Gamini Wickremasinghe was a victim of the selectors whims. A solid performer behind the wickets and a determined lower-order batsman, he was never given a chance to establish a permanent position within the national team. Ironically the selectors preferred his Nondescripts team-mate Hashan Tillekeratne as the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper despite the fact that at club level Wickremasinghe held the position while Tillekeratne played as a specialist batsman. Wickremasinghe made his Test debut against Australia at the Gabba on the 1989-90 tour taking three catches behind the wicket and scoring two runs. Injury forced him to miss the second test at Hobart and Tillekeratne took over the position giving an impressive display. From that point on Wickremasinghe was cast into the background as the selectors preferred Tillekeratne due to his pedigree as a batsman at domestic level. Wickremasinghe continued to be a steady, capable performer at domestic level and earned a recall against New Zealand in 1992-93. Sri Lanka won the series and Wickremasinghe gave an assured display behind the wickets dealing with the spin of Muralitharan, Warnaweera and Anurasiri with style. However, the selectors in their wisdom not for the first time chose to plump for the player with superior batting skills. For the next few years a number of candidates were tried without much success while Wickremasinghe continued to perform reliably at domestic level. Given the chance he could have made the position his own.
Johann P Jayasekera