By Martin Morgan

Last updated at 13:54, Thursday, 21 June 2012

Keswick have been so happy with new pro Geeth Kumara they have already handed him a return ticket for next term.

Geeth Kumara

News that the Premier Division outfit have decided to retain the 23-year-old Sri Lankan will delight fans, as he has made a big impression in his short stint at Fitz Park.

“He has done brilliantly and is coming back next year, which is pretty sharp of us,” said chairman Keith Richardson. “We think that highly of him, why wait until the end of the season?

“He had scored over 600 runs by the first week in June and has taken quite a lot of wickets as well.”

Kumara, a left-handed batsman and right arm leg spinner, is tied to a contract based on coaching, as well as playing, and he is heavily involved in helping develop the club’s thriving junior structure, working with their Under-11, 13s and 15s.

This week he was in Bradford working towards an ECB level two coaching qualification, arranged by the club.

“He generally helps out where he can around the club,” Richardson added. “He has fitted in really well and absolutely loves it. He has been well looked after.”

Kumara replaced highly-regarded Paul Hindmarch, from Borrowdale, as the club’s professional.

Hindmarch has featured of late for Unicorns, a team formed two years ago for players without current full-time contracts with regular first-class counties.

“It’s a shop window for them,” Richardson said. “He’s trying very hard to resurrect his first-class career,”

Hindmarch enjoyed a superb season for Keswick in 2010, when they enjoyed a best-ever third-place finish in the Premier Division.

Their title bid faltered only late in the campaign, when Hindmarch, who came through the junior ranks at Fitz Park before linking up with Durham, suffered a recurrence of a back injury.

First published at 11:23, Thursday, 21 June 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk