• In conversation with Jessica Willathgamuwa

The United States of America has been making strides into the World of Cricket since late. With them currently co-hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup this year, they are heavily investing on promoting cricket in their country. Not only in Men’s game, even in the Women’s game, they have made significant inroads in the recent past. 

The Women’s team was a part of the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE. 23-year-old left arm seamer Jessica Willathgamuwa was a part of the team which competed in the tournament. Willathgamuwa is of Sri Lankan origin with both her parents born and raised in Sri Lanka. 

The Daily Morning got the chance to have a chat with the young aspiring cricketing prodigy.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

When did you move to the US? 

 I came for college and I moved here at the end of 2019. But my brother is in Australia, and only my dad and I are in the US. 

Any reason why you chose cricket as your career?

I think we just grew up with it at home. My dad played cricket not at a competitive level but in school at an okay level and both my brother and I had some skills in the sport so we simply kept going. 

If we could speak about your family, your parents, and your brother?

My dad was born in Colombo, and my mom is from Jaffna. But they moved to Australia for school as well as work. My brother and I are twins actually; we grew up in Sydney, Australia.

Say, in the US, Cricket is a bit of a foreign sport. Is there any economical advantage playing cricket in the US?

The sport is still growing. We are getting more and more players every year. So at the moment, it's a bit difficult career-wise, but I think within the next maybe 8 to 10 years, it could be a real opportunity for the men and the women who would like to pursue cricket in the US. 

How is the club structure and the domestic setup in the US?

The club structure is more for the Men's and Boys’. So a lot of the girls are playing in boys’ leagues and men's leagues. There aren't many girls-only club structures, unless it's like a long weekend, most of us are playing boys’ and men's leagues.

The USA is obviously a big country. So in terms of finding talent, how does it work?

We have a pathway programme. So, it starts in regionals, which are grouped by the states. Whatever states are closest together, they'll play and they'll form three or four teams to play each other. The best 12 to 14 will be picked. Then, we'll play on like a nationals tournament, east versus west, or south, that kind of thing from there. That's where we'll pick a training camp team and the final spots.

When you take the current team, you can clearly see a lot of players of Asian origin involved. Do you think Asian playing tactics are heavily influencing the playing culture in the US team? 

I think it's different for each person. Some players do, because that's what they have grown up with. And what they're used to, but there are definitely other players on the team that have a more American mindset going in, you can see the whole bubble, kind of attitude. It changes for each player.

This is obviously an exciting year because the World Cup is being held in the USA, what do you think about that? 

I think everyone's excited to get lots of preparation in the US. Our Men's team is prepping really well. They just finished a tour. But, I think we're all just excited for some attention to cricket in America.

Let's move onto your career. So you are a left arm seamer, and obviously you must have heard about Chaminda Vass. Do you happen to look up to him, or is there any other player that you have looked up to?

Growing up I was more influenced by the Australians. Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc are two people I've looked up to just because of the aggression that they had. Even now, in female cricket, who’s actually looked up to, is probably Prabodani. I love her bowling and I wish I could bowl like her. She's kind of my idol at the moment.

Have you been traveling recently to Sri Lanka? any family that is there that you want to connect with?

Last time I went, I was very, very little. We just haven't had the chance to go back. Most of my close family has moved to either Australia or the US. I'm sure we have some connections here. But I'd love to go back. 

In terms of your studies, what are you up to these days? 

Right now I'm going to start my Masters in Data Analytics. That's kind of the area I want to go in terms of a corporate career, but I still want to play cricket as long as I can. So balancing that is kind of a hard task. But I think it's something I can do.

Do you see yourself continuing to play cricket for maybe, you know, how many years?

As long as I can. I think the LA Olympics is a goal. Okay for most of us on the team, but yeah, I'd like to be around for that.

How was the team's experience in the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup Qualifier tournament?

I mean, obviously, it's been tough with our losses, but every day we get back up and we try our best for the next game. We've learned a lot from our experiences here. So we're all going back with a lot of new things to work on and skills, and that's a positive from this experience. But yeah, it's ups and downs.

In the US you get these drop in pitches but in the UAE it's a bit different from what you get to get in the US. What's the main difference you see in the UAE and US pitches?

These pitches have a much better carry. It's nice to see the ball actually coming up and bouncing, whereas in the US it's more likely to skip through just because some might bounce off sections, but that's the biggest difference. In batting it's nicer to bat on these pitches here, just because, you know what to expect a little better

Who would you bet on to win the T20 World Cup this year? 

Australia, for sure.