In his attempts to trace Pradeep, he encounters all sorts of stories from people keen to make money out of his interest. In general, truth proves a difficult thing for W.G. Another is a man called Kuga or Kugarajah, who may be a gangster, a government agent or a senior commander with the Tamil Tigers (or all three). Jonny is one of several characters in the book about whom the truth is unclear. He is assisted by his close friend and neighbour Ari Byrd, and by another friend, an Englishman called Jonny Gilhooley, who works at the British High Commission.

Kuranasena is a retired, alcoholic and terminally ill sportswriter who decides, as a last project, to find out what happened to a (fictional) cricket player called Pradeep Mathew, whom he regards as the best spin bowler he ever saw, but who disappeared after playing only 4 Tests for Sri-Lanka. I found my non-fiction reads more appealing and the result was slow progress with this one, until I gave the book the attention it deserved.

This is a 400-page novel and I found the first 150 pages or so were, to use an appropriate metaphor, bowled at medium pace. Usually I try to have one work of fiction and one of non-fiction on the go, (and I often have an audiobook underway as well). Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.I’m one of those readers who is in the habit of trying to read more than one book at a time. On his quest he will also uncover a coach with six fingers, a secret bunker below a famous stadium, a Tamil Tiger warlord, and startling truths about Sri Lanka, cricket and himself.Winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. Hailed by the Gratiaen Prize judges as 'one of the most imaginative works of contemporary Sri Lankan fiction', it is an astounding book. Ambitious, playful and strikingly original, Chinaman is a novel about cricket and Sri Lanka - and the story of modern day Sri Lanka through its most cherished sport. On his quest to find this unsung genius, WG uncovers a coach with six fingers, a secret bunker below a famous stadium, a Tamil Tiger warlord, and startling truths about Sri Lanka, cricket and himself.

Mathew, a spin bowler who has mysteriously disappeared and who WG considers 'the greatest cricketer to walk the earth'. He will spend his final months drinking arrack, making his wife unhappy, ignoring his son and tracking down Pradeep S. Retired sportswriter WG Karunasena is dying.

Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka