Test Cricket Tours Sri Lanka to New Zealand 1990-91

Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to New Zealand 1990-91

Tour of New Zealand 1990-91           Captain: Arjuna Ranatunga

© Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s eleventh Test tour

(January - March 1991)

Second Test-playing tour of New Zealand by Sri Lanka
(previous tour 1982-83)

The tour got off to the worst possible start when, following the team announcement, new manager Stanley Jayasinghe announced his disappointment with the chosen tour party. He said he would be withdrawing but was persuaded to proceed by Sports Minister Nanda Mathew. However, it obviously caused friction with the squad.
At the end of the tour Mr Nanda released the manager's tour report to the press, in which Jayasinghe complained about the conduct of skipper Ranatunga and a lack of support from his assistant manager. Of Ranatunga's captaincy, the manager's report said "His conduct on the field in relation to umpires was questionable and at times embarrassing". A commission of enquiry confirmed that Ranatunga was guilty of misconduct and that Paranathala had not supported his manager properly. A key incident was when Dhammika's finger was broken, the manager wanted to send him home, but Arjuna later joined by the assistant manager opposed this action. However, with the support of the President of the Board and doctors' reports, Jayasinghe insisted it was done. The assistant manager was found guilty of misconduct in the report by the one-man fact-finding committee Vimal Wickremasuriya. Paranathala subsequently resigned as a selector but remained chairman of the Board's Umpires' Committee.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour
To India 1990-91

Next tour
To England 1991

Next tour of New Zealand
1994-95

Members of the Test tour party (16 + 3)

Opening batsmen: Roshan Mahanama, Charith Senanayeke, Dammika Ranatunga, Hashan Tillekeratne.
Middle-order batsmen: Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Asanka Gurusinha.
Wicket-keepers: Roshan Kaluwitharana, Hashan Tillekeratne
Spin bowlers: Ranjith Madurasinghe, Asoka de Silva, Jaya Warnaweera.
Fast bowlers: Champaka Ramanayake, Graeme Labrooy, Kapila Wijegunawardene, Rumesh Ratnayeke

E A R de Silva
NCC
34
LB

P A de Silva
NCC
25
RHB vice-captain

A P Gurusinha
NCC
24
LHB

S T Jayasuriya
CCC
21
LHB

R S Kaluwitharana
BRC
21
second WK

G F Labrooy
CCC
26
RFM

A W R Madurasinghe
Ku
30
OB

R S Mahanama
CCC
24
RHB opener

C P H Ramanayake
T U
26
RFM

A Ranatunga
SSC
27
LHB   captain

D Ranatunga
SSC
28
RHB opener

Rumesh J Ratnayeke
NCC
27
RFM

C P Senanayake
CCC
28
LHB opener

H P Tillekeratne
NCC
23
LHB opener   WK

K P J Warnaweera
Ga
30
RM/OB

K I W Wijegunawardene
CCC
26
RFM


Average age of team at time of first Test match
(31 January 1991) :
    26 yrs 8 months

Representation of clubs :
BRC: Burgher Recreation Club (1)
CCC: Colombo (5)
G Galle (1)
Ku: Kurunegala (1)
NCC: Nondescripts (4)
SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (3)
TU: Tamil Union (1)

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

A Ranatunga 27, PA de Silva 18, RJ Ratnayeke 16, Gurusinha 10, EAR Silva 7, Mahanama 7, Labrooy 6, Ramanayeke 4, Senanayake 3, D Ranatunga 2, Tillekeratne 2, Warnaweera 2, Madurasinghe 1, Wickremasinghe 1, Jayasuriya 0, Kaluwitharana 0, Wijegunawardene 0, Hathurasinghe 0.

Tour Officials

Stanley Jayasinghe
Manager
Jayantha Paranathala
Assistant manager
Lal Thamal
Physiotherapist

Jayantha Paranathala played for Sri Lanka Police Sports Club and Burgher Recreation CC. He also represented Sri Lanka in several unofficial test matches, as an opening bowler and left-handed middle order batsman during the 1970s under the captaincy of Anura Tennekoon. He was Chairman of the Umpires Committee and an Executive Committee member of the Sri Lankan Board.
He and Jayasinghe were appointed as managers on 7 December.
Jayasinghe told the Cricket Board on 7 January that he was no longer available but Minister Nanda Mathew insisted he should go on the tour.

Selectors

M H Tissera (chairman), J Paranathala, A Polonowita, M M Yusuf.

Selection

Unavailable Ranjan Madugalle retired in mid-1990 and did not play in the new first-class domestic tournament.
Tour Party Announced :   5 January 1992.
Stand-bys: A G D Wickremasinghe (NCC), M S Atapattu (SSC), M A R Samarasekara (CCC), G P Wickremasinghe (Matara CC), S D Anurasiri (Pa).

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
8 days
(5 January to 13 January)

Travel
Colombo  Q Wellington

The Sri Lankans got back from the Asia Cup tournament in Calcutta on Saturday 5 January and would have only a week at home before the New Zealand tour. Asoka de Silva had by now recovered from a fracture to his hand.
The team left Katunayake Airport, Colombo, for Singapore on Sunday 13 January. After an 11-hour flight from Singapore, they reached Wellington on the afternoon of Monday 14 January. Graham Dowling, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Cricket Council was present to meet them but there were no crowds of expatriate supporters.

Time spent in New Zealand
   x days
(14 January - depart Host)

On-tour selection panel

Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Stanley Jayasinghe, Jayantha Paranathala..

Reinforcements (3)

U C Hathurasinghe
Moors
22
RHB

D S B P Kuruppu
BRC

U C Hathurasinghe (Moors) 22, replaced Dhammika Ranatunga, who broke a finger in the first match of the tour and was to be sent home. Jayasinghe relented when the tour committee urged him not to see the decision through but then changed his mind.
Hathurasinghe flew to Dunedin on 4 February. He got into the Test side after Mahanama fractured a finger fielding in the first Test and also had to return home early. Mahanama flew home on 12 February despite team members' attempts to keep him back. Brendon Kuruppu was sent to replace Mahanama.
G P Wickremasinghe (SSC), 26, also joined the tour party but he did not play.

Fixtures/Results

a
Palmerston North
Emerging Players ("Robbie Burns XI")
Drawn
b
Wellington
Wellington
Drawn
c
§ Napier
New Zealand (1st ODI)
Lost 5 w
d
§ Auckland
New Zealand (2nd ODI)
Lost 41 r
e
WELLINGTON
NEW ZEALAND First Test
DRAWN
f
§ Dunedin
New Zealand (3rd ODI)
Lost 107 r
g
Nelson
Central Districts
Won 7 w
h
Christchurch
Canterbury
Drawn
i
HAMILTON
NEW ZEALAND Second Test
DRAWN
j
AUCKLAND
NEW ZEALAND Third Test
DRAWN

† not first-class
§ one-day international

Time spent in New Zealand before First Test:
17 days
(14 January - 31 January)

Test appearances on tour

3 - Aravinda de Silva, Asoka de Silva, Gurusinha, Labrooy, Ramanayake, Arjuna Ranatunga, Rumesh Ratnayeke, Senanayeke, Tillekeratne.
2 - Hathurusinghe, Jayasuriya.
1 - Mahanama, Warnaweera.
0 - Kaluwitharana, Madurasinge, Dhammika Ranatunga, Wijegunawardene, Wickremasinghe.

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
EAR de Silva
x
x
o
o
T
o

x
T
T
PA de Silva
x
x
o
o
T
o
x

T
T
AP Gurusinha
x
x
o
o
T
o
x
x
T
T
C Hathurusinghe

x
x
T
T
ST Jayasuriya
x
x
o
o

o
x
x
T
T
R Kaluwitharana

o
x
x

GF Labrooy
x
x
o
o
T

x
T
T
R Madurasinghe
x

x

RS Mahanama
x
x
o
o
T

CPH Ramanayake
x
x
o
o
T
o
x

T
T
A Ranatunga
x
x
o
o
T
o

x
T
T
D Ranatunga
x

Rumesh Ratnayeke

o
o
T
o

T
T
CP Senanayake

x
o
o
T
o
x
x
T
T
HP Tillekeratne
x
x
o
o
T
o
x
x
T
T
J Warnaweera

T

x
x

P Wickremasinghe

K Wijegunawardene

x

o
x
x

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

Highlights

• Aravinda de Silva scored 267 in the First Test, the record high score for Sri Lanka.
• Asanka Gurusinha (119 and 102) scored a century in each innings of the 2nd Test at Hamilton.

Tour Summary

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

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

Return to Sri Lanka
Auckland  Q Colombo

Dhammika Ranatunga was sent home early.
Mahanama flew home on 12 February despite team members' attempts to keep him back, even offering to let him stay in their rooms to support the cost.
   (Last match in Auckland ended 5 March)

.

Time away from Sri Lanka
    x days
(13 January to March)

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1990-91

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