Avishka Fernando

In youth one-day internationals for Sri Lanka, Fernando set two national records: he scored 1379 runs and made four centuries. He went on to play for the Sri Lanka under-19 side, making useful contributions at the World Cup and in the fifty-over games that came after it.

His call-up to the senior Sri Lankan team came in 2016, when he was barely 18 and still a schoolboy. He had not yet played a single First Class or List A match before that selection. His first experience of international cricket proved a harsh one. Facing Mitchell Starc, he lasted only two very quick balls before his innings was over, an abrupt introduction to the demands of the top level for a player who had come straight from the school game.