By JARROD POTTER
LOVE and support from the wider Dandenong cricket community are playing a big part in the cancer recovery of Buckley Ridges cricketer Nathan Munasinghe.
Munasinghe, 14, from Berwick, had his cricket season cut short this year as he had to change focus from battling bouncers to battling leukaemia.
Once the word got out about the young all-rounder’s health, the Dandenong District Cricket Association (DDCA) community rallied around the Munasinghe family and a Twenty20 Charity Match was quickly organised to raise funds for his treatments and towards the Leukaemia Foundation for research.
“It’s really good to see the support – it’s not just for me, it’s for the whole foundation,” Munasinghe said.
“It’s all for a good cause and I like to see that.
“It goes to the Leukaemia Foundation and also the research centre, so it supports in every way towards the hospital.”
Two months on from his initial diagnosis everything is looking promising for Munasinghe as he’s back playing cricket – peppering the opposition with his leg-spinners as well as opening the batting.
But most importantly for the Turf-3 cricketer, he has progressed well with his treatments.
“It’s been eight weeks (since the diagnosis), so I’ve been good and everything is fine now,” Munasinghe said.
“I’m getting better and that’s the main thing.”
With donations coming from all across the cricket community, players and sponsors bid enormous amounts of money to help out and play in the match on Saturday morning.
It pitted the likes of St Kilda Premier Cricket star Matt Chasemore and Springvale South skipper Craig Slocombe against former Sri Lankan great Asanka Gurusinha and Munasinghe’s father – Manjula.
Manjula Munasinghe – who played in five one-day internationals for Sri Lanka, including one at the MCG in 1996 – said the community support shown towards his family was greatly appreciated.
“It’s great, the support that we are getting from the community is excellent,” Manjula Munasinghe said.
“That’s friends there for you – we needed something and actually it is going to the foundation and it’s a great help.
“It’s only half-a-season that we’ve been involved with this cricket club, but there are some things that are meant to be.
“The community… as a family they come up and do things like that… Buckley Ridges is excellent and we’d like to thank everyone who is here today for helping us… there are a lot of people in the background helping make it happen.”
Buckley Ridges CC president Paul Rudd believed days like Saturday showed the spirit of the club as people turned out in droves to back the cause.
“Nathan, while he’s only been with us for 12 months, is a Buckley person and we support our people,” Rudd said.
“Hopefully we had a lot of people here today (Saturday) to raise a lot of money for the family and more broadly for research.”
The club estimates nearly $15,000 was raised as part of the charity day and donations can still be made to the Munasinghe family.
Contact Buckley Ridges CC president Paul Rudd on 0417 329 320 for more information or donations can be made directly to the Buckley Ridges Cricket Club’s bank account, BSB: 814282, Account Number: 10429929 and description: Nathan.
