In June 1990 a first-class
tournament began in Sri Lanka
but as no international cricket was possible in Sri Lanka. This tour of India was
hastily arranged.The Test match at Chandigarh was shifted
from Jalandhar at a late stage because of tension there. On a poorly prepared
pitch India
defeated the tourists by a large margin. The Sri Lankans requested that an
extra Test match or ODI should be arranged but the Indian Board was unable to
meet this request.
The manager's end of tour
report, in which he and his assistant said "we were disappointed with
the captain's attitude as he appeared disinterested in the tour", was
published.Arjuna had been warned in
November 1990 about his conduct. A commission of enquiry found indications of
the captain's indifferent and aloof attitude, and criticised him for failing
to motivate players or to contribute at team meetings.
Gamini
Goonesena and Sidath Wettimuny were chosen as manager and assistant on 1
November for this tour and for the Asia Cup.
Mumtaz
Yusuf and Jayantha Seneviratne were announced on 4 November to replace them
on the Sharjah tour.
Selectors
Michael Tissera (Vice-President of the Boardand chairman of selectors, J Paranathala, Anura Polonowita, Mumtaz M Yusuf (asst
secretary of Board).
Selection
Arjuna Ranatunga was appointed captain on 4 November.
despite facing disciplinary action for arguing with umpires and abusing
spectators.
UnavailableRavi
Ratnayeke, who had migrated to Melbourne the previous month; Pramodya
Wickremasinghe, Saliya Ahangama and Piyal Wijetunga, all owing to injuries.
Tour Party Announced : 7 November 1990.
Rumesh Ratnayeke was back
after a knee injury had made him miss the tour of England.
Stand-bys:M S Atapattu (SSC),C Hathurasinghe (TU).
Withdrawal:Sanath
Jaysuriya split the webbing of his right hand (taking a catch at a practice
session). He was replaced by Marvan Atapattu.
Time
between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
13 days
(7
November to 20 November)
Travel
ColomboQDelhi
Anurasiri contracted an eye
infection but was passed fit to tour.
The tour began on the
afternoon of 20 November when they flew via Bombay
to DelhiAfter an overnight stopover, on 21 November they took a connecting
flight to Chandigarh
which was staging its first-ever Test.
Time
spent in India
19 days
(20
November - 9 December)
On-tour selection panel
Reinforcements
None. The team had so many players (17) that Gamini
Wickremasinghe did not play in a match.The Board's intention was to give more players exposure to one-day
internationals.
To
general reading of The Times newspaper
digital archive (Gale Group);Jamaica
Gleanor archive;National Library of
Australia Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From
former British Newspaper Library, Colindale and online:The Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily
Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily
Press, The Hindu, The Independent (Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island
(Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka
Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The
Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune Chandigarh, Trinidad
Guardian, The West Australian.
Magazines/periodicals
including Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer
International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field
Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand,
Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’
Almanack.
Men In White,
A History of Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose),
A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)