Test Cricket Tours Sri Lanka to Australia 1995-96

Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Australia 1995-96

Tour of Australia 1995-96      Captain: Arjuna Ranatunga

© Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s eighteenth Test tour
(November 1995 -
        January 1996)

Third Test-playing tour of Australia by Sri Lanka
(previous tour 1989-90)

This tour set the Sri Lankans back again though they arrived full of confidence after success in Pakistan and Sharjah but could not resist Australia in the three Test matches until they were as good as lost. Strong second innings batting performances by Sri Lanka could not prevent defeat. The tourists reached the finals of the ODI 'World Series', where the crowd was swelled to 72,000 by expatriate supporters, but lost twice to Australia. They would have their revenge in the forthcoming Wills World Cup.
The 1995-96 tour saw the most controversial in Australia since Bodyline. The results in the Test series were overshadowed by controversial umpiring decisions, alleged incidents of sledging, injuries and, worst of all, by the ball tampering allegations and the Muralitharan 'throwing' affair.
At Perth Sri Lanka became the first Test side to be convicted of ball tampering, though play continued with the offending ball which was not withdrawn as evidence. The Sri Lankans were angered that the accusation was endorsed too impulsively by match referee Grahame Dowling, a decision overturned by the I.C.C. a fortnight later.
In the following Test at Melbourne Darrell Hair called Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing. The Sri Lankans protested that Murali had been unable to straighten his elbow since birth and gave only a visual impression of throwing. However, Ross Emerson umpiring his first ODI at Brisbane also repeatedly called him, even when Murali deliberately altered his action. This was the last match he played on the tour. By the end of the one-day finals, steadily worsening relations led most of the Sri Lankans to snub Taylor the Australian captain's approach to shake hands.
The itinerary between the first and second Tests provided the Sri Lankans with only two days of cricket in a fortnight.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour
Pakistan 1995-96

Next tour
New Zealand 1996-97

Next Australian tour
2004

Members of the Test tour party (16 + 1)

Opening batsmen:Chandika Hathurusinghe, Sanath Jayasuriya, Roshan Mahanama
Middle-order batsmen:Aravinda de Silva
Wicket-keepers:Chamara Dunusinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana
Spin bowlers : Kumar Dharmasena, Jayantha Silva
Fast bowlers: Manjula Munasinghe, Chaminda Vaas, Eric Upashantha, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Pramodya Wickremasinghe.

P A de Silva
NCC
30
RHB vice-captain
ODI

H D K Dharmasena
Bfd
24
OB
ODI

C I Dunusinghe
Ant
25
WK
ODI

A P Gurusinha
SSC
29
LHB
ODI

U C Hathurusinghe
T U
27
RHB opener
ODI

S T Jayasuriya
Bfd
26
LHB opener SLA
ODI

R S Kaluwitharana
G
26
second WK
ODI

R S Mahanama
Bfd
29
RHB opener
ODI

A M N Munasinghe
SSC
23
RFM
ODI

M Muralitharan
T U
23
OB
ODI

K S Pushpakumara
NCC
20
RFM
ODI

A Ranatunga
SSC
32
LHB captain
ODI

S Ranatunga
NCC
26
LHB
ODI

K J Silva
SSC
22
SLA
ODI

H P Tillekeratne
NCC
28
LHB   one-day WK
ODI

E A Upashantha
Ct
23
RFM
ODI

C U Vaas
Ct
21
LFM
ODI

G P Wickremasinghe
SSC
24
RFM
ODI


Average age of team at time of first Test match
(8 December 1995) :
    26 yrs 7 months

Key to clubs :
Ant: Antonians (1)
B'fd: Bloomfield (3)
Ct: Colts Cricket Club (2)
G Galle (1)
NCC: Nondescripts (4)
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

Arjuna Ranatunga 59, Aravinda de Silva 50, Gurusinha 36, Mahanama 35, Tillekeratne 33, Hathurusinghe 21, Muralitharan 21, Wickremasinghe 20, Jayasuriya 16, Vaas 9, Dharmasena 8, Kalpage 8, Sanjeeva Ranatunga 7, Kaluwitharana 6, Pushpakumara 6, Dunusinghe 5, Munasinghe 0, Silva 0, Upashantha 0.

Tour Officials

L R D Mendis
Manager
D F Whatmore
Coach
Alex Kountouri
Physiotherapist

Australian physiotherapist Alex Kountouri, 27, from Melbourne took over from Dan Kiesler, who was dropped.

Selectors

Duleep Mendis (chairman), .......

Selection

Unavailable:
Tour Party Announced : 27 October 1995.
Not selected: The selectors decided to send 18 players but there was still no room for Ruwan Kalpage.

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
19 days
(27 October to 15 November)

Travel
Colombo Q Hong Kong   Q Sydney

Chaminda Vaas and Manjula Munasinghe were sent to Sydney in advance on 3 November to be treated for their injuries.

The team assembled at Bandaranaike International Airport (Katunayake), and in the early hours of Wednesday 15 November 1995 left on Cathay Pacific Airlines for Hong Kong, taking a connecting flight to Sydney. They arrived in Australia on Thursday morning 16 November, and flew to Brisbane to play their first match at Cairns.

Time spent in Australia
   x days
(16 November - depart Host)

On-tour selection panel

Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Duleep Mendis, Dav Whatmore.

Reinforcements (1)

R S Kalpage
Bfd
25
OB
ODI

Ruwan Kalpage (Bf'd) was flown out 9 January after Muralitharan was no-balled by Emerson and played within hours of arriving on 9 January. Arjuna Ranatunga (hand injury) and Mahanama were unable to play the final Test.

Fixtures/Results

a
† Cairns
Queensland
Lost 46 r
b
Mackay
Queensland
Lost 273 r
c
† Devonport
Tasmania
Won on scoring rate
d
Launceston
Tasmania
Drawn
e
PERTH
AUSTRALIA First Test
LOST inns 36 r
f
§ Adelaide
West Indies (1st ODI)
Won 4 w
g
§ Sydney
Australia (2nd ODI)
Lost 5 w
h
MELBOURNE
AUSTRALIA Second Test
LOST 10 w
i
§ Hobart
West Indies (3rd ODI)
Lost 70 r
j
§ Brisbane
West Indies (4th ODI)
Lost 7 w
k
§ Melbourne
Australia (5th ODI)
Won 3 w
l
§ Perth
Australia (6th ODI)
Lost 83 r
m
§ Perth
West Indies (7th ODI)
Won 16 r
n
§ Melbourne
Australia (8th ODI)
Won 3 w
o
§ Melbourne
Australia (1st final)
Lost 18 r
p
§ Sydney
Australia (2nd final)
Lost 8 r
q
Wangaratta
Victoria
cancelled
r
ADELAIDE
AUSTRALIA Third Test
LOST 148 r

† not first-class
§ one-day international

Time spent in Australia before First Test: 22 days
(16 November - 8 December)

Test appearances on tour

3 - de Silva, Gurusinha, Hathurusinghe, Kaluwitharana, Tillekeratne, Vaas, Wickremasinghe.
2 - Dharmasena, Mahanama, Muralitharan, Arjuna Ranatunga.
1 - Jayasuriya, Pushpakumara, Sanjeeva Ranatunga, Silva.
0 - Dunusinghe, Munasinghe, Upashantha.

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
p
q
r
P A de Silva
x
x
x

T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
K Dharmasena
x

x
x
T
o
o

o

o
o
o
o
o
o

T
C I Dunusinghe

x

A P Gurusinha
x

T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
C Hathurusinghe

x
x
x
T

T
o
o

T
S T Jayasuriya
x

x

o
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
R S Kalpage

o
o

o

R Kaluwitharana
x
x
x
x
T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
R S Mahanama
x
x
x
x
T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

M N Munasinghe

x

o
o
o

o

M Muralitharan
x
x
x

T
o
o
T
o
o

K Pushpakumara
x
x

o
o
o
o
o

T
A Ranatunga
x
x
x
x
T
o
o
T

o
o
o

S Ranatunga

x
x
x

o

T
K J Silva

x

x

T

H P Tillekeratne
x
x

T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
E A Upashantha
x

o

C U Vaas

x
x
T
o
o
T
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

T
P Wickremasinghe

x
x

T
o
o
T

o
o
o

o
o

T
   R E S U L T S
L
L
W
D
L
W
L
L
L
L
W
L
W
W
L
L
C
L

Highlights

• There were second innings Test centuries for Tillekeratne (119 at Perth), Gurusinha (143 at Melbourne) and the recalled Jayasuriya (112 at Adelaide) but none was able to stave off defeat.
•

Tour Summary

F
W
L
D
Aban
Canc
Test Matches
3
0
3
0
-
-
Other first-class matches
3
0
1
1
-
1
ϯ Minor matches
2
1
1
0
-
-
§ One-day internationals
10
4
6
0
-
-
All Matches
18
5
11
1
-
1

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

Return to Sri Lanka
        Q Colombo

On Saturday night 3 February 1996 the Sri Lanka team returned and was received at the Bandaranaike (Katunayake) International Airport by the Minister of Sports. They had only a few days' break to get over the bitter experience of their 3-nil Test whitewash in Australia, before assembling for the World Cup tournament practice sessions.

Time away from Sri Lanka
    80 days
(15 November - 3 February)

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1995-96

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