The Lankan Premier League came calling for all-rounder Fernando who was originally signed for the 2020 season, only for the pandemic to cause the deal to break down.

In his place comes Wijesuriyaarachchi who is quite the prospect making waves in Sri Lankan domestic cricket.

“We can’t pronounced his surname yet,” Earby secretary Lee Parkinson chuckled. “We’ve been told it is ‘Wjie’ so that is what he will be christened as when he comes over here.”

The schoolboy prodigy enjoyed a barnstorming 2019/20 Premier Tournament, hitting 383 runs at 47.87.

When starring for Sinhalese Sports Club, he played alongside internationals Sandun Weerakkody, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dasun Shanaka, Sachithra Senanayake, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, and Dhanushka Gunathilleke.

A gifted wicket-keeper batsman, Wije has started to convert the promise that saw him represent Sri Lanka under-19s on 18 occasions, including at the ICC World Cup in New Zealand (January 2018).

Wijesuriyaarachchi dominated the under-19 Division One run charts, hitting six centuries, including a double (253) amongst 2,398 runs at 36.33.

Wije has a reputation as an explosive top-order batsman – during the tournament, he also struck 55 sixes.

He took the step up to the Emerging and under-23 Tournaments, and the trend continued, hitting two further centuries amongst 385 runs in the latter during the 2016/17 season.

Wije then broke into the Sri Lankan under-19 set-up and was selected to make his Sinhalese first-class debut in February 2017.

A promising Premier tournament (Tier A) in 2018/19, scoring 401 runs at 33.41, was then followed by his 383 runs at 47.87 last summer.

Wije has announced himself on the domestic stage and is now eager to press for national inclusion in future.

For now, though, the talented player is keen to churn runs for Sinhalese this summer before embarking on his maiden UK stint.

Parkinson added: “He has the same agent that we signed Nuwandu from. We liaised with the agent and he said there is some prospects on the website.

“Gary Martindale, our treasurer, does all the homework for us so he sent over some details and we decided between us and the captains that he would be a good option for us to go for.

“He is a wicketkeeper/batter. He has not come as a keeper though he has come as a bowler/batter. He does bowl off spin which is what we want.

“The predominant thing is we need him as a batter more than anything else. He looks very good in the nets from what we have seen. “