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Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to England 1984

 

 

Tour of England 1984                 Captain: Duleep Mendis

 

 

 

 

©  Test Cricket Tours

 

 

 

Sri Lanka’s fourth Test tour

(July - September 1984)

 

 

First Test-playing tour of England by Sri Lanka

   (no previous Test tour)

 

 

 

 

 

This was the third tour which the Sri Lankans had made to England in a five-year period (also 1979 and 1981), but it was the first to include a Test match.  The tour's sponsor was Raja Mahendran; as Gamini Dissanayake’s number two in the Cricket Board in the early eighties, he played a key role in footing the bill to take Sri Lanka forward to Test status.

Board President Dissanayake, dismayed at Sri Lanka losing the Test series against New Zealand, got national cricket coach Stanley Jayasinghe to coach the Sri Lankan pool of leading cricketers though, due to bad weather, the pre-tour preparations amounted to only five days of practice out of doors. Dissanayake also arranged for Ted Dexter to be the team's consultant in England.

The team included three school students - Aravinda de Silva, Don Anurasiri and Marlon Von Hagt - who had toured Australia with Sri Lanka's under-19s in February.

Tamil students running on to the pitch on the first day of the Test match to demonstrate their separatist claims were arrested and bound over to keep the peace for one year.

Sidath Wettimuny was made a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for his superb century in the Lord's Test match, in which Sri Lanka had the best of a drawn game. Amal Silva and Duleep Mendis also scored centuries in the Test match, Mendis almost achieving the feat in both innings.

In the following 1984-85 season Sri Lanka sent a team of 16 players to Australia to take part in the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup and World Championship of Cricket (one-day international tournaments) but the Sri Lankans were not given Test match exposure.

 

 

Other Sri Lankan Tours

 

 

Previous Test tour

New Zealand 1982-83

 

 

Next Test tour 

Pakistan 1985-86

 

 

 

Next England tour

1988

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party  (16  +  1)

 

Opening batsmen : Sidath Wettimuny, Amal Silva, Marlon Vonhagt.

Middle-order batsmen: Duleep Mendis, Aravinda de Silva, Roy Dias, Ranjan Madugalle, Arjuna Ranatunga.

Wicket-keeper: Guy De Alwis

Spin bowlers:  Don Anurasiri, Somachandra de Silva, Mumtaz Yusuf.

Fast bowlers:Ashantha de Mel, Vinodhan John, Ravi Ratnayeke, Anusha  Samaranayeke

 

 

S D Anurasiri

Pa

18

SLA

 

 

 

 

R G de Alwis

SSC

25

WK

 

 

 

 

A L F de Mel

SSC

25

RFM

 

 

 

 

D S de Silva

Mwa

42

LBG

 

 

 

 

P A de Silva

NCC

18

RHB

 

 

 

 

R L Dias

CCC

31

RHB   vice-captain

 

 

 

 

V B J John

Bf'd

24

RFM

 

 

 

 

R S Madugalle

NCC

25

RHB

 

 

 

 

L R D Mendis

SSC

31

RHB   captain

 

 

 

 

A Ranatunga

SSC

20

LHB

 

 

 

 

J Ravi Ratnayeke

NCC

24

LHB  RFM

 

 

 

 

A D A Samaranayeke

NCC

22

RFM

 

 

 

 

S A R Silva

NCC

23

LHB   second WK

 

 

 

 

D M Vonhagt

Ms

19

RHB opener

 

 

 

 

S Wettimuny

SSC

28

RHB opener

 

 

 

 

M Mumtaz Yusuf

SSC

34

OB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(23 August 1984) :

     26 years 0 month

 

 

Representation of clubs :

B'fd: Bloomfield (1)

CCC: Colombo (1)

Ms:  Moors Sports Club (1)

Mwa:  Moratuwa (1)

NCC: Nondescripts (5)

Pa:  Panadura (1)

SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (6)

 

 

 

 

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

 

Madugalle 11, D S de Silva 11, S.Wettimuny 10, Mendis 9, Dias 8, Ranatunga 8, Ravi Ratnayeke 7, de Mel 6, de Alwis 5, John 5, Silva 1, P A de Silva 0, Anurasiri 0, Kuruppu 0, Samaranayeke 0, Vonhagt 0, Yusuf 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

N Chanmugam

Manager

M Rajasingham

Assistant manager

G G A Saulez

Scorer

D V Smith

Coach

 

Neilendran Chanmugam was an off-spin bowler with Sinhalese Sports Club in the 1960s and 1970s who later became the director of a TV company.  He continued as manager of the side on the 1984-85 tri-series tour of Australia.

Muthuweli Rajasingham was team manager for Sri Lanka's inaugural Test match against England in 1981-82 and assistant manager on the under-23 side's tour of Pakistan in 1984,  and he became a leading member of the Sri Lankan Board. 

Ranjith Fernando was originally made the assistant manager following the withdrawal of Anura Tennekeoon, before he then also withdrew from the tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Abu Fuard (chairman of selectors),  Neil Chanmugan,  Ranjith Fernando,  Ian Pieris.

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

Unavailable: Rumesh J Ratnayeke (shoulder injury - his place was taken by Samaranayeke).

Tour Party Announced :  6 July 1984.

Not selected : Roshan Mahanama,  Sanath Kaluperuma,  Sumithra Warnakulasuriya.

 

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka

  13 days

(6 July to 19 July)

 

 

 

 

Travel

Colombo  Q   London

 

Four of the team, (Wettimuny, Madugalle, de Mel and Aravinda de Silva) flew to England some weeks before the start of the tour to practice at the M.C.C. indoor school at Lord's.   Funded by the Sri Lankan Cricket Foundation, they left on 7 July.  

The main team flew from Katunayake International Airport, Colombo, at midnight on Thursday 19 July, arriving the following day at London Airport where they were met by Arthur Pinto, the Board's representative in England. Practice sessions were held at The Oval next day.

 

Time spent in England

   50 days

(20 July - 8 September)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements (1)

 

D B Kuruppu  

Bfd

22

LHB   second WK

 

Brendon Kuruppu was brought in when Guy de Alwis returned home early.  De Alwis was ruled out of the tour in the second game with two broken fingers in his left hand and arrived home on 23 August.

Six of the tour party suffered from food poisoning after an evening meal in Cleethorpes.

Ranjan Madugalle was given a black eye by a drunk who attacked him in Canterbury.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

a

Cleethorpes

Nottinghamshire

Drawn

b

The Oval

Surrey

Lost  159 r

c

Cheltenham

Gloucestershire

Drawn

d

Southampton

Hampshire

Drawn

e

Canterbury

Kent

Drawn

f

†Arundel

Duchess Norfolk's XI

Won  1 w

g

Hove

Sussex

Drawn

h

LORD'S

ENGLAND Test Match

DRAWN

i

Birmingham

Warwickshire

Drawn

j

Scarborough

D B Close's XI

Drawn

 

 

 

 

 

† not first-class

§  one-day international

 

Time spent in England before First Test: 

34 days

(20 July - 23 August)

 

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

1 - de Mel, Aravinda de Silva, DS de Silva, Dias, John, Madugalle, Mendis, Ranatunga, Ratnayeke, Silva, Wettimuny

0 - Anurusiri,  de Alwis,  Kuruppu,  Samaranayeke,  Vonhagt,  Yusuf.

 

 

 

 

 

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

S D Anurasiri

 

 

 

x

 

 

x

 

x

x

R G de Alwis

x

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A L F de Mel

x

x

 

x

 

x

x

T

 

x

D S de Silva

x

x

x

 

x

x

 

T

 

 

P A de Silva

 

 

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

x

R L Dias

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

x

V B J John

x

x

x

 

x

x

 

T

 

 

D B Kuruppu

 

 

 

 

x

x

 

 

x

x

R S Madugalle

 

x

x

x

 

x

x

T

x

x

L R D Mendis

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

 

 

A Ranatunga

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

T

x

x

Ravi Ratnayeke

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

T

x

x

A Samaranayeke

 

 

 

x

x

 

x

 

x

x

S A R Silva

x

 

x

x

 

 

x

T

x

x

D M Vonhagt

x

x

 

x

x

 

 

 

x

 

S Wettimuny

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

T

 

x

M M Yusuf

x

 

x

 

x

 

 

 

x

 

    R E S U L T S

D

L

D

D

D

W

D

D

D

D

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

  Sidath Wettimuny's 190 at Lord's, batting 642 minutes, was the longest innings played in a Lord's Test match.

  Sri Lanka, put in to bat by England, racked up 491 for 7 declared.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 F

W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  1

0

0

1

-

Other first-class matches

  8

0

1

7

-

ϯ Minor matches

  1

1

0

0

-

§ One-day internationals

  0

-

-

-

-

All Matches

10

1

1

8

-

 

 

 

 

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

 

 

 

 

Return to Sri Lanka

London  Q   Colombo

 

The team returned from England on Saturday 8 September 1984. They were given a team reception at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Monday 10 September.

Three team members (Aravinda de Silva, von Hagt and Amal Silva) stayed back in England and did not return to Colombo until 24 September.

 

 

Time away from Sri Lanka 

   52 days  

(19 July - 9 September)

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

 

 

 

Other Test tours in 1984

 

 

Australians to

England  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 CONTENTS OF THE TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT

 

 




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