Test Cricket Tours Sri Lanka to Australia 2007-08

Test Cricket Tours - Sri Lanka to Australia 2007-08

Tour of Australia 2007-08              Captain: Mahela Jayawardene

© Test Cricket Tours

Sri Lanka’s fortieth Test tour

(October - November 2007)

(ODIs January to March 2008)

Fifth Test-playing tour of Australia by Sri Lanka
   (previous tour 2004)

It was a split tour with the one-day series against Australia and India played after New Year. The Sri Lankans lost both Tests against Australia. Before the tour it was asked why they were not offered to play three Test matches and one of them in Melbourne where a large contingent of Sri Lankans emigres live.
The team underperformed until, chasing a victory target of 507 in the Hobart Test, the Lankan second innings reached 410 all out. Unfortunately, ICC umpire Rudi Koertzen made a controversial decision to give Sangakkara out which extinguished the tourists’ chance of victory.
Marvan Atapattu was not originally chosen for the tour and included only after a request made by Sri Lanka's sports minister. Following an outburst during the first Test in which he called the selectors "a bunch of muppets headed by a joker", Sri Lanka Cricket decided to postpone any disciplinary action and not to send him home but Marvan announced his retirement from playing international cricket at the end of the tour.
Muttiah Muralitharan anticipated receiving a hostile reception as he had on previous tours from crowds because of his bowling action. In 1995-96 Darrell Hair had no-balled Murali in a Test at Melbourne and in 1998-99 Ross Emerson no-balled him at the Adelaide Oval, sparking a walk-off led by the skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. Nothing happened on field but members of the Sri Lankan camp were the target of verbal abuse in Hobart when Muralitharan was part of a group walking from a restaurant to the team hotel. The on-tour selector was hit on the back by an egg, later condemning security provided by Cricket Australia for the team.
Returning in January, Sri Lanka were knocked out of the Commonwealth Bank tri-series. They ended the tour on a brighter note with a consolation victory against Australia in the final match, only to find they were being penalised for a slow over rate.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour
New Zealand 2006-07

Next tour
West Indies 2007-08

Next tour of Australia
2012-13

Members of the Test tour party (17 + 1)


Opening batsmen : Marvan Atapattu, Michael Van Dort, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga.
Middle-order batsmen: Chamara Silva, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Jehan Mubarak, Thilan Samaraweera
Wicket-keeper:Prasanna Jayawardena
Spin bowlers: Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.
Fast bowlers: Lasith Malinga, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, Chanaka Welagedera plus Sujeewa de Silva (reinforcement)

M S Atapattu     added
36
SSC
RHB opener

C M Bandara
27
Rag
LB

C R D Fernando
28
SSC
RFM

S T Jayasuriya
38
Bfd
LHB opener       SLA
ODI

M D Jayawardene
30
SSC
RHB   captain
ODI

P W Jayawardene
28
Sb
WK

M F Maharoof
23
NCC
RFM

S L Malinga
24
NCC
RF
ODI

J Mubarak
26
CCC
LHB opener

M Muralitharan
35
TU
OB
ODI

T T Samaraweera
31
SSC
RHB

K C Sangakkara
29
NCC
LHB   WK        vice-captain
ODI

L P C Silva
27
Sb
RHB
ODI

W U Tharanga
22
NCC
LHB opener
ODI

C U Vaas
33
Ct
RFM
ODI

M G Vandort
27
CCC
LHB opener

C A Welegedera
26
Ms
LFM
ODI

Appeared in ODI series only
D I Amerasinghe
ODI

T M Dilshan
ODI

C A Kapugedera
ODI

D K (Dilruwan) Perera
ODI



Average age of team at time of first Test match
(8 November 2007):
29 yrs 4 months.

Club representation
Bf’d: Bloomfield (1)
CCC: Colombo (2)
Ct: Colts Cricket Club (1)
Ms : Moors (1)
NCC: Nondescripts (4)
Rag: Ragama (1)
Sb: Sebastianites (2)
SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (4)
TU: Tamil Union (1)

ODI : Member of squad after New Year for the Commonwealth Bank ODI series

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

Muralitharan 113, Jayasuriya 107, Vaas 98, Atapattu 88, M Jayawardene 88, Sangakkara 67, Samaraweera 39, D Fernando 26, Malinga 24, Tharanga 22,   Maharoof 18, P Jayawardene 12, van Dort 9, Bandara 8, Mubarak 8, Chamara Silva 5, Sujeewa de Silva 3, Welegedera 0.

Tour Officials

Shriyan Samararatne
Tour Manager
Trevor Bayliss
Coach
Paul Farbrace
Assistant Coach
Tommy Simsek
Physiotherapist
Jade Roberts
Trainer
Nalin de Alwis
Computer Analyst
Sanantha Algama
Media manager
Lal Thamel
Masseur
Ranjith Madurusinghe
Selector on tour

Selectors

Ashantha de Mel (chairman), Don Anurasiri, Ranjith Madurasinghe and Jayantha Seneviratne.

In July 2007 Gamini Lokuge, the Sri Lankan sports minister announced that Ashantha de Mel would remain in charge of the National Selection Committee.

Selection

Unavailable Marvan Atapattu declined to play in the home Test series against Bangladesh and informed the selectors that he was unable to attend a meeting to discuss his availability for the tour down-under. They announced that Jayasuriya would take his place. Upul Chandana announced his retirement from international cricket in September 2007.
Tour party announced   5 October 2007.
Stand bys:   Tillekeratne Dilshan and Nuwan Kulasekara.
On 18 October the selectors decided to include former captain Marvan Atapattu in the team following the request from the Minister of Sports and Recreation. Atapattu agreed to make himself available.

Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka
18 days
(5 October to 23 October)

Travel
Colombo   Q  Sydney

The team left Colombo for Sydney on Tuesday 23 October 2007, and then on to Adelaide, arriving on Wednesday morning 24 October to play a hastily-arranged extra tour match against a Chairman’s XI to prepare for the Test series.

Time spent in Australia
   x days
(24 October - depart Host)

On-tour selection panel

Trevor Bayliss (coach), Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-captain), Ranjith Madurusinghe (selector on tour).

Reinforcements (1)

W R S de Silva
28
CCC
LMF

Sujeewa de Silva was called for after Chanaka Welegedera tore his quadriceps muscle in the first tour match against the Chairman’s XI.

Fixtures/Results

a
† Adelaide
Cricket Australia Chairman's XI
Drawn
b
Brisbane
Queensland
Lost 4 w
c
BRISBANE
AUSTRALIA   First Test
LOST inns 40 r
d
HOBART
AUSTRALIA   Second Test
LOST 96 r

e
† Canberra
Prime Minister's XI
Won 4 w
f
† Hobart
Tasmania
Lost 7 w
g
§ Brisbane
India (1st ODI)
No result
h
§ Sydney
Australia (2nd ODI)
Lost 128 r
i
§ Canberra
India (3rd ODI)
Won 8 w
j
§ Perth
Australia (4th ODI)
Lost 63 r
k
§ Adelaide
India (5th ODI)
Lost 2 w
l
§ Melbourne
Australia (6th ODI)
Lost 24 r
m
§ Hobart
India (7th ODI)
Lost 7 w
n
§ Melbourne
Australia (8th ODI)
Won 13 r

† not first-class
§ one-day international

Time spent in Australia before First Test:
15 days
(24 October - 8 November)

Test appearances on tour

2 -   Atapattu, Fernando, Jayasuriya, M Jayawardene, P Jayawardene, Maharoof, Muralitharan, Silva, Vandort.
1 -   Malinga, Samaraweera, Sangakkara, Vaas.
0 -   Bandara, S de Silva, Mubarak, Tharanga, Welegedera.

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
k
l
m
n
I D Amerasinghe

x
x
o
o

o
o
o
o
M S Atapattu
x
x
T
T

C M Bandara

x

T M Dilshan

x

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
C R D Fernando
x

T
T

S T Jayasuriya
x
x
T
T

x
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
D M Jayawardene
x
x
T
T

x
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
H P Jayawardene

x
T
T

CK Kapugedera

x
x
o
o
o
o
o

o
o
N Kulasekera

x

o
o

o
M F Maharoof
x
x
T
T

x

o
o
o
o

S L Malinga

x

T

x

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
J Mubarak
x

M Muralitharan
x

T
T

x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
M D K Perera

o
o
o
T T Samaraweera
x
x
T

K C Sangakkara
x

T

x
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
L P C Silva

x
T
T

x
x
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
W U Tharanga

x
x
o
o

C U Vaas

x
T

x

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

M G Vandort
x
x
T
T

C A Welegedera
x

x

      R E S U L T S
D
L
L
L

W
L
N
L
W
L
L
L
L
W

Highlights

• Marvan Atapattu at the top of the order scored 80 on his final Test appearance
• Kumar Sangakkara frustrated the Australian bowlers in a marathon innings of 192 at Hobart.

Tour Summary

F
W
L
D/NR
Aban
Test Matches
  2
0
2
0
-
Other first-class matches
1
0
1
0
-
ϯ Minor matches
3
1
1
1
-
§ One-day internationals
8
2
5
1
-
Å T20 internationals
0
-
-
-
-
All Matches
14
3
9
2
-

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

Return to Sri Lanka
Melbourne Q Singapore Q Colombo

Tharanga, Welegedera and Bandara returned to Sri Lanka before the end of the Test series.
23 November 2007
The one-day squad returned to Australia after the New Year near end of January 2008. They flew home on Saturday 1 March 2008, arriving in Colombo on 2 March 2008.

Time away from Sri Lanka for Test tour
   31 days   + x days
(23 October to 23 November)
( January - 2 March)

Postscript

……..

Other Test tours in 2007-08

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