Winifred Anne Duraisingam, 32 yrs, captains the Malaysian national women’s cricket team while working as a full time teacher at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Lembah Keramat, Selangor. She teaches geography and physical education, endearing herself to her students as a caring teacher, with a love of sports, especially cricket.
As a recognised international cricketer, Winifred is a sports icon, breaking barriers by representing Malaysia for cricket at the age of 14.
She is no stranger to fame having won many international tournaments being captain of the national women’s cricket team at the SEA Games in 2017, the Asian Games in 2014 and won player of the year in 2012 at the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship in Kuwait. Also declared player of the match in 2013, at the ACC Women’s Championship in Thailand, with many other triumphs on the world scene.
At national level, Winifred continues to win tournament after tournament, in 2022 and 2023 being declared player of the match in tournaments where KL played against Kelantan and Penang.
In 2025, this young and ambitious cricketer serves as an inspiration to all young women, seeking a career in sports.
When asked what motivates her?
“I think it’s because of the love for the game. I am motivated by all the support I receive from family and friends and also from my mentor, my late uncle who taught me everything I needed to know about cricket,” she said.
It was Winifred’s late uncle, David Mahadevan who discovered her talent at the age of 10, when the boys in the neighborhood refused to let her join them for cricket. He offered to teach her how to bowl the ball (referring to how the cricket ball is spun through the air).
He became Winifred’s coach and urged her to compete in the local clubs, such as the Kemboja Kuala Langat Club, when she was just 12.
By the age of 21, she was selected to be captain of the senior team and since then has carved out a stellar career at both national and international level.
“I was lucky enough to train overseas, in Australia and Sri Lanka and that gave me an edge over the others as I was exposed to techniques used to both bat and bowl,” shared Winifred.
While she has a tightly packed schedule, weekdays at school and fitness training at night and on weekends training, Winifred admits to a life of discipline.
Upon completion of her SPM, Winifred did her STPM (Form 6) and completed her degree at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 2020 and in 2022 became a teacher. With three years of teaching under her cap, Winifred hopes to influence her students to take up sports such as badminton and cricket.
Among her many achievements as a teacher involved in physical education, was to teach cricket and eventually she formed the first cricket team at her school, which then represented the school at Majlis Sukan Sekolah Daerah (District Schools Sports Council).
Currently as a teacher she also serves as assistant coach at Majlis Sukan Sekolah Selangor (MSSS) and realises the only way forward is to train the next generation.
“I will continue to play cricket for as long as I can, and represent Malaysia on the international arena but as a teacher I intend to pass on my love of cricket to my students,” she said.
“There are no barriers in sports, only the will to succeed ,” she said.