Allansford-Panmure signs Shashan Silva as captain, locks in gun youngster Matt Gome for 2023-24 season

The stylish top-order batter has signed with Allansford-Panmure as its division one captain after a staggering run of success at Jetty Flat where he has been an integral part of the club's premiership dynasty.

Across 111 division one matches at Creek he scored 2373 runs with a century and 14 half-centuries after previous stints with Dennington and Lower Eltham.

He told The Standard he was thrilled to join the club and challenge himself in a new environment.

"I'm delighted, I can't wait for next season now," he said. "(Captaincy) is something I haven't done in Warrnambool, or Australia.

"I've done a bit of captaincy in Sri Lanka but since I got here in late 2010 I've just been playing as a bat so I'm really thrilled to be given this opportunity.

"Being around lots of success and learning from lots of people has helped me a lot."

He said he was proud of the success he achieved at Creek and thanked the club for its support and guidance in getting him set-up for the next phase.

"I was honoured and so lucky to play and win premierships with Russells Creek," he said. "I learnt so much from some great people, like Cam Williams, Matthew Petherick and Andrew Thomson.

"I thought I'd challenge myself and see if I can get some similar success at Allansford and hopefully do something special.

"But I want to thank Creek, they're a wonderful club and very successful. It was a hard decision to make but they've been amazing to play with."

The facilities at Allansford were something which excited the talented batter but he said the decision to join the club came down to the "quality people" involved on and off the field.

"Allansford is always known to be a great club, whenever I played them it was always enjoyable," he said. "There are some great experienced players like Chris Bant, Kyall Timms and many more so it's great."

Silva will be joined at the Gators next season by another recruit in Matthew Gome from Brierly Christ Church, one of the association's most talented young players.

The teenage prospect, who also played with Warrnambool at junior country week, the Western Waves and with Melbourne University in the Dowling Shield last season, scored 459 runs for the Bulls in the under 17s in 2022-23 and featured 10 times at division one level.

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