Here We Go (Again)!
Warnapura (Bandu) is mad to come over!
The club are absolutely delighted to be able to announce our Overseas signing for the 2026 season. The man in question is 37 year old Sri Lankan, Madawa Sachinthana Warnapura. He is a classy right-handed top-order batter and off-spin bowler. We expect that he will find himself at home at 3 or 4 in our batting order and hope that he will form a formidable middle overs partnership with our other new addition as they look to bamboozle their opponents with flight, turn and guile.
Born in Columbo, he has had quite the professional career to date, having played 131 First-Class matches as well as 138 white ball games too. With 9000 professional career runs and 99 professional wickets, we are pretty confident he will have a big impact at Blackfyne.
During his professional career he has represented Air Force SC, Colombo, Bloomfield - where he was also captain, Negombo and now plays for Kurungala Youth Cricket Club, where he still continues to churn out the runs. He has also represented Sri Lanka ‘A’ where he gave a fantastic account of himself against England Lions including a century in the 3 match unofficial test series against an attack including Chris Woakes, Graham Onions, Liam Plunkett, Tymal Mills and Moeen Ali..
His father Bandula Warnapura has the accolade of captaining Sri Lanka in their first ever test match too, so there’s certainly pedigree in the family!
He has plenty of experience in England too and comes highly recommended by those who have played alongside him in the past. He has good knowledge of the North East, having represented Eppleton in the NEPL in 2023 where he excelled with 946 runs @ 67 as well as chipping in with 17 wickets. He also also played in the YPLN for Sessay in 2025, The Devon Premier League for Bradninch & Kentisbeare in 2024 and Dalton in the Cumbrian Premier League in 2017.
During his time in England he has amassed 3131 runs @ 46 whilst claiming 92 wickets @23.
Reports tell us that as well as his ability to perform with bat and ball, he is an excellent player to have in your team as well as an absolute gent off the field. As a qualified coach, he will be integral in helping with the further development of our junior programmes at both All Stars and Junior level. With a bit of luck he might just give a few tips to some of his peers too, after all, you’re never too old to improve your game!
We’re also told that he’s quite the singer, we look forward to seeing him doing a spot of karaoke at some point and leading the changing room celebrations when the team have put points of the board.
As always, a huge thanks has to go to those who have worked behind the scenes in speaking with agents, getting references and trawling through pages and pages of stats, scorecards and search results to narrow down a long list of potential suitors before getting the fine tooth comb out to ensure that The Steelmen have got the right man. Thanks to Rob from WSX for providing us with what we hope is the perfect fit 🙂
Much like ourselves, I’m sure you all can’t wait to meet him and see him in action. Please make sure that you all say hello and make him feel welcome when you do. We’re sure a warm welcome will hopefully make up for the inevitable cold start to the 2026 season…