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| Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to New Zealand 1982-83
| Tour of New Zealand 1982-83 Captain: Duleep Mendis | | | | | © Test Cricket Tours | | | Sri Lanka’s third Test tour (February - March 1983) First
Test-playing tour of New Zealand
by Sri Lanka (no previous Test
tour) | This was Sri Lanka's first official Test
tour outside the Indian sub-continent. It was preceded in the autumn of 1982
by a relatively unsuccessful 'A' team visit to Zimbabwe, for which Warnapura,
Perera, Ajit de Silva and Ranasinghe were omitted from the tour group. In
response they signed up for the clandestine unofficial tour of South Africa, then excluded from international
cricket by its apartheid poilicies, and Goonetillake withdrew from the
official team to Zimbabwe
to join the rebel players. Subsequently, the team for New
Zealand was chosen without any of the sixteen 'rebel'
players who had contracted to play in South Africa. The 'Arosa' Sri
Lankan touring team flew in secrecy from Colombo
to Hong Kong and from there to Johannesburg.
The team won its first match in South Africa but lost all the
rest. The South African Cricket Union alleged that Mendis, Dias and D S de
Silva would have reinforced the team but they demanded too high a payment,
which they denied. Mendis and Dias said they considered joining the team
originally but declined after discussions with their families and cricket
officials, while Somachandra de Silva said he never knew about the rebel team
until their tour had started. Not only did the official Sri Lankan Test touring
side to Australia and New Zealand
miss the rebel players' experience. It also suffered badly from injuries, and
shortly after arriving from the warm-up in Australia,
the two key batsmen Mendis and Dias were injured and unable to play, so DS de
Silva had to deputise as captain most of the time in New Zealand. Duleep Mendis had broken a finger against Canterbury in the first match; Roy Dias suffered a thumb injury in New
Plymouth; and de Mel injured his back
muscles in the first one-day match at Dunedin
also suffering an arm injury. All three
of them missed the two Test matches against New Zealand. The tourists' playing kit was so poor that Symonds
Sports of Sydney presented the team with $A42,000 worth of new equipment. | Other
Sri Lankan Tours Previous
tour To India
1982-83 Next
tour To England
1984 Next
tour of New Zealand 1990-91 | | | Members
of the Test tour party (16) Opening batsmen: Sidath Wettimuny, Mithra
Wettimuny, Susil Fernando. Middle-order batsmen : Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis,
Ranjith Madugalle, Yohan Goonesekera Wicket-keepers Guy de Alwis, Amal Silva. Spin bowlers :
Sridharan Jeganathan, Somachandra de Silva, Roger Wijesuriya Fast bowlers :
Ashantha de Mel, Ravi Ratnayeke, Rumesh Ratnayeke, Vinodhan John. | R G de Alwis | SSC | 24 | WK | | A L F de Mel | SSC | 23 | RFM | | D S de Silva | Mwa | 40 | LBG deputy captain | | R L Dias | CCC | 30 | RHB vice-captain | | E R N S Fernando | AF | 27 | RHB opener | | Y Goonesekera | NCC | 25 | LHB | | S Jeganathan | NCC | 31 | LHB SLA | | V B J John | Bf'd | 22 | RFM | | R S Madugalle | NCC | 23 | RHB | | L R D Mendis | SSC | 30 | RHB captain | | J Ravi Ratnayeke | NCC | 22 | LHB RFM | | Rumesh J Ratnayeke | NCC | 19 | RFM | | S A R Silva | SSC | 22 | second WK | | M D Wettimuny | SSC | 31 | RHB opener | | S Wettimuny | SSC | 26 | RHB opener | | R G C E
Wijesuriya | SSC | 23 | SLA | | | | | | | |
|
Average age of team at time of first Test match (4 March 1983) : 26
yrs 7 month Club
representation: AF: Air Force Sports Club (1) B'fd: Bloomfield
(1) CCC: Colombo
(1) Mwa: Moratuwa (1), NCC: Nondescripts (5) SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (7) Key to type : LHB left-hand bat, LBG leg break and googly bowler, OB off break, SLA slow left-arm bowler, RFM right arm fast medium bowler | | | Test
Appearances made before the tour | de Mel 5, DS
de Silva 5, Dias 5, Madugalle 5, Mendis 5, S.Wettimuny 4, Ravi Ratnayeke 3,
Wijesuriya 1, de Alwis 0, Fernando 0, Goonesekera 0, Jeganathan 0, John 0,
Rumesh Ratnayeke 0, Silva 0, M.Wettimuny 0. | | | | Tour
Officials | M A H Fuard | Manager | W A N Silva | Assistant manager |
| | | | Selectors | M A H Fuard (chairman), C H Goonesekera, L Rodrigo, A P B Tennekoon. | | | | Selection | Unavailable: Presumably, Arjuna Ranatunga; and all sixteen members of the 'Arosa' Sri
Lankan team (see below). Tour Party Announced : January 1983. Prasanna Chulaka ? Jayantha?
Amerasinghe
was originally chosen but Susil
Fernando took his place. | Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka x days (January to depart) | | | Travel Colombo Q Melbourne | The team flew from Colombo and arrived in Melbourne 1st match 3 Feb 1983 To New Zealand 17 February | Time spent in Australia x
days (arrival
- 17 February) Time spent in New
Zealand x
days (17 February - 20? March) | | | On-tour
selection panel | | | | | Reinforcements | There were no reinforcements, despite Duleep Mendis
breaking a finger against Canterbury in the
first match in New Zealand;
Roy Dias suffering a thumb injury in New Plymouth; and de Mel injuring his
back muscles in the first one-day match at Dunedin and suffering an arm injury. All three of them missed the two Test
matches against New
Zealand. | | | | Fixtures/Results | a | † Melbourne | Victoria(2-day) | Drawn | b | † Melbourne | Victoria(50
overs) | Lost 6 w | c | † Canberra | Australian Capital
Territory(50 overs) | Won 59 r | d | Sydney | New South Wales | Drawn | e | Devonport | Tasmania | Drawn | f | Christchurch | Canterbury | Lost 8 w | g | New Plymouth | Combined XI | cancelled | h | † New Plymouth | NZ Minor Associations (50 overs) | Won 5 w | i | † Wanganui | NZ Minor Associations (50 overs) | Lost 5 w | j | Auckland | Auckland | Drawn | k | § Dunedin | New Zealand (1st ODI) | Lost 65 r | l | CHRISTCHURCH | NEW ZEALAND First Test | LOST inns 25 r | m | WELLINGTON | NEW ZEALAND Second Test | LOST 6 w | n | § Napier | New Zealand (2nd ODI) | Lost 7 w | o | § Auckland | New Zealand (3rd ODI) | Lost 116 r | | | | |
| † not first-class § one-day international Time spent in Australia and New Zealand before First
Test: x days (arrival - 4 March) | | | Test
appearances on tour | 2 - de Silva, Fernando, Gunesekera, Jeganathan, John,
Madugalle, Ravi Ratnayeke, Rumesh Ratnayeke, M.Wettimuny, S.Wettimuny. 1 - de Alwis, Silva.
0 - de Mel, Dias,
John, Mendis, Wijesuriya. | | | | Match
appearances T Test match o one-day international x other match ⊕ T/20 international - teams not announced W won L lost D drawn
T tie N no
result A abandoned u unknown
result C cancelled | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | R G de Alwis | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | x | | o | T | | o | o | A L F de Mel | x | x | x | x | | | | x | x | x | o | | | o | o | D S de Silva | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | R L Dias | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | | | | | | | E R N S Fernando | | x | | | x | | | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | Y Goonesekera | x | | x | | x | | | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | S Jeganathan | | x | x | x | x | | x | x | | x | | T | T | | o | V B J John | | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | | R S Madugalle | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | L R D Mendis | x | x | x | x | | | x | | | | | | | o | o | Ravi Ratnayeke
| | | | x | x | | x | | | | o | T | T | o | o | Rumesh Ratnayeke | x | x | x | | x | | x | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | S A R Silva | | | | | x | | | | | x | | | T | | | M D Wettimuny | x | | | x | x | | x | | x | x | o | T | T | | | S Wettimuny | x | x | x | x | | | x | x | x | x | o | T | T | o | o | R G C Wijesuriya | x | | | | x | | | | | | | | | | | R E
S U L T S | D | L | W | D | D | | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | L |
| | | | Highlights | • Sidath Wettimuny (68 not out at Christchurch) was the first Sri Lankan to
carry his bat through a Test innings. • Goonesekera took 4 catches in one innings at Wellington. | | | | Tour
Summary | | F | W | L | D | Aban | Canc | Test Matches | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | Other first-class matches | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | ϯ Minor matches | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | § One-day
internationals | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | All Matches | 16 | 2 | 8 | 4 | - | 1 |
| F Fixtures W Won
L Lost
D Drawn T Tied Canc Cancelled
Aban abandoned | | | Return to
Sri Lanka Auckland Q Colombo | (Last match ends at Auckland on 20 March) | Time away from Sri
Lanka x days (depart SL to arrive home from NZ) | | | The AROSA
Sri Lankans | The Arosa Sri Lankans tour of South
Africa began when sixteen players left Sri Lanka
in September 1982. B deSilva, G R A deSilva,
H Devapriya, L J Fernando, H M Goonetilleke, N D P Hettiaratchy, L W Kaluperuma, S Kaunratne, F Oponso,
A R M Opatha, J B N
Perera, A N Ranasinghe, B Warnapura, W L Withanage, J Woutersz. H H Devapriya was team manager; Bandula Warnapura was captain; Tony Opatha
was vice-captain and part-organiser; Arosa stands for Anthony Ralph Opatha South Africa. A 25 year-long ban was imposed by the Sri Lankan
board, subsequently lifted in early 1990. | | | | Postscript
| In July 1983 the long-running civil war began. A
campaign of harassment by Sinhala-dominated interests against Tamils in the
south of the island had the effect of strengthening support for the militant
LTTE forces which made domestic tournament cricket in the north an
impossibility. | | | | Other
Test tours in 1982-83 | Australians to | ©
2015 | | | Acknowledgements
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. cricketweb.net; ESPN cricinfo; cricket archive; www.cricketcountry;
www.coverpoint 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) Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C.
Library at Lord’s Ground) © ALL
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