Cricinfo - Players and Officials - Kaushal Lokuarachchi

Full name Kaushal Samaraweera Lokuarachchi
Born May 20, 1982, Colombo
Current age 26 years 59 days
Major teams Sri Lanka, Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, Sinhalese Sports Club, Sri Lanka A, Wayamba
Nickname Loku
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Education St. Peter's College

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

Tests

28*

23.50

162

58.02

ODIs

210

14.00

262

80.15

First-class

111

2620

101*

26.20

List A

1208

77*

20.82

Twenty20

14.66

133.33

Bowling averages

Mat

Inns

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

Tests

594

295

2/47

2/78

59.00

2.97

118.8

ODIs

1011

725

4/44

23.38

4.30

32.6

First-class

12389

5379

232

7/17

23.18

2.60

53.4

List A

4421

3142

141

5/27

22.28

4.26

31.3

Twenty20

163

154

3/16

11.84

5.66

12.5

Career statistics

Test debut

Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Colombo (PSS), Apr 25-29, 2003 scorecard

Last Test

Sri Lanka v Australia at Kandy, Mar 16-20, 2004 scorecard

Test statistics

ODI debut

Kenya v Sri Lanka at Sharjah, Apr 6, 2003 scorecard

Last ODI

Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Oct 13, 2007 scorecard

ODI statistics

First-class debut

2000/01

Last First-class

Sinhalese Sports Club v Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club at Colombo (SSC), Mar 20-22, 2008 scorecard

List A debut

2001/02

Last List A

Kandurata v Wayamba at Colombo (SSC), Jan 13, 2008 scorecard

Twenty20 debut

Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club v Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club at Colombo (RPS), Sep 2, 2004 scorecard

Last Twenty20

Sinhalese Sports Club v Sri Lanka Army at Colombo (CCC), Mar 2, 2007 scorecard

Loukaracchchi is unfortunate that he belongs to an era where there are two other right-arm legspinners are also vying for a berth in the national team. The presence of Upul Chandana and Malinga Bandara meant that 'Loku', as he is referred to by team-mates, have no place in the national team which also has the inimitable offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

It seems Loku has somewhat decided that his best chance to play in the national team is in the shorter version of the game. He says he loves to play one-day cricket and his style of bowling and batting is most suited to it. "It is difficult to play one-day cricket than Test cricket because the intensity is great. I love the challenge," Loku said.

He believes as a legspinner he has a lot to learn, but admits gaining experience each time he plays for his country. He is also a useful batsman down the order with two first-class centuries and a batting average of 27.

He tarnished his cricket career in August 2003 when he was involved in a fatal late-night car crash which resulted in him being banned on disciplinary grounds for four months. Loku has put that bad experience behind him and concentrated on trying to win back his place in the national side.

He had an outstanding career at St. Peter's College where he won the best bowler's prize and was also voted Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year. Loku then joined Bloomfield in 1999 and represented them till last season when he changed clubs and went to SSC where he took 14 wickets in the Premier league semi-final against Colts and followed it up with a century which is the best performance of his career so far.

Has benefited from attending Sri Lanka Spin Academy headed by former Sri Lanka offspinner Ruwan Kalpage and from coaching received from Sri Lanka A-team coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Sa'adi Tawfeeq July 2007

Oct 13, 2007

Ravi Bopara successfully appeals for the wicket of Kaushal Lokuarachchi © AFP

Oct 10, 2007

Ian Bell falls to Kaushal Lokuarachchi for 25 © AFP

Jun 21, 2007

Kaushal Lokuarachchi bowls his legbreaks against Bangladesh © AFP

View the full list of 9 related images