By Srian Obeyesekere

Twenty-four-year-old Sri Lanka Women’s Team and Sri Lanka Navy SC batter Harshitha Samarawickrama, who was adjudged ‘Best Batswoman’ in the recently concluded Sri Lanka Cricket Women’s Invitational Tournament, has proved to be a cog in the wheel in the meteoric rise of Sri Lanka’s Women’s Team in the international firmament.

It is noteworthy that Harshitha made the Sri Lanka team while still a schoolgirl at Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda which she joined from Gothami Balika Vidyalaya to further her cricketing career.

A significant feature is that the lass was quick to make the mark in schools’ cricket to becoming the top batter in the game at that level. It was her spot-on approach as a batter that saw Harshika spotted by the national selectors to represent her country as a teenager.

For the record Harshitha aggregated 209 runs in five encounters of the concluded 2023 tournament with a highest score of a superb 126.

Indeed, Harshitha has proved to be a tremendous find in the country’s women’s cricket beginning to make its mark from small beginnings braving the handicap of a dearth of women’s cricketers unlike the men’s cricket where schoolgirls were not into the game and school cricket really began to pick up following a concentrated drive by Sri Lanka Cricket about seven years ago in a grassroots drive to developing talent for the big stage.