| Tour of Pakistan 2008-09 Captain: Mahela Jayawardene | |
| | | © Test Cricket Tours | |
| Sri Lanka’s 43rd Test tour ( January ODI tour, February - March 2009) Ninth Test-playing tour of Pakistan by Sri Lanka (previous tour 2004-05) | A terrorist attack by Islamist extremists turned this into Sri Lanka's last tour of Pakistan to date; and the final tour made by any country to Pakistan. India had already brought its tours of Pakistan to a close. The Indian government would not permit its team to travel across the border into Pakistan for a three-Test series following the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. In their place Sri Lanka agreed to come. It was a split tour with three one-day internationals followed by a fortnight's break before a two-Test series, the first Test tour of Pakistan since October 2007. The Sri Lankan government said sport was "a good way of enhancing friendship and mutual goodwill". The tour came as a relief to the PCB but inadequate security arrangements soon put an end to any further international cricket in Pakistan. Masked men opened fire as the Sri Lanka team bus approached Lahore’s cricket stadium for the second Test match. Five players and the assistant coach were injured, Samaraweera and Mendis badly so. The second Test was immediately called off following the attack and the tourists returned home as soon as possible. | Other Sri Lankan Tours Previous tour Bangladesh 2008-09 Next tour India 2009-10 Next tour v Pakistan 2011-12 in UAE | |
| Members of the Test tour party (15 + 1) Opening batsmen: Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana Middle-order batsmen: Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sagakkara (wk), Chamara Kapugadera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tilan Samaraweera Wicket-keeper: Prasanna Jayawardene. Spin bowlers : Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis Fast bowlers :Dilhara Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, Suranga Lakmal, Thilina Thushara Mirando, Farveez Maharoof replaced byNuwan Kulasekera | T M Dilshan | Bf'd | 32 | RHB | ODI | | C R D Fernando | SSC | 29 | RFM | ODI | | M D Jayawardene | SSC | 31 | RHB | ODI | | P W Jayawardene | Bf'd | 29 | WK | | | C K Kapugerera | CCC | 21 | RHB | ODI | | R A S Lakmal | T U | 21 | RFM | | | M F Maharoof | NCC | 24 | RHB RMF | ODI | | B A W Mendis | Army | 23 | OB | ODI | | M Muralitharan | T U | 36 | OB | ODI | | N T Paranavitana | SSC | 26 | LHB opener | | | T T Samaraweera | SSC | 32 | RHB | | | K C Sangakkara | NCC | 31 | LHB WK vice-captain | ODI | | M T Thushara | SSC | 27 | LFM | ODI | | C U Vaas | Ct | 35 | LFM | | | S M Warnapura | Ct | 29 | LHB opener | | | Chosen as part of one-day squad only: | S T Jayasuriya | ODI | | S H T Kandamby | ODI | | | | M D N Kulasekara | ODI | | | | A D Mathews | ODI | | | | J Mubarak | ODI | | | | W U Tharanga | ODI |
|  Average age of team at time of first Test match (21 February 2009) : 29 yrs 2months. Club representation: Army: Sri Lankan Army Sports Club (1) Bf'd: Bloomfield (2) CCC: Colombo (1) Ct: Colts Cricket Club (2) NCC: Nondescripts (2) SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (5) TU: Tamil Union (2) 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 | Muralitharan 125, Vaas 109, M Jayawardene 100, Sangakkara 78, Dilshan 50, Samaraweera 47, Fernando 31, P Jayawardene 23, Maharoof 20, Warnapura 9, Kapugedera 7, Mendis 3, Thushara 3, Paranavitana 0, Lakmal 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Brendon Kuruppu | Manager | Trevor Bayliss | Coach | Paul Farbrace | Assistant coach | Ranjith Nanayakkarawasam | Physiotherapist | Jade Roberts | Trainer | Nalin de Alwis | Computer Analyst | Lal Thamel | Masseur | Don Anurasiri | Selector on tour |
SLC followed its policy of naming managers on a tour by tour basis with Kuruppu appointed to take over from Jayantha Paranathala, who was the manager for the Bangladesh visit. Kuruppu, who retired from cricket in 1991, became a commentator and coach of the Tamil Union team. | | |
| Selectors | Asantha de Mel (chairman), Don Arunasiri, Ranjith Madurasinghe and Jayantha Seneviratne. Their term originally ended in March 2008 but the Minister of Sport extended it. | | |
| Selection | Unavailable: none known One-day party announced: 9 January 2009 Stand by: Ishara Amarasinghe, Malinga Bandara, Chamara Silva, Mahela Udawatte
Test Tour Party Announced : 3 February 2009. Not selected : Michael Vandort and fast bowler Dammika Prasad. Following a meeting with the national selectors on 11 February the Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardena announced that he would stand down as Sri Lanka captain after the Test series with Pakistan. | Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka 11 days (Test team) (Tests: 3 to 14 February) | |
| Travel Colombo Q Karachi | The Sri Lankans landed in Karachi from Bangladesh on Sunday 18 January to play three day-night ODIs. The Test team left Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters for the airport at 5:45 pm on Saturday 14 February 2009 and landed at Quaid-e-Azam International Airport in Karachi at 5:00 am on Sunday 15 February. | Time spent in Pakistan 24 days (ODIs 18 January - 25 January) (Tests 15 February - 4 March) | |
| On-tour selection panel | Don Anurasiri (selector on tour), Trevor Bayliss (coach), Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain). | | |
| Reinforcements (1) | M D N Kulasekera | Ct | 26 | RFM | ODI |
Nuwan Kulasekera for Farveez Maharoof who strained a groin muscle in practice before the first Test. Doctors decided that Maharoof needed to rest the injury, which required an early return home. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | § Karachi | Pakistan (1st ODI) | Lost 8 w | b | § Karachi | Pakistan (2nd ODI) | Won 129 r | c | § Lahore | Pakistan (3rd ODI) | Won 234 r | | | | | d | � Karachi | PCB Patron's XI (90 overs) | Lost 112 r | e | KARACHI | PAKISTAN First Test | DRAWN | f | LAHORE | PAKISTAN Second Test | DRAWN |
| � not first-class § one-day international Time spent in Pakistan on Test tour before First Test: 6 days (15 February - 21 February) | |
| Test appearances on tour | 2 - Dilshan, Fernando, M Jayawardene, P Jayawardene, Mendis, Muralitharan, Paranavitana, Samaraweera, Sangakkara, Warnapura. 1 - Thushara, Vaas. 0 - Kapugadera, Lakmal. | | |
| 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 | T M Dilshan | o | o | o | | x | T | T | C R D Fernando | | | | | x | T | T | S T Jayasuriya | o | o | o | | | | | D M Jayawardene | o | o | o | | x | T | T | H P W Jayawardene | | | | | x | T | T | S H T Kandamby | | o | o | | | | | C K Kapugerera | o | o | o | | | | | M D N Kulasekara | o | o | o | | | | | R A S Lakmal | | | | | x | | | M F Maharoof | o | o | o | | x | | | A D Mathews | | | | | | | | B A W Mendis | o | o | o | | x | T | T | J Mubarak | o | | | | | | | M Muralitharan | o | o | o | | x | T | T | N T Paranavitana | | | | | x | T | T | T T Samaraweera | | | | | x | T | T | K C Sangakkara | o | o | o | | x | T | T | W U Tharanga | | | | | | | | M T Thushara | o | o | o | | x | | T | C U Vaas | | | | | x | T | | S M Warnapura | | | | | x | T | T | R E S U L T S | L | W | W | | L | D | D |
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| Highlights | • In the 3rd one-day international at Lahore Sri Lanka inflicted Pakistan’s heaviest defeat (234 runs) • In the Karachi Test Mahela Jayawardene (240) and Tilan Samaraweera (231) each scored double centuries. • They added 437 runs for the 4th wicket, beating May and Cowdrey's stand of 411 at Edgbaston in 1957 • Samaraweera then scored 214 at Lahore becoming the sixth batsman to score double centuries in consecutive Tests. | | |
| Tour Summary | | F | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | - | Other first-class matches | 0 | - | - | - | - | ϯ Minor matches | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | § One-day internationals | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | Å T20 internationals | 0 | - | - | - | - | All Matches | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| F Fixtures W Won L Lost D Drawn T Tied Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned | |
| Return to Sri Lanka Lahore Q Colombo | The one-day squad returned home from Lahore on Monday 26 January. Farveez Maharoof flew home injured during the first Test. The team bus was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test match against Pakistan when it came under attack by gunmen. Several Sri Lankan cricketers were injured, none of them critically, but six policemen and two civilians died in the attack. The driver Mohammad sped on to the stadium where an Army helicopter airlifted the players to Lahore Airport and they returned home on a Sri Lankan Airlines flight. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse specially chartered the plane from Abu Dhabi to bring the team back home after the incident. The cricket team arrived at Colombo's Bandaranayeke International Airport at about 3:50 am on Wednesday 4 March 2009. The team's return saw emotional reunions with anxious family members None of the injured Sri Lanka team members was so seriously hurt that they could not fly back to Colombo but once they arrived, five players and assistant coach Paul Farbrace, who is British, went to the local hospital for further checks. | Time away from Sri Lanka 26 days (ODIs 18 January - 26 January) (Tests 14 February - 4 March) | |
| Postscript | Since March 2009 it has not been possible for an international cricket tour to take place in Pakistan. Instead, for their home series Pakistan have played at the neutral venue of United Arab Emirates. | | |
| Other Test tours in 2008-09 | 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 CONTENTS OF THE TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT | |