Colombo, May 20 (IANS): Galle Marvels have announced the pre-signing of England's seasoned campaigner Alex Hales and New Zealand's wicketkeeper batter Tim Siefert ahead of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2024 auction, which is scheduled to be held on May 21.
The Lanka Premier League 2024, will be held in three venues from the July 1 to 21.
On the local front, Galle Marvels have retained two aggressive batters Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Lasith Croospulle to bolster their batting department.
Rajapaksa has been a household name in the T20 circuits worldwide whilst Croospulle is one of the emerging talents that will be a force to reckon with in the future.
World No. 5 T20I bowler, Maheesh Theekshana has also been roped in by Marvels. The 23-year-old will lead the side's bowling attack in the League 2024. So far in four seasons, Theekshana has picked up 33 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.75.
Wicket-keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella, who boasts of a strike-rate of over 140 in T20s has also been pre-signed by Galle Marvels.
Former Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Ireland head coach Graham Ford will serve as the Head Coach of the Galle Marvels whilst former Sri Lankan batting legend Sanath Jayasuriya will work as the Mentor of the Galle Marvels in addition to his role of Head Coach for Moratu Marvels.
Former Sri Lankan batter Chamara Kapugedara will work as the Assistant Coach along with Sri Lanka Cricket fielding coach Anton Roux who will be the Bowling and Fielding Coach for Galle Marvels.
Indian analyst AR Srikkanth, who has worked with the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise since the inception of the Indian Premier League, will provide his expertise as the Senior Performance Analyst for Galle Marvels in the upcoming five-team competition, which starts in July in Dambulla.
“We at the Galle Marvels franchise are quite happy with all our six direct signings ahead of the auction and the recruitments we have done in the support staff. We’re all geared up to complete our Galle Marvels family on the May 21. “ Prem Thakkar, co-owner of the Galle Marvels expressed his views.
In March, the ‘Marvels’ launched both their franchises – Galle Marvels and Moratu Marvels for the Lanka Premier League and the inaugural Lanka T10 League respectively during a gala event held in Colombo.