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Test Cricket Tours - Australia to Sri Lanka 2003-04


 

 

Tour of Sri Lanka 2003-04                 Captain: Ricky Ponting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia’s 75th Test tour

 

(February - March 2004)

 

 

Fourth Test-playing tour of  Sri Lanka by Australia

 

  (previous visit in 1999)

 

 

 

 

Cricket Australia agreed to play two extra one-day internationals to help the cash-strapped Sri Lankan Board raise an additional $A million. In return, Sri Lanka would play two Test matches in the northern states during Australia's 2004 winter.

The Australians recovered from their defeat by India at home in the Australian summer 2003-04 and inflicted the first-ever whitewash in a series (3 -nil) on Sri Lankan soil.

However, none of Australia’s victories in these three exciting Test matches was easy, and in each case they trailed on first innings but were allowed to recover from what might have been a losing position. Disadvantaged by batting second, Sri Lanka always had to chase runs against Shane Warne.

After his year-long ban for taking a prohibited diuretic, Warne returned to the team. He was spinning the ball more than ever and, given some dry pitches, captured 26 wickets in the series. He became the second bowler (after Courtney Walsh) to take 500 wickets in Test cricket, just beating Muralitharan to the achievement.

To compound his disappointment, Muralitharan learned at the end of the series that I C C match referee Chris Broad was reporting him for delivering his doosra with a suspect action. This looked harsh given that Murali’s doosra had passed scrutiny by umpires long enough to capture a total of 513 Test wickets.

Earlier Mike Procter, ICC match referee for the 2nd one-dayer, had fined Adam Gilchrist 50% of his match fee for dissent against umpire Peter Manuel giving Andrew Symonds out lbw, a level-one breach of the ICC's Code of Conduct. Manuel had quickly changed his mind and called Symonds back.

 

 

Other Australian Tours

 

 

Previous tour

West Indies 2002-03

 

 

Next tour

India 2004-05

 

 

 

Next tour of Sri Lanka 

2011

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party  (15  + 1)

 

 

Opening batsmen:  Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer

Middle-order batsmen:  Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds

Wicket-keepers:  Adam Gilchrist, Wade Seccombe

Spin bowlers:  Stuart MacGill, Shane Warne

Fast bowlers:  Jason Gillespie,  Michael Kasprowicz, Brad Williams, Brett Lee (replaced by Shaun Tait).

 

 

 

A C Gilchrist

WA  

32

WK     LHB     vice-captain

ODI

 

J N Gillespie

SA  

28

RFM

ODI

 

M L Hayden

Qld  

32

LHB  opener

ODI

 

M S Kaprowicz

Qld

31

RFM

ODI

 

S M Katich

NSW

28

LHB

ODI

 

J L Langer

WA  

33

LHB  opener

 

 

B Lee

NSW

27

RF

ODI

 

D S Lehmann

SA 

34

LHB        SLA

 

 

D R Martyn

WA  

32

RHB

ODI

 

S C G MacGill

NSW 

32

LBG

 

 

R T Ponting

Tas  

29

RHB       captain

ODI

 

W A Seccombe

Qld

32

reserve WK

 

 

A Symonds

Qld  

28

RHB     RM

ODI

 

S K Warne

Vic  

34

LBG

 

 

B A Williams

WA  

29

RFM

ODI

 

Selected for limited-overs squad only:

M G Bevan (NSW  ⋄)

ODI

 

M J Clarke   (NSW  ⋄)

ODI

 

B J Haddin   (NSW )

ODI

 

I J Harvey  (Vic  )

ODI

 

G B Hogg  (WA   ⋄)

ODI

 

 

 

  

  

 

State representation

   Pura Cup teams

NSW   New South Wales (3)

Qld  Queensland (4)

SA   South Australia (2)

Tas   Tasmania (1)

Vic   Victoria (1)

WA  Western Australia (4)

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(8 March 2004) :

   30 yrs 7 months

 

 

 

 

 

ODI - member of the squad for the Mobitel one-day international series

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Warne 107,  Ponting 75,  Langer 71,  Gilchrist 51,  Hayden 50,  Gillespie 49,  Martyn 39,  Lee 37,  MacGill 30,  Kasprowicz 17,  Lehmann 15,  Katich 6,  Williams 3,  Seccombe 0,  Symonds 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Steve Bernard

Manager

John Buchanan

Coach

Alex Kountouris

Physiotherapist

Jock Campbell

Fitness adviser

Tim Nielsen

Assistant coach/ performance analyst

Jonathan Rose

Media manager

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Trevor Hohns  (chairman),  Andrew Hilditch,  David Boon,  Allan Border.

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

One-day squad announced:  9 February 2004.

Unavailable:   Steve Waugh (retired);    Glenn McGrath had two operations to remove bone spurs from his foot. Both he and Shane Warne were just getting back to playing cricket but the chairman of selectors said “we still need to see Glenn McGrath bowl in first-class match conditions before he can be considered for selection.”

 

Test tour party announced:  20 February 2004.

Not selected :  Michael Clarke (for the Tests),  Andy Bichel,  Nathan Bracken,  Shane Watson.

 

 

Time between selection of one-day squad and departure from Australia

    5 days

  (9 - 14 February)

 

 

 

 

Travel

Melbourne   Q  Colombo

 

 

The team flew out of Melbourne on Saturday 14 February 2004. Ricky Ponting was not available for the press briefing held at the Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo, where questions were handled by the team manager.

 

The Test specialists  Langer, Lehmann, MacGill, Seccombe and Warne flew in during the early hours of Saturday 28 February. Warne had played in Sri Lanka twelve years before on his first tour with the Australian team.

 

 

Time spent in Sri Lanka

   47 days

(14 February - 1 April?)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection

 

 Ricky Ponting (captain),  John Buchanan  (coach),  Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain).

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

S W Tait

SA

21

RF

 

During the warm-up match against a Sri Lanka President's XI  Brett Lee was taken to hospital with a sore left ankle.  On 10 March it was decided to send him home to be treated by an Australian specialist for inflammation at the back of his ankle joint, and next day to call up Shaun Tait - who did not get a game.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

a

ϯ  Moratuwa

Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI (50 overs)

Won 5 w

b

§ Dambulla

Sri Lanka  (1st ODI

Won 84 r

c

§ Dambulla

Sri Lanka  (2nd ODI

Lost 1 r

d

§ Colombo (RPS)

Sri Lanka  (3rd ODI)

Won 5 w

e

§ Colombo (RPS)

Sri Lanka  (4th ODI)

Won 40 r

f

§ Colombo (SSC)

Sri Lanka  (5th ODI)

Lost 3 w

g

Colombo (CCC)

Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI

Won 245 r

h

GALLE

SRI LANKA  First Test

WON 197 r

i

KANDY

SRI LANKA  Second Test

WON 27 r

j

COLOMBO (CCC)

SRI LANKA  Third Test

WON 121 r

 

 

 

 

 

 

not first-class

 

§  one-day international

 

 

 

Time spent in Sri Lanka before First Test: 

  23 days

(14 February - 8 March)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

3  -   Gilchrist,  Gillespie,  Hayden,  Kasprowicz,  Langer,  Lehmann,  Martyn,  Ponting,  Warne.

2  -   MacGill,  Symonds.

1  -   Katich,  Williams.

0  -   Lee,  Seccombe, Tait.

 

 

 

 

 

Match appearances

 

 

 

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

  played for opposition

 

 W won  L lost  D drawn  

N no result   A abandoned

  u unknown result

 

 

 

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

A C Gilchrist

x

o

o

o

o

o

 

T

T

T

J N Gillespie

x

o

o

o

o

 

 

T

T

T

M L Hayden

x

o

o

o

o

 

 

T

T

T

M S Kaprowicz

x

 

 

o

o

o

x

T

T

T

S M Katich

x

 

 

 

 

o

x

 

 

T

J L Langer

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

T

T

T

B Lee

x

o

o

 

 

o

x

 

 

 

D S Lehmann

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

T

T

T

D R Martyn

x

o

o

o

o

o

 

T

T

T

S C G MacGill

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

T

T

 

R T Ponting

x

o

o

o

o

 

x

T

T

T

W A Seccombe

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

 

 

 

A Symonds

x

o

o

o

o

o

x

T

T

 

S W Tait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S K Warne

 

 

 

 

 

 

x

T

T

T

B A Williams

x

o

 

 

 

o

x

 

 

T

M G Bevan

 

o

o

o

o

o

 

 

 

 

M J Clarke

x

o

o

o

o

o

 

 

 

 

B J Haddin

 

 

 

 

 

o

 

 

 

 

I J Harvey

x

 

o

o

o

 

 

 

 

 

G B Hogg

x

o

o

o

o

o

 

 

 

 

    RESULTS 

W

W

L

W

W

L

W

W

W

W

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia’s six previous Test tour results:

 

 

 

in West Indies 2003 (4 Tests)

 - won 3-1

in UAE v Pakistan 2002 (3 Tests)

 - won 3-0

in South Africa 2001-02 (3 Tests)

 - won 2-1

in England 2001 (5 Tests)

 - won 4-1

in India 2000-01 (3 Tests)

 - lost 1-2

in New Zealand 1999-00 (3 Tests)

 - won 3-0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

   Gilchrist equalled his own one-day international record with six catches in the innings in the fourth ODI

   Andrew Symonds, Man of the one-day Series, scored 211 runs at an average of 105.5

   Shane Warne took ten wickets in his first match back from suspension (5-116 and 5-43).  He went on to take 26 wickets at 20.03 in the Test series as well as becoming the second bowler to pass 500 wickets in Test cricket

   Darren Lehmann hit 129 in the 1st Test; also scoring 153 in the third, as well as taking 3-50 and 3-42.

   Justin Langer, cleared of bringing the game into disrepute the night before, scored 166 in the third Test and in a sixth-wicket partnership with Katich (86) of 218 runs, helped Australia recover from 5 for 98.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

  P

 W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  3

 3

0

0

-

Other first-class matches

  1

 1

0

0

-

ϯ Minor matches

  1

 1

0

0

-

§ One-day internationals

  5

 3

2

0

-

All Matches

10

 8

2

0

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Australia

Colombo   Q  Sydney

 

 

 

Bevan, Clarke, Haddin, Harvey and Hogg returned home after the one-day series. Lee returned home during the first Test because of an ankle injury.

On 1 April the team returned to Australia.

 

Time away from Australia

  48 days  

(14 February  to 2 April?)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

…..

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

In terms of preparation for their tour of India six moths later, coach John Buchanan described the series against Sri Lanka as ‘a watershed' in the way the Australians adapted to conditions and played spin bowling with a better mindset

The University of Western Australia carried out a biomechanical investigation of Muralitharan’s doosra and found it illegal for straightening his arm by more than the five degrees allowed, but questioned why he should be singled out when many other finger spinners did the same.

Having broken Courtney Walsh’s record number of Test wickets in the Zimbabwe series, Muralitharan refused to go on the return tour to Australia four months later after John Howard publicly called Muralitharan a chucker.

On 1 April Hashan Tillakaratne was sacked as Sri Lanka’s Test skipper and Marvan Attapattu, already the one-day skipper, was appointed Test captain in his place.

 

 

 

 

 




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