Champaka Ramanayake


Champaka Priyadarshana Hewage Ramanayake, or Champaka Ramanayake, is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who played in 18 Test matches and 62 One Day Internationals from 1986 to 1995.
Champaka is a highly experienced and respected international cricket coach. He worked as the national fast bowling coach for Sri Lanka Cricket board for 15 years and Bangladesh Cricket Board for two years. Champaka's proudest and highest achievement is discovering Lasith Malinga at the age of 16 and guiding and coaching him to be the best fast bowler Sri Lanka ever produced and one of the best in the world.
He is the current high performance fast bowling coach of the Bangladesh national side.

Early life

Champaka was born at Galle and had his education at Richmond College.

Trivia

Champaka remains the only person to have bowled in international cricket at Ray Mitchell Oval, in Mackay, Australia. The venue hosted its only international match during the 1992 Cricket World Cup, and the match was washed out after his first two deliveries.