Vidanelage Samantha Pathmachandra de Mel (born 12 December 1964) is a former Italian cricketer of Sri Lankan origin.[1] A left-arm orthodox spinner,[2] he played for the Italy national cricket team between 1996 and 1998, having previously played first-class cricket for Burgher Recreation Club and Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club in his native Sri Lanka.[3]

Samantha de Mel
Personal information
Full name
Vidanelage Samantha Pathmachandra de Mel
Born (1965-12-12) 12 December 1965 (age 58)
Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Western Province, Sri Lanka
BowlingLeft-arm orthodox spin
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1989Burgher Recreation Club
1990–1991Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club
FC debut31 March 1989 Burgher Recreation Club v Sinhalese Sports Club
Last FC4 January 1991 Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club v Panadura Sports Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class ICC Trophy
Matches 12 4
Runs scored 294 57
Batting average 19.60 19.00
100s/50s 0/0 0/0
Top score 43 25
Balls bowled 936 240
Wickets 9 7
Bowling average 54.22 20.85
5 wickets in innings 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 3/31 3/40
Catches/stumpings 5/0 2/0
Source: Cricket Archive, 29 October 2007

Born in Colombo, de Mel started his career playing in his native Sri Lanka, playing eight first-class matches for Burgher Recreation Club in 1989, and four for Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club during the 1990–91 season.[4]

He later moved to Italy, and first represented the national team there in the 1996 European Championship.[5] He played in the 1997 ICC Trophy for Italy,[6] and last played for them in the following years European Championship.

He was named in Italy's squad for the 2001 ICC Trophy,[7] but Italy withdrew from the tournament due to a dispute over the eligibility of four players.[8]

References

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