’m looking forward to what we can achieve together.” 

 “As we build towards next season, there’s a lot to be excited about. We’ve got some good players coming through Premier Cricket and our pathway systems which helps to build out depth in our talent pipeline,” Samaraweera added. 

 Cricket Victoria will now recruit an Assistant Coach – Batting for the women’s program. 

 Samaraweera commences in the role immediately.