Sri Lankan Subasinghe apppointed Windies Academy Head Coach
Former Sri Lankan first class cricketer, Ramesh Subasinghe has been appointed as the new Head Coach of West Indies Men’s Academy, a role he will officially take over from May 1. A former alumni of St. Peter’s College, Subasinghe turned out for Air Force and Kurunegala Youth Sports Club, before switching to Nondescripts Cricket Club, where he functioned as a right-arm fast bowler and a left hand batter.
His best figures in bowling, 6 for 73, came against Tamil Union among the tally of 28 wickets in his brief first class appearance, which was cut short after a series of injuries in 2013. Subasinghe then switched to coaching, with bowling coming in as his core area.
After moving to New Zealand Subasingeh was appointed Head Coach of Hawke Cup District, Horowhenua-Kapiti Cricket Association, and he played and coached the multiple trophy winning Paraparaumu Cricket Club from 2016 to 2018. He has also worked at Northern Districts Cricket Association as a development officer and a performance coach in New Zealand.
Subasinghe appeared in Strongbow’s ‘Earn It’ campaign in 2013 for a club cricketer to face an over from James Anderson where he bowled and was a selector. He was awarded Cricket Development Officer of the year award at New Zealand Cricket annual cricket awards in 2021. A Level 3 coach, in June 2021 he was appointed to Performance coaching staff at Otago Cricket Association before taking up his latest appointment at Cricket West Indies.
Besides his qualifications, Subasinghe has exhibited significant expertise in critical areas including developing and implementing high-performance systems, technical remediations and sports bio-mechanics, team and individual holistic skills development, injury prevention and bowling loads management.
He was among 53 applicants, from which Cricket West Indies pruned down to 12 and six after a series of interviews. Eventually, Subasinghe was favoured for the position from other candidates, who hailed from Guyana, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for me to contribute to the organisation’s new strategic vision and build on their existing High Performance Programmes, working with their best young cricketers. I look forward to collaborating with the exciting natural talent and the passionate cricketing communities in the West Indies,” stated Subasinghe, who will be based fulltime at the CWI Headquarters at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.