It has the makings of a gag – Greeks taking on Sri Lankans in a Twenty20 match in Dandenong.
But Dandenong Cricket Club all-rounder and Greek Victoria XI captain James Nanopoulos is not about to play down his side’s chances for the Australia Day Challenge.
“There’s going to be some pretty good players running around and we’ll be out there to win.”
But it’s the scorers and scoreboard attendants Nanopoulos feels for the most. “They might have to widen the columns (on the scorebook) and, the scoreboard especially, won’t be fitting too many names on it.”
Former Sri Lanka Test and one-day international player Athula Samasekara will captain the Sri Lanka Victoria XI.
Australian Sri Lanka Cricket Federation chairman Viresh Perera expects the Greek team to come out swinging against the more favored Sri Lankan XI.
“We’re very excited, pumped up and looking forward to the day….We put these teams together to celebrate Australia Day as a way to thank Australia for what we have achieved in this country, and cricket is a tool to bring people together.”
The teams will be playing for the Kountouris Cup, named after Australia’s Test team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris. He previously worked with the Sri Lankan Test team.
A round-robin six-a-side cricket tournament with teams made up of players of Australian, Sri Lankan, Greek, Afghan and Pakistani heritage will also be played on the day.
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