Could Gayle, Yuvraj, Lara really play club cricket in Melbourne?

An ambitious Melbourne community cricket club claims they are "85 to 90 per cent there" in securing international stars Chris Gayle and Yuvraj Singh to appear in suburban T20 matches this summer.

And as if that wasn't enough, Mulgrave Cricket Club, who play in Melbourne's Eastern Cricket Association (ECA), a third-tier competition, claim they are also "in negotiations with Brian Lara and AB de Villiers and a few others as well".

It sounds fanciful that some of the biggest names in world cricket could be enticed out to Australia, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and serve a fortnight of hotel quarantine for a handful of park matches against local club cricketers – and may yet prove to be.

But Mulgrave have already set tongues wagging by securing a trio of Sri Lanka stars, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga both already committed to play for the club this summer, and Sanath Jayasuriya as their head coach.

Dilshan, who now lives in Melbourne's east following his retirement from international cricket, played six matches for Mulgrave last summer, scoring 132 runs in the ECA's T20 Cup as Mulgrave were beaten in the grand final by Donvale.

And the 44-year-old, who is also keen to launch his own kit manufacturing brand Vito DD and start a youth academy, appears to have gone on something of a recruitment drive during a T20 exhibition tournament in India in March.

Dilshan was captain of the 'Sri Lanka Legends' team at the Road Safety World Series tournament, and it is there where Tharanga and Jayasuriya were convinced to join Mulgrave.

Other cricket superstars retired from the international game to feature in the tournament included Mulgrave targets Yuvraj and Lara, among other such luminaries as Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen.

Mulgrave president Milan Pullenayegam says the club has leaned heavily on Dilshan's connections and were confident enough to post three recognisable silhouettes on their social media this week.

Image Id: C60E139BAE284478901347D25A106E17 Image Caption: Mulgrave's tease that set social media alight // Facebook

Pullenayegam, who is in his second year as the club president, insisted going public to tease the possibility of some major signings was not just a publicity stunt.

"We've secured Dilshan, we've secured Sanath, we've secured Tharanga. And now we are working on finalising agreements with a few other potential players," Pullenayegam tells cricket.com.au.

"We are in negotiations, and with Chris (Gayle) and Yuvraj we are nearly 85 to 90 per cent there. We need to finalise a few things but it looks really good."

Pullenayegam admits the club still needs to get its finances in place to support their ambitious signing targets.

"We are still looking for more sponsors to back us up, there is a fair financial commitment for a local cricket club," Pullenayegam concedes.

"We've got a good backing at the moment that will get us across the line, but we don't want to be just breaking even on it, we want to be able to give back the community and expand the structure of the club.

"It's a process, with these big-name players there's a lot of things we need to incorporate into their visits to Australia: we'll provide them with accommodation, their travel, food etcetera, there is a lot of background stuff we need to organise for them.

"While here we want to put them in contact with our sponsors and see if they can give something back to the club and sponsors. So it's all part of the negotiations and chats we are having with them.

"A bit more financial backing would be much appreciated, but the exposure we have gotten so far is giving us a lot of interest, we're strategising and putting things in place so we can capitalise and build on this wave for the next five or six years. "

All this for what would be a maximum of six games, with any international player they sign likely to play just one or two matches.

The ECA's T20 Cup features three preliminary matches before a knock-out phase of up to three more games, all slotted in among the one- and two-day fixtures between November and February.

In a sign of the club's confidence of actually securing the calibre of player they're targeting, they have requested the ECA expedite finalising the T20 Cup schedule, and have already reached out to Cricket Victoria (CV) about moving their matches to Junction Oval.

Image Id: 4DCDBFD07C5D4CF093A486E16B4CDF34 Image Caption: The pavilion at Mulgrave Reserve in Melbourne's east // Supplied

A CV spokesperson said they remained open to the possibility, pending a suitable window amid the top-flight domestic competitions and Premier Cricket fixtures the ground usually hosts.

The ECA's playing conditions for the T20 Cup say just one 'marquee' player can feature in an XI, and the club is not expecting field Gayle, Yuvraj and Lara all at the same time, but instead rotate them through the six matches, while Dilshan and Tharanga will be club regulars. 

The ECA is expected to meet soon to add some definition to what constitutes a 'marquee' player, something that is currently undefined by the association.

Lara and Yuvraj both played in the Bushfire Bash charity match at Junction Oval in February 2020 to raise funds for victims of that summer's bushfire crisis. Gayle last played in Australia in BBL|05 in a stint with the Melbourne Renegades during the 2015-16 summer, and is in the West Indies T20 squad that will play Australia five times next month.

"We feel that we can change the traditional backyard cricket mentality of community cricket where it's very hard to get a sponsor, it's very hard to make ends meet and always fill in a team," Pullenayegam says.

"We're trying to change that dynamic so businesses can come and invest in local cricket and help community cricket, because there is exposure, there is a benefit for businesses to do so.

"It doesn't always have to be the community cricket club scraping the bottom of the barrel, depending on your members to financially support the club.

"We've taken a little bit of a different approach. So far so good, let's hope it keeps going that way."

Representatives of Gayle, Yuvraj and Lara did not return calls requesting comment.