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Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Australia 1989-90

 

 

Tour of Australia 1989-90          Captain: Arjuna Ranatunga

 

 

 

 

©  Test Cricket Tours

 

 

 

Sri Lanka’s ninth Test tour

(November 1989 -

          January 1990)

 

 

 

Second Test-playing tour of Australia by Sri Lanka

(previous tour 1987-88)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Lanka was starved of first-class cricket because of the political disturbances and unrest at home. The Sri Lankan Board, originally awarded a three-Test series until the Australian Board reduced it to a single Test to be held at the new Test venue of Hobart, complained that they could not develop without playing Test matches - and reminded Australia it had supported their elevation to Test cricket in 1981. Australia's Board, despite the likely financial loss, relented and arranged a second Test at Brisbane.

This was Sri Lanka's fourth tour of Australia and the longest to date with 27 matches in a hastily-rearranged schedule to which the Sri Lankans reluctantly agreed.

Ian Pieris, President of Sri Lanka's Board for Control, resigned his post when the Minister of Sports, Nanda Matthew, would not agree to Messrs Fuard and Fernando's appointments as officials for the tour. The Minister had wanted three names submitted for each post but the Board would not comply.

Former captain Madugalle was dropped from the Sri Lankan squad, so Arjuna Ranatunga became captain for the Nehru Cup and retained the job for the Australian tour.

Aravinda de Silva, acting captain in the match against Tasmania, was involved in a scuffle with the Tasmanian bowler Rod Tucker, for which he late apologised. The last minutes of the second Test match at Hobart were also spoiled by an unpleasant argument between Healy and Ratnayeke. After the match Ranatunga lodged an official protest about Australian sledging, saying racist comments had been made to his young batsmen, but he would not substantiate his allegations so nothing could be done about it.

 

 

Other Sri Lankan Tours

 

 

Previous tour

England 1988

 

 

Next tour 

India 1990-91

 

 

 

Next Australian tour

1995-96

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (16  +  2)

 

 

Opening batsmen: Roshan Mahanama, Athula Samarasekera, Dammika Ranatunga.

Middle-order batsmen: Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Asanka  Gurusinha.

Wicket-keeper:Gamini Wickremasinghe, Hashan Tillekeratne

Spin bowlers: Ranjith Madurasinghe, Asoka de Silva

Fast bowlers: Champaka Ramanayake, Graeme Labrooy, Kapila Wijegunawardene, Ravi Ratnayeke, Rumesh Ratnayeke

 

 

E A R de Silva

NCC

33

LB

 

 

P A de Silva

NCC

24

RHB  deputy captain

 

 

A P Gurusinha

NCC

23

LHB

 

 

S T Jayasuriya

CCC

20

LHB

 

 

G F Labrooy

CCC

25

RFM

 

 

A W R Madurasinghe

Ku

28

OB

 

 

R S Mahanama

CCC

23

RHB  opener

 

 

C P H Ramanayake

T U

24

RFM

 

 

A Ranatunga

SSC

26

LHB   captain

 

 

D Ranatunga

SSC

27

RHB  opener

 

 

J Ravi Ratnayeke

NCC

29

LHB  RFM  vice captain

 

 

Rumesh J Ratnayeke

NCC

25

RFM

 

 

M A R Samarasekara

CCC

28

RHB  opener,   RM

 

 

H P Tillekeratne

NCC

22

LHB  second WK

 

 

A G D Wickremasinghe

NCC

23

WK

 

 

K I W Wijegunawardene

CCC

25

RM

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(8 December 1989) :

     25 yrs  10 months

 

 

 

 

Representation of clubs :

CCC: Colombo (5)

Ku: Kurunegala Youth (1) 

NCC: Nondescripts (6)

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 24, Ravi Ratnayeke 20, PA de Silva 15, Rumesh Ratnayeke 14, Gurusinha 7, Asoka de Silva 5, Mahanama 4, Kuruppu 3, Labrooy 3, Ramanayeke 2, Madurasinghe 1, Samarasekera 1, Jayasuriya 0, Kalpage 0, D Ranatunga 0, Tillekeratne 0, Wickremasinghe 0, Wijegunawardene 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Nisal Seneratne

Manager

Anura Polonowita.

Assistant manager

Geoffrey Saulez

Scorer

 

The Board's Executive Committee appointed Abu Fuard and Ranjith Fernando as the management team in September 1989. When their names were not approved by the Sports Ministry they informed the Cricket Board they were no longer available.  The Committee met again on 29 October and agreed on the choice of Seneratne and Polonowita. 

Nisal Seneratne was the Sri Lankan Board secretary in two spells of three years each. He was team manager in England when Test status was gained in 1981 and again in the 1987 World Cup.

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

 Anura Tennekoon (chairman),  Ranjith Fernando,  Michael Tissera and Mumtaz Yusuf.

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

Ranatunga was announced as captain on 2 November.

Unavailable   -

Tour Party Announced :  6 November 1989.

Not selected :  Duleep Mendis

Stand-bys:   Ashley de Silva (CCC),  Brendon Kuruppu (BRC),  Ruwan Kalpage (NCC),  Nilantha Ratnayeke (SSC).

 

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka

  7 days

(6 to 13 November)

 

 

 

 

Travel

Colombo  Q  Canberra

 

Sri Lankan participation in the Nehru Cup ended on 27 October and they returned to Sri Lanka on 1 November.

The touring party flew from Colombo via Singapore on the morning of Monday 13 November and arrived in Canberra on Tuesday 14 November.

 

Time spent in Australia

   x days

(14 November - depart Host)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements (2)

 

R S Kalpage

NCC

29

OB

 

N Ratnayeke 

SSC

20

RMF

 

Ruwan S Kalpage and Nilantha Ratnayeke, a fast-medium bowler on a scholarship from the Sri Lankan Cricket Foundation to play grade cricket in Melbourne, joined the team to play against the Australian Academy at Adelaide.   

Brendon Kuruppu (BRC), 27, was brought in for the later stages of the one-day series.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

a

Canberra

New South Wales

Drawn

a’

Sale, Melbourne

Victoria

Lost  inns 3 r

b

Adelaide

South Australia

Drawn

c

BRISBANE

AUSTRALIA  First Test

DRAWN

d

HOBART

AUSTRALIA  Second Test

LOST  173 r

e

†Melbourne

Victoria

Lost  109 r

f

†Hastings

Victoria Country XI

Lost  3 w

g

§ Melbourne

Australia (1st ODI)

Lost  30 r

h

§ Perth

Australia (2nd ODI)

Lost  9 w

i

§ Perth

Pakistan (3rd ODI)

Won  3 w

j

§ Melbourne

Australia (4th ODI)

Lost  73 r

k

Devonport

Tasmania

Drawn

l

†Adelaide

Australian Academy

Drawn

m

†Port Lincoln

S Australia Country XI

Won  35 r

n

†Bendigo

Australian Country XI

Drawn

o

†Coff's Harbour

New South Wales

Lost  81 r

p

†Grafton

NSW Country XI

Won  3 w

q

†Rockhampton

Queensland

Drawn

r

†Rockhampton

Queensland

Lost  5 r

s

†Caloundra

Queensland Country XI

Won  7 w

t

†Perth

Western Australia

Won  4 w

u

†Perth

Western Australia

Lost  65 r

v

†Brookton

W Australia Country XI

Won  63 r

w

§ Brisbane

Pakistan (5th ODI)

Lost  5 w

x

§ Hobart

Pakistan (6th ODI)

Lost  6 w

y

§ Adelaide

Pakistan (7th ODI)

Lost  27 r

z

§ Adelaide

Australia (8th ODI)

Lost  7 w

 

 

 

† not first-class

§  one-day international

 

 

Time spent in Australia before First Test: 

24 days

(14 November - 8 December)

 

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

2 -  Aravinda de Silva, Asoka de Silva, Gurusinha, Labrooy,  Mahanama,  Ramanayake,  Arjuna Ranatunga, Dhammika Ranatunga, Ravi Ratnayeke,

1 -  Rumesh Ratnayeke,  Samarasekera,  Tillekeratne, Gamini Wickremasinghe.

0 -  Jayasuriya,  Madurasinghe,  Wijegunawardene.

 

 

 

 

 

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

a’

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

E A R de Silva

 

x

x

T

T

x

x

o

 

 

o

x

x

 

x

x

 

x

x

x

 

x

x

o

o

o

o

P A de Silva

x

x

x

T

T

x

 

o

o

o

o

x

x

 

 

x

 

 

x

x

x

x

x

o

o

o

o

A P Gurusinha

x

x

x

T

T

x

x

o

o

o

o

 

x

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

o

o

o

o

S T Jayasuriya

x

x

x

 

 

 

x

o

o

o

o

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

o

 

 

o

R Kalpage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B P Kuruppu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

o

o

o

G F Labrooy

x

 

x

T

T

 

 

o

o

o

o

x

 

 

x

 

 

 

 

 

x

 

 

 

o

o

 

R Madur'singhe

x

 

 

 

 

 

x

 

 

 

 

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

 

x

 

 

 

o

R S Mahanama

 

x

x

T

T

x

 

o

o

o

o

 

 

x

 

x

x

x

x

 

x

 

 

o

o

o

 

C Ramanayake

 

 

x

T

T

x

x

 

 

 

 

x

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

 

o

 

 

 

A Ranatunga

x

x

 

T

T

x

 

o

o

o

o

 

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

o

o

o

o

D Ranatunga

x

x

x

T

T

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

 

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

 

 

 

 

NLK Ratnayeke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

x

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

x

o

 

 

 

J R Ratnayeke

x

x

x

T

T

 

x

o

o

o

o

 

x

x

 

x

x

x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R J Ratnayeke

 

x

 

 

T

x

x

o

o

o

o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

x

x

o

o

o

o

A Sama'sekara

x

 

x

T

 

x

x

o

o

o

o

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

 

x

 

o

o

o

o

H Tillekeratne

x

 

x

 

T

x

x

o

o

o

o

x

x

 

x

x

x

x

x

 

x

x

 

o

o

o

o

G Wick'singhe

x

x

 

T

 

 

x

 

 

 

 

x

x

x

x

 

 

 

 

x

 

 

x

 

 

 

 

K Wij'wardene

 

x

 

 

 

x

x

 

o

o

 

 

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

 

 

x

 

o

o

o

  R E S U L T S

D

L

D

D

L

L

L

L

L

W

L

D

D

W

D

L

W

D

L

W

W

L

W

L

L

L

L

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

 Aravinda de Silva made Sri Lanka's third highest Test score of 167 at Brisbane and shared a national 7th wicket record partnership of with Ravi Ratnayeke.

 Rumesh Ratneyeke took 6 wickets for 66 runs at Hobart.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 F

W

 L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  2

0

  1

1

-

Other first-class matches

  4

0

  1

3

-

ϯ Minor matches

13

5

  5

3

-

§ One-day internationals

  8

1

  7

0

-

All Matches

27

6

14

7

-

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Return to Sri Lanka

  Q   Colombo

 

Last match in Adelaide on 18 Feb 1990.

 

Time away from Sri Lanka   

        x days  

(13 November  to arrive home)

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

 

 

 

Other Test tours in 1989-90

 

 

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

 

 




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