Tall, slim and slippery, Dushmantha Chameera arrived at NCC in 2012, and was quickly marked out as a bowler for the future. First among his virtues is pace, generated from a slightly round-arm action that sacrifices movement. Capable of consistently hitting speeds of over 140 kph, coaches believe he had become the quickest bowler in the country by 23. He had played only a handful of games in his first two seasons, but came into his own in NCC’s 2013-14 championship run, claiming 32 first-class cricket at 21.18.

Chameera’s earned a place in Sri Lanka’s Test squad to New Zealand at the end of 2014, but did not play a Test, despite a strong showing in the tour match. He was a late entry into the ODI squad for the same tour, and made his international debut in Wellington, and claimed the wicket of Ross Taylor with a 146kph delivery in his first over.