Kariyawasam Thantrige Gayan Thilanka de Silva (born 23 February 1988), known as Gayan de Silva, is a professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who made his debut in Sri Lankan domestic cricket during the 2012–13 season. His early cricket was played in Bahrain, the country of his birth, and he played at senior level for the Bahraini national side between 2004 and 2006, having earlier represented Bahrain at various underage levels. Born in Adliya, Manama, de Silva represented Bahrain at the 2000 Under-17 Asia Cup in Pakistan, despite being only 12 years old at the time. At his next major tournament, the 2004 ACC Under-17 Trophy, he captained Bahrain,(4 June 2004)
"Two Lankans in Bahrain team for Malaysia"
– '' Daily News'' online. Retrieved 12 May 2015. and finished with 165 runs from five matches, the most of any Bahraini. His highest score was 72 from 68 balls against Thailand. Following his under-17s performance, de Silva was selected in the Bahraini senior squad for the

2004 ACC Trophy The 2004 ACC Trophy was a cricket tournament in Malaysia, taking place between 12 and 24 June 2004. It gave Associate and Affiliate members of the Asian Cricket Council experience of international Limited overs cricket, one-day cricket and also h ...

in Malaysia, still aged only 16. Although he did not take a wicket at the tournament, his two appearances, against Hong Kong and Oman, saw him become the youngest man to play senior cricket for Bahrain. In his only tournament for the Bahrain under-19s, the

2005 ACC Under-19 Cup The 2005 ACC Under-19 Cup was an international under-19 cricket tournament held in Nepal from 8 to 19 November 2005. The sixth ACC under-19 tournament to be held, matches were played in the capital Kathmandu and three other cities in the Kathman ...

in Nepal, de Silva set an

ACC Under-19 Cup The ACC Under-19 Asia Cup is a cricket tournament organised by the ACC for Under-19 teams from its member nations. It was first held in 1989 in Bangladesh where India won the tournament. The second edition was played after 14 years in 2003 in Pa ...

record, scoring 200 not out from 140 balls against Brunei. , his innings remains the only double century scored at an ACC under-19 tournament. The last tournament de Silva played for a Bahraini side was the

2006 ACC Trophy The 2006 ACC Trophy was a cricket tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, taking place between 14 August and 26 August 2006. It gave associate and affiliate members of the Asian Cricket Council experience in international one-day cricket. This was ...

in Malaysia. His school sport, which included both cricket and basketball, had been played for Colombo's

Elizabeth Moir School Elizabeth Moir School is a co-educational, international day school, located on two campuses in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which welcomes children of all nationalities aged between 2-18. It is the only international school in Sri Lanka to be owned and r ...

. de Silva spent the 2012 English season playing club cricket as a professional for Lindum in the

Lincolnshire Premier League The Lincolnshire Premier League (referred to in some sources as Lincolnshire County Board Premier League and Lincolnshire Cricket Board Premier League) is the top level of competition for club cricket in Lincolnshire, England. The league was c ...

. Signing with Galle Cricket Club for the 2012–13 Sri Lankan season, he made his first-class debut in February 2013, against

Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team in Sri Lanka. They made their first-class debut in 1991 against Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club at Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. In the 1993/94 season, they were b ...

in the

Premier Trophy The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

. The following season, he appeared in two fixtures for Colts Cricket Club against touring international sides, Hong Kong and Nigeria, with the match against Hong Kong having full Twenty20 status. de Silva signed with Chilaw Marians for the 2014–15 season, and went on to make three Premier Trophy appearances and a single Premier Limited Overs appearance. In his first Premier Trophy appearance for Chilaw Marians, he took 4/51 in the first innings against Colombo CC, his best first-class figures to date.Colombo Cricket Club v Chilaw Marians Cricket Club
Premier Championship 2014/15 (Group B) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 May 2015. Unlike in Bahrain, where he was touted as a "genuine all-rounder" and often batted in the top order, in Sri Lanka de Silva has played almost exclusively as a bowler. He now is the head of sports at

, Colombo where he coaches the football and cricket teams.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Gayan 1988 births Living people Bahraini cricketers Chilaw Marians Cricket Club cricketers Colts Cricket Club cricketers Galle Cricket Club cricketers Sportspeople from Manama Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lankan expatriates in Bahrain