Tour of Pakistan 1999-2000            Captain: Sanath Jayasuriya

©  Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s twenty-sixth Test tour

(February - March 2000)

Sixth Test-playing  tour of Pakistan by Sri Lanka           

   (previous tour 1998-99)

Sri Lanka won another Test series, their third in a row. New captain Jayasuriya had now led his team to series victories over Australia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. The first Test at Rawalpindi produced an exciting ninth wicket stand of 43 between Kaluwitharana and Arjuna Ranatunga, who returned to the crease with a broken thumb, to beat Pakistan.

After winning the first two Test matches, the absence of Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga through injury made a difference, and Pakistan recorded a compensation victory at Karachi.

Dilshan was again in trouble, accused of throwing the ball at umpire Riazuddin, who had made a number of controversial decisions.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour

To Zimbabwe 1999-00

Next tour

To South Africa 2000-01

Members of the Test tour party (16)

Opening batsmen:,Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jaysuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana.

Middle-order batsmen:  Russel Arnold,  Mahela Jayawardene, Indika de Saram, Tillekeratne Dilshan.

Wicket-keeper Chamara Silva

Spin bowlers:Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Muthumudalige  Pushpakumara

Fast bowlers:  Ian Gallage, R Pushpakumara, Chaminda Vaas, Promodya Wickremasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa

Late additions to team for the Test series

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

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(26 February 2000) :

     25 yrs  7 months.

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

Ranatunga 86,  P A de Silva 79,  Muralitharan 48,   Jayasuriya 44,  Wickremasinghe 36,  Vaas 34,  Kaluwitharana 33,  Atapattu 29,  K R Pushpakumara 19,  Jayawardene 15,  Arnold 12,  Zoysa 8,  de Saram 3,  Dilshan 3,  Herath 2,  Chandana 1,  Gallage 1,  M Pushpakumara 0,  L P C Silva 0.

Tour officials

Kehelgamuwa returned as tour manager and again saw the team victorious in an overseas Test series.

Selectors

Sidath Wettimuny (chairman),  T B Kehelgamuwa,  A L F de Mel,  Brendon Kuruppu.

Selection

A squad of 22 names was asked to report for training on 6 January 2000.  Aravinda de Silva was not among them as he was not playing in the domestic tournament, but Arjuna Ranatunga was.

Also omitted: Upekka Fernando, Ranga Herath, Prasanna Jayawardene, Nimesh Perera,  Kumara Sangakkara, while Muthumudalige Pushpakumara was added.

Nuwan Zoysa was chosen subject to a fitness test on his hamstring and Eric Upashantha was on stand-by.

The team of fifteen for the ODI series was announced on 19 January and some changes would then be made for the Test series.  Murali, Arjuna and Aravinda were all omitted.

Unavailable:  Ruchira Perera and Suresh Perera (both stress fractures)

Test Tour Party Announced :  18 February 2000.

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka

  18 days

(19 January to 6 February)

Travel

Colombo  Q   Rawalpindi

Left Colombo on morning of 6 February 2000. was scheduled to arrive in Karachi at 11:30am but their arrival was delayed for more than 12 hours. After a 12-hour flight delay, the team arrived in Karachi at midnight.

Time spent in Pakistan

   41 days

(6 February - 18 March?)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Indika de Saram, M Pushpakumara and Chamara Silva went home after the ODIs when Aravinda de Silva,  Ranatunga  and Herath joined the party.  Arjuna Ranatunga had to go to Australia for hospital treatment after breaking his left thumb, so de Saram came back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka. 

Aravinda had a knee problem. Nuwan Zoysa was also injured and returned home early.

Fixtures/Results

(1) National Stadium, Karachi

(2) United Bank Sports Complex

(3) Khan Research Laboratories Ground

(4) Rawalpindi Stadium

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in Sri Lanka before First Test: 

     20 days

(6 February - 26 February)

Test appearances on tour

3 -  Arnold,  Atapattu,  Jayasuriya,  Jayawardene,  Kaluwitharana,  Muralitharan,  Vaas,  Wickremasinghe

2 -  P A de Silva,  K R Pushpakumara,  Dilshan.

1 -  de Saram,  Ranatunga,  Zoysa.

0 -  Chandana,  Gallage,  Herath,  M Pushpakumara,  Silva.

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

Highlights

•  Muralitharan took 26 wickets, a total which had never been reached in a 3-Test series before.

Tour Summary

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

Return to Sri Lanka

    Q   Colombo

The three players not required for the Test series returned to Sri Lanka on 19 February.

16 March 2000 (published date due to return 18th)

Time away from Sri Lanka    41 days  

(6 February  to 18? March)

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1999-00

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