Tour of Australia 2004            Captain: Marvan Atapattu
			©  Test Cricket Tours
	Sri Lanka’s thirty-third Test tour     (June - July 2004)   Fourth Test-playing tour of Australia by Sri Lanka    (previous tour 1995-96)	After losing all three Test matches on Australia's visit to Sri Lanka in March 2003, Sri Lanka made a winter visit for a two-Test series in the tropical north of Australia. World record-holder Muttiah Muralitharan pulled out of his second tour of Australia after Australian Prime Minister John Howard's remarks made at a function that he was 'a chucker'.  Nevertheless Murali travelled to Sydney where, with Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, he took part in promotional events to celebrate their bowling feats. Australia easily beat Sri Lanka in the first Test match.  Although leg-spinner Shane Warne created history by equalling the then world record of 527 Test wickets held by Muralitharan, the match finished in a draw with Australia falling two wickets short of victory.	Other Sri Lankan Tours   Previous tour Zimbabwe 2003-04   Next tour Pakistan 2004-05   Next tour of Australia 2007-08
	Members of the Test tour party  (15)     Opening batsmen:  Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya Middle-order batsmen:   Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera Wicket-keeper: Romesh Kaluwitharana Spin bowlers :Rangana Herath, Upul Chandana Fast bowlers: Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga       ⋄ contracted players (March 2004)	R P Arnold NCC    ⋄ 30 RHB    M S Atapattu SSC     ⋄ 33 RHB   opener   captain   U D U Chandana NCC    ⋄ 32 LB   T M Dilshan Bf'd     ⋄ 27 RHB  opener   C R D Fernando SSC     ⋄ 24 RFM   R K Herath Ms 26 OB   S T Jayasuriya Bf'd     ⋄ 34 LHB  opener       SLA   M D Jayawardene SSC     ⋄ 27 RHB       vice-captain   R S Kaluwitharana Ct       ⋄ 34 WK   M F Maharoof Bf'd 19 RFM   S L Malinga Ga 20 RF   M Muralitharan      w/d TU      ⋄   OB   T T Samaraweera SSC     ⋄ 27 RHB       (OB)   K C Sangakkara NCC     ⋄ 26 RHB        WK   C U Vaas Ct        ⋄ 30 RFM   D N T Zoysa SSC 26 LFM	Average age of  team at time of first Test match    (1 July 2004)            28 yrs 2 months.       Representation of clubs Bf'd: Bloomfield (3) Ct: Colts Cricket Club (2) Ga : Galle Cricket Club (1) Ms : Moors Sports Club  (1) NCC: Nondescripts (3) SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club. (5)                 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	Jayasuriya 88,  Vaas 76,  Atapattu 73,  Jayawardene 59,  Kaluwitharana 44,  Arnold 43,  Sangakkara 38,  Zoysa 28,  Samaraweera 18,  Dilshan 17,  Fernando 14,  Chandana 10,  Herath 1,  Maharoof 2,  Malinga 0.
	Tour Officials	Ajith Jayesekara Manager John Dyson Coach C J Clark Physiotherapist Shane Duff Trainer Sanath Jayasundera Computer Analyst
	Selectors	Ashantha de Mel (new Chairman of Selectors, appointed May 2004),  Aravinda de Silva,  Lalith Kaluperuma (the previous Chairman of Selectors),  Jayantha Paranathala  and  Roger Wijesuriya.
	Selection	Previously, the selectors had appointed their captain for a single series but they asked Marvan Atapattu to lead on the tour to Australia as well as a forthcoming Asia Cup tournament in July and a visit by South Africa in August 2004 for two Test matches. Tour party announced    4  June 2004. De Mel said: "We thought of experience for the two Tests rather than try to experiment with youngsters.” Not selected :  Two contracted players Kumar Dharmasena and Hashan Tillekeratne were not selected Withdrawal   On 15 June Muralitharan handed in a letter to Sri Lankan Cricket saying he would not tour. The selectors felt that. with two other spinners in the team, there was no need for a replacement.	Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka   15 days (4 June to 19 June)
	Travel Colombo  Q	The team flew out of Colombo on the morning of Saturday 19 June 2004, and had four days of acclimatisation in Darwin.	Time spent in Australia  26 days   (19 June - 15 July)
	On-tour selection panel	-
	Reinforcements	None
	Fixtures/Results	a � Darwin Northern Territory XII  (4-day) Won 5 w b DARWIN AUSTRALIA 1st Test LOST 149 r c CAIRNS AUSTRALIA 2nd Test DRAWN	� not first-class   Time spent in Australia before First Test:  12 days (19 June - 1 July)
	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 R P Arnold x T   M S Atapattu   T T U D U Chandana x T T T M Dilshan x T T C R D Fernando x     R K Herath x     S T Jayasuriya x T T D M Jayawardene x T T R S Kaluwitharana x   T M F Maharoof x     S L Malinga x T T T T Samaraweera x T T K C Sangakkara x T T C U Vaas   T T D N T Zoysa   T T   R E S U L T S W L D
	Test appearances on tour	2  -  Atapattu,  Chandana,  Dilshan,  Jayasuriya,  Malinga,  Jayawardene,  Samaraweera,  Sangakkara,  Vaas,  Zoysa. 1  -  Arnold,  Kaluwitharana. 0  -  Fernando,  Herath,  Maharoof.
	Highlights	•  Lasith Malinga had figures of 2-50 and 4-42 on debut at Darwin. •  Upul Chandana took five wickets in each innings (5-109 and 5-101) in the Cairns Test. •  Marvan Atapattu hit a century (113) and Sangakkara with 74 and 66 ensured Sri Lanka would not lose at Cairns.
	Tour Summary	F W L D Aban Test Matches 2 0 1 1 - Other first-class matches 0 - - - - ϯ Minor matches 1 1 0 0 - § One-day internationals 0 - - - - All Matches 3 1 1 1 -	F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned
	Return to Sri Lanka Cairns    Q   Q   Colombo	The touring party left Cairns on 15 July 2004, arriving in Colombo on Thursday morning 16 July, and then travelled again immediately to Dambulla for the Asia Cup tournament.	Time away from Sri Lanka   27 days   (19 June to 16 July)
	Postscript
	Other Test tours in 2004	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

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