I STARTED playing cricket when I was eight years old, at home in Sri Lanka.

There is a schools system there so if you play for your school you’ll be involved in a lot of tournaments from Under 13 to Under 19 and there are opportunities to progress if you do well.

I went on to play for Sri Lanka Under 19s after that and continued to play cricket in clubs.

I’ve been playing club cricket, as a batting all-rounder, for four years now, and if you do well at home that’s when you get the chance to be able to come to the UK.

That’s how I got here.

It has been good for my development as a player because if you play in Sri Lanka you are used to it there. Here there are different conditions, the weather is different, the wickets are slightly different.

Cricket is a situation game, so if you can adapt to different situations and do well you can be successful.

You can get used to the conditions here.

Personally, I like four-day and five-day cricket, but in the Lancashire League you have the best of both the long, 50-over, and short formats.

T20 is good for the younger ones who are trying to come through into the first team, and you can have some fun with it too.

It’s a big step for me though because there is a lot of responsibility as a professional. I can tell you it isn’t easy.

But it helps a lot with your development - as a player and a person - because in Sri Lanka you have everyone to help you. Here you have to do it on your own.

I’m 22 but I take it as a challenge. If you can take the challenge that’s how you progress and it’s what you have to do to improve.

But the people at Accrington have been really good to me. They have looked after me well and if I need something I just tell them and they try to help me, so it’s been really good.

The league is a really good standard too. It is really high.

One of my favourite games was at Burnley because they had good, bouncy wickets when we played them earlier in the season.

Their young bowler, Cole Hayman, really impressed me too.

We have a really good young side at Accrington. We had a really good start to the season, then dipped, but came back again.

It’s been an exciting time to be involved in the league this year.