Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Pakistan & Bangladesh 1998-99

Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Pakistan & Bangladesh 1998-99

Tour of Pakistan & Bangladesh 1998-99          Captain: H Tillakaratne

First Asian Test Championship
© Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s twenty-fourth Test tour
(March 1999)

Fifth Test-playing tour of Pakistan by Sri Lanka
(previous tour Pakistan 1995-96)

Sri Lanka reached the final of the first Asian Test championship but lost to Pakistan.
Leading players Sanath Jayasuriya and Arjuna Ranatunga were unavailable for the championship final at Dhaka and Sri Lanka lost by an innings.
This tour took the team to three countries: to Lahore in Pakistan to play the match against Pakistan (a dead match because it was already decided that Sri Lanka were through to the final); then to Dhaka in Bangladesh for the final on neutral territory; and then to India to play four ODIs for Pepsi Cup.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour
To England 1998

Next tour
To Zimbabwe 1999-00

Next tour of Pakistan
1999-00

⋆Members of the Test tour party (14 + 2)

Opening batsmen Russel Arnold, Avishka Gunawardene
Middle-order batsmen: Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Hashan Tillakaratne, Chandika Hathurusinghe
Wicket-keeper: Romesh Kaluwitharana
Spin bowlers: Upul Chandana, Niroshan Bandaratilleke, Ruwan Kalpage
Fast bowlers: Suresh Perera, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Ruchira Perera, Sajeewa de Silva

R P Arnold
NCC
25
LHB opener
ODI

M S Atapattu
SSC
28
RHB
ODI

M N Bandaratilleke
T U
23
SLA

U D U Chandana
T U
26
RHB        LB
ODI

K S C de Silva
NCC
28
LFM

D A Gunawardene
SSC
21
LHB opener
ODI

U C Hathurusinghe
Ms
30
RHB
ODI

D M Jayawardene
SSC
21
RHB       vice-captain
ODI

R S Kalpage
NCC
29
OB
ODI

R S Kaluwitharana
Ct
29
RHB      WK

A S A Perera
SSC
21
RFM

R L Perera
SSC
21
LMF

H P Tillakeratne
NCC
31
LHB        deputy captain
ODI

G P Wickremasinghe
SSC
27
RFM
ODI

Members of the ODI squad
H D Boteju
ODI

P A de Silva
ODI

P W Jayawardene
ODI

A Ranatunga
ODI

K E A Upashantha
ODI

C U Vaas
ODI

Average age of team at time of first Test match
(4 March 1999) :
    25 yrs 10 months.

Club representation
B'fd: Bloomfield,
CCC: Colombo,
Ct: Colts Cricket Club
G Galle
Ku: Kurunegala,
Ms : Moors
NCC: Nondescripts,
SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club,
TU: Tamil Union

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

ODI 15 members of the one-day squad for the Pepsi Cup matches in India

Test Appearances made before the tour

de Silva 75, Tillakaratne 54, Wickremasinghe 31, Vaas 27, Hathurusingha 25, Kaluwitharana 25, Atapattu 21, Kalpage 10, Jayawardene 7, K de Silva 6, Bandaratilleke 3, Arnold 4, Ruchira Perera 1, Suresh Perera 1, Chandana 0, Gunawardene 0

Tour Officials

Ranjith Fernando
Manager
Roy Dias
Coach

In mid-tour the BCCSL re-instated Duleep Mendis as cricket manager and D S de Silva as a bowling coach for the triangular tournament in India. Fernando remained as tour manager and Roy Dias a s coach.

Selectors

L R D Mendis (chairman),   A L F de Mel, T B Kehelguwuma, K M Nelson.

Selection

Unavailable:, Arjuna Ranatunga (hamstring pulled batting in the Test in Colombo) replaced as captain by Aravinda de Silva (but he then pulled a groin muscle). Hashan Tillekeratne took the captaincy for Pakistan.
Sanath Jayasuriya had a fractured right arm and needed metal plate inserted above his right wrist after being struck during an ODI in Australia;   Muttiah Muralitharan was unfit.

Tour Party Announced : 1 March 1999.
Not selected:   Eric Upashantha was rested.

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
x days
(1 March to depart Sri)

Travel
Colombo Q Lahore

To Lahore without de Silva and Vaas.
Arrived at Zia International Airport, Dhaka, on 10 March. Twelve cricketers and three officials arrived from Lahore at 9.40am and two (de Silva and Vaas) from Colombo at 12.30.

On-tour selection panel

Hashan Tillekeratne, Mahela Jayawardene, Ranjith Fernando, Roy Dias

Reinforcements (2)

P A de Silva

RHB
ODI

C U Vaas
Ct

LFM
ODI

Suresh Perera and Bandaratilleke went home when Aravinda de Silva and Chaminda Vaaswere able to rejoin the team in Bangladesh.
Arjuna Ranatunga took over as captain in India.
Hemantha Boteju and Eric Upashantha joined the team for the Pepsi Cup matches in India for which Jayasuriya (cracked bone on his right arm), Muralitharan (rotator cuff operation to his right shoulder) and Vaas (fever) were unavailable.

Fixtures/Results

a
LAHORE
PAKISTAN Test Match
DRAWN
b
DHAKA
PAKISTAN Test Match
LOST inns 175 r

c
§ Jamshedpur
Pakistan (1st ODI)
Lost 9 r
d
§ Nagpur
India (2nd ODI)
Lost 80 r
e
§ Vishakhpatnam
Pakistan (3rd ODI)
Won 12 r
f
§ Pune
India (4th ODI)
Lost 51 r

† not first-class
§ one-day international
(Pepsi Cup)

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test:
x days
(arrival - 4 March)

Test appearances on tour
(in the two Asian Championship Tests v Pakistan 1998-99)

2 - Arnold, Atapattu, K.S.C.de Silva, Gunawardene, Jayawardene, Kaluwitharana, Tillekeratne, Wickremasinghe.
1 - Bandaratilleke, Chandana, Aravinda de Silva, Hathurusinghe, Kalpage, Vaas.
0 -   Ruchira Perera, Suresh Perera.

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
R P Arnold
T
T

o

M S Atapattu
T
T
o

o
o
M N Bandaratilleke
T

U D U Chandana

T
o
o
o
o
K S C de Silva
T
T

D A Gunawardene
T
T
o
o
o
o
U C Hathurusinghe
T

o

D M Jayawardene
T
T
o
o
o
o
R S Kalpage
T

o
o
o
o
R S Kaluwitharana
T
T

A S A Perera

R L Perera

H P Tillakeratne
T
T
o
o
o
o
G P Wickremasinghe
T
T
o
o
o
o
H D Boteju

o
o

P A de Silva

T
o
o
o
o
P W Jayawardene

A Ranatunga

o
o
o
o
K E A Upashantha

o
o
C U Vaas

T
o
o

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

Highlights

• N

Tour Summary

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

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

Return to Sri Lanka
Dhaka Q Jamshedpur
Mumbai QColombo

Dhaka Test ends 15 March Then went to India to play four ODIs for Pepsi Cup??
Play Pakistan at Jamshedpur 19 March
Last match at Pune ends 30 March 1999

Time away from Sri Lanka    x days
(depart to 20 March )

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1998-99

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