Samantha Vidamelage de Mel (born 12 December 1965 in Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

) is a Sri Lankan born Italian former cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

. A left-arm orthodox spin

Left-arm orthodox spin

Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...

 bowler, he played for the Italy national cricket team between 1996 and 1998, having previously played first-class cricket

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 for Burgher Recreation Club

Burgher Recreation Club

Burgher Recreation Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.-External links:*...

 and Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club

Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club

Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club are a first-class cricket team based in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Their home ground is De Zoysa Stadium.-Partnership records:* 1st - 171 BCMS Mendis & SK Silva * 2nd - 247 TM Dilshan & GG Ranga Yasalal...

 in his native Sri Lanka.

Career

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 in 1990/91.

He later moved to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and first represented the national team there in the 1996 European Championship

European Cricket Championship

The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport and Europe's only Test cricket playing country,...

. He played in the 1997 ICC Trophy

1997 ICC Trophy

The Carlsberg 1997 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March/April 1997. It was the qualification tournament for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Kenya and for the first time Bangladesh and Scotland all Qualified.-First round:...

 for Italy, and last played for them in the following years European Championship.

He was named in Italy's squad for the 2001 ICC Trophy

2001 ICC Trophy

The 2001 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Ontario, Canada in 2001. It was the qualifying tournament for the 2003 Cricket World Cup...

, but Italy withdrew from the tournament due to a dispute over the eligibility of four players.