Gurusinha will represent North Melbourne in the Australian district tournament in the current season which will see him occupied with the club till middle of March next year.
The 30-year-old left-hander, has indicated to the Sri Lanka Cricket Board that he is available for the tour of New Zealand and that he would join the team in New Zealand.
Apart from playing and coaching North Melbourne, Gurusinha has also been given a training schedule, similar to what the Sri Lankan cricketers will be doing, in preparation for New Zealand. In addition, Alex Kountouri, the Sri Lanka team physio is also prepared to test Gurusinha on his fitness when he returns to Australia for Christmas.
Gurusinha, who has missed about six games due to his commitment with the national team in Sharjah, will play for North Melbourne in the remaining eight or nine games. The matches are of two days duration, and according to Dav Whatmore, the outgoing coach of the Sri Lanka team, the standard of cricket Gurusinha will play in Australia will be on the same level of the Sara trophy tournament in Sri Lanka, if not higher.
The district tournament is the stepping-stone to play Sheffield Shield cricket for the state and Gurusinha will be playing with some of Australia's top class cricketers like Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming, Merv Hughes, Dean Jones and Tony Dodemaide to name a few.
Where Gurusinha's problems lies is that he has not been given a reassurance of being selected for the New Zealand tour. According to him, the chairman of selectors has told him that he should re- turn to Sri Lanka by January 16 to be considered for selection. The Sri Lanka team's tour of New Zealand is not expected to start until the first week of March.
Last year, during the tour to Pakistan, the Sri Lanka vicecaptain Aravinda de Silva was allowed to join the team from England where he was representing English county side Kent. He missed the first Test and was available only from the second Test onwards.
What stance the Cricket Board takes on Gurusinha will be most interesting in the coming few weeks.
Gurusinha is contracted to play for North Melbourne for the next two years as captain and coach.