A dual Warrnambool and District Cricket Association player of the year will return to the division one competition after spending a season playing premier cricket in Adelaide.
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Port Fairy will welcome back five-time club champion and Sri Lankan first-class cricketer Jason Perera for season 2024-25.
The 31-year-old played for Adelaide University last season in the grade cricket competition after his sporting visa to play in the Warrnambool and District Cricket was declined, scoring 297 top-grade runs and snaring four wickets.
But captain-coach Alastair Templeton confirmed the star all-rounder, who won the division one cricketer of the year awards in 2016-17 and 2020-21, was locked in for a return to the Avery Paddock-based club.
"It's great to have him back, he's a genuine match-winner," Templeton told The Standard.
"We were hoping to get him last year but the (visa) changes meant he couldn't come back. It was good Jase remained in the country and can now play with us this year again.
"Playing a year of premier cricket was good for him and having been in the country six, seven years prior to that, he knows how everything works with his wife moving here with him as well.
"It's always been the plan to stay mid to long-term after he played the season if possible."
Templeton said the experienced left-hander was simply a class cricketer.
"It's important to get him, we felt like last year we had a lot of spread in the team and were strong throughout," he said.
"But with Jase, to add him to a side which already has plenty of depth with bat and ball, that should suit him as well and not place too much reliance on him.
"He'll get the opportunity to bat in partnerships with others and not just feel like he's got to do everything to make sure the team is competitive.
"That's my message. We're already a strong team and he'll just make us even stronger. It's the way we want him to fit into the side. We want to continue what we're doing and make sure he just adds to that."
The Pirates have confirmed gun English all-rounder James Vandepeer won't return due to an elbow injury, while ex-skipper Alex Jennings is unlikely to play this season due to increasing work commitments.
Templeton said the club was closely working on another potential international signing and hoped to add a few more recruits to the mix.
"We're a fair way down the path on a few things, we're reasonably confident," he said.
"It's come about pretty quickly too after Jimmy's injury. It's tough for him but it creates an opportunity for someone else to come in."
Nick Creely
Sports reporter with The Standard
Sports reporter with The Standard
