Tour of New Zealand 2004-05            Captain: Marvan Atapattu
			©  Test Cricket Tours
	Sri Lanka’s thirty-fifth Test tour (December 2004)  and (March- April 2005)   Fifth official Test-playing tour of New Zealand by Sri Lanka    (previous tour  1996-97)	The Sri Lankans had barely begun the limited-overs section of their tour of New Zealand when the tsunami struck, destroying vast swathes of Sri Lanka's coastline. At first the tour was only suspended for five days of national mourning but the players all wanted to return home and a decision was soon made to abandon the tour. The New Zealanders were keen to salvage something of their season and, after trying to arrange some matches against a world XI, were able to reschedule the Sri Lankan Tests for the autumn, which meant cold and wet weather for the visitors. After matching New Zealand’s high scoring at Napier, the Sri Lankans were emphatically beaten in the second Test at Wellington.	Other Sri Lankan Tours   Previous tour Pakistan 2004-05   Next tour  India 2005-06   Next tour of New Zealand 2006-07
	Players chosen originally for the Test tour party  (15)       Opening batsmen: Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya Middle-order batsmen:  Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Wicket-keepers  Sangakkara and Dilshan Spin bowlers: Rangana Herath, Muttiah Muralitharan Fast bowlers:  Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Lasith Malinga, Farveez Maharoof	R P Arnold NCC 31 LHB ODI   M S Atapattu SSC 34 RHB opener       captain ODI   G I Daniel Bf’d 23 RHB     T M Dilshan B’fd 28 RHB       deputy WK         OB ODI   C R D Fernando SSC 25 RFM ODI   R K Herath Ms 26 SLA ODI   S T Jayasuriya Bf’d 35 LHB opener         SLA ODI   M D Jayawardene SSC 27 RHB      vice-captain ODI   M F Maharoof Bf’d 20 RHB    RFM     S L Malinga G 21 RFM     M Muralitharan T U 32 OB     T T Samaraweera SSC 28 RHB         OB ODI   K C Sangakkara NCC 27 LHB         WK ODI   C U Vaas Ct 30 LFM ODI   D N T Zoysa SSC 26 LFM ODI                 Chosen for the limited-overs matches U D U Chandana ODI       W S (Saman) Jayantha ODI       M D N (Nuwan)  Kulasekara ODI	Average age of original Test tour party at time of proposed first Test match (19 January 2005) :         28 yrs 0 months.     Club representation Bf’d  Bloomfield  (4) Ct:  Colts Cricket Club (1) G :  Galle (1) Ms : Moors (1) NCC: Nondescripts (2) SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (5) 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
	Tour officials	Brendon Kuruppu Manager John Dyson Cricket Coach Shane Duff Physical Trainer C J Clarke Physiotherapist   Kuruppu, having been manager in Pakistan, was reappointed as manager on 25 November.
	Selectors	Asantha de Mel (chairman) and six others: Shabbir Asgarally, Don Anurasiri, Lalith Kaluperuma, Ranjith Madurasinghe, KM Nelson, Promodya Wickremasinghe.
	Selection	A 20-man training pool was announced on 8 November. Marvan Atapattu (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Upul Chandana, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Saman Jayantha, Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Lasitha Malinga, Ian Daniel, Farveez, Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene Muralitharan was not named in the training pool having not yet recovered sufficiently from his shoulder surgery Unavailable   Romesh Kaluwitarana (retired at end of the Pakistan tour). Upul Chandana was flown to Singapore on 24 November for an urgent medical check-up after failing to recover from a respiratory complaint. from the recent tour of Pakistan. Tour Party announced    Wed 30 November 2004. The selectors resisted political pressure to hand over the vice-captaincy to Chaminda Vaas. For the Test series Tilan Samaraweera and Ian Daniel along with Lasith Malinga (who was already called into the one-day sqaud to cover for Zoysa) were due to replace three one-day players Saman Jayantha, Nuwan Kulasekara and Upul Chandana (unless Muralitharan could not regain fitness).	Time between selection and departure from Sri Lanka   16 days (30 November  to 16 December)
	Travel Colombo    Q	Chanting Buddhist monks tied white threads around the wrists of the Sri Lankan cricketers to bless them before the one-day side flew out of Colombo on Thursday 16 December 2004.  The team departed without their coach, John Dyson, who missed the last few days of training to attend to a personal matter in Australia. There were four days of training and then two practice games before the one-day series started. Muttiah Muralitharan was expected to leave for New Zealand in the first week of January.	Time spent in New Zealand    14  +  22 days (17 December - 31 December) (25 March  - 16 April)
	On-tour selection panel	Brendon Kuruppu                (manager),  John Dyson (coach),  Marvan Atapattu (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-captain)
	Reinforcements	The management called Lasith Malinga into the one-day sqaud when Zoysa dislocated a finger. He departed for New Zealand on Christmas Eve, travelling via Singapore. It was decided to keep Zoysa in the squad, though, rather than send him home.
	Fixtures/Results	a † New Plymouth Central Districts (50 overs 12-a-side) No result b † Hamilton Northern Districts  (50 overs) Abandoned c § Auckland New Zealand (1st ODI) Lost 7 w     The tour was abandoned at this point       § Napier (29 Dec) New Zealand (2nd ODI) cancelled   § Queenstown (2 Jan) New Zealand (3rd ODI) cancelled   § Christchurch (4 Jan) New Zealand (4th ODI) cancelled   § Wellington (8 Jan) New Zealand (5th ODI) cancelled   Auckland Auckland cancelled   HAMILTON (19  Jan) NEW ZEALAND  First Test cancelled   WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND  Second Test cancelled	† not first-class §  one-day international
	Return to Sri Lanka Auckland   Q   Colombo	On 27 December the tour was suspended for five days for the national mourning in Sri Lanka.  Then on 29 Dec the tour was abandoned. Manger Kuruppu said. "The team’s mental preparation was not towards cricket by what was happening back home. The players wanted to return home and be with their loved ones not clearly knowing what fate had befallen them." (Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon, 4 January 2005) The players hoped to get home as quickly as possible but were stranded in Auckland because there were no available flights until 31 December. They arrived back at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Saturday 1  January 2005.
		The I C C agreed to postpone the tour without any penalties, and on 11 January New Zealand Cricket re-scheduled it for April to recoup some of their losses, announcing a programme of matches on 2 February.
	Second team selection	Unavailable  R.Kaluwitharana (retired), Nuwan Zoysa (knee), Dilhara Fernando (knee) Muttiah Muralitharan (shoulder) The selectors announced a new 24-man training pool, Dyson returned from Australia to prepare the squad. Saman Jayantha, Jehan Mubarak, Thilan Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene,  Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Nandika Ranjith and Chanaka Welagedara were among those at the training camp not selected for the tour Second tour party announced:  17 March 2005. Not selected :  Russell Arnold and Ian Daniel, out of the original Test tour party last November, were not picked, along with the three above, who were now unavailable through injury.
	Players chosen for the second Test tour party  (14)	M S Atapattu SSC 34 RHB opener       captain     U D U Chandana NCC 32 LB     T M Dilshan B’fd 28 RHB       deputy WK        OB     R K Herath Ms 27 SLA     S T Jayasuriya Bf’d 35 LHB opener         SLA     D M Jayawardene SSC 27 RHB          vice-captain     S Kalavitigoda Ct 27 RHB  opener     M D N Kulasekara G 22 RFM     M F Maharoof Bf’d 20 RHB         RFM     S L Malinga G 21 RFM     P D R Perera SSC 28 LFM     T T Samaraweera SSC 28 RHB      OB     K C Sangakkara NCC 27 LHB       WK     C U Vaas Ct 31 LFM     No limited-overs matches	Club representation Bf’d  Bloomfield  (3) Ct: Colts Cricket Club (2) G : Galle (2) Ms : Moors (1) NCC: Nondescripts (2) SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (4) TU:  Tamil Union (0)         Average age of second tour party at time of first Test match (4 April 2005)  27 yrs  11 months.
	Travel Colombo   Q   Wellington	The Sri Lankans left for New Zealand on March 23 and arrived in Wellington on Friday 25 March.
	Fixtures / results	d Christchurch Major Associations XI Drawn e NAPIER NEW ZEALAND  First Test DRAWN f WELLINGTON NEW ZEALAND  Second Test LOST inns 38 r
	Test appearances on tour	2  -   Atapattu,  Chandana,  Dilshan,  Jayasuriya,  Jayawardene,  Malinga,  Samaraweera,  Sangkkara,  Vaas 1  -   Herath,  Kalavitigoda,  Kulasekara,  Maharoof. 0  -   Perera.
	Match appearances       T  Test match o  one-day international  x other match  ⊕ T/20 international    W won  L lost  D drawn   T tied N no result   A abandoned   u unknown result	a b c   d e f R P Arnold x             M S Atapattu x   o   x T T U  Chandana x   o   x T T G I Daniel               T M Dilshan x   o   x T T C R D Fernando     o         R K Herath x       x T   W S Jayantha x   o         S T Jayasuriya     o   x T T M Jayawardene x   o   x T T S Kalavitigoda         x   T N Kulasekara x   o     T   M F Maharoof x   o   x   T S L Malinga         x T T M Muralitharan               P D R Perera         x     T Samaraweera           T T K Sangakkara x   o   x T T C U Vaas x   o     T T D N T Zoysa x              R E S U L T S N A L   D D L
	Highlights	•   Marvan Atapattu (127) and Mahela Jayawardene (141) helped Sri Lanka to within 63 runs of New Zealand’s huge first-innings total of 561 at Napier. •    Lasith Malinga, after four wickets in the first innings, took 5 for 80 in the second in the first Test at Napier. •    Chaminda Vaas took 6 for 108 in a losing cause at Wellington.
	Tour Summary  (combined results)	F  W L D Aban Canc Test Matches   4  0 1 1 - 2 Other first-class matches   2  0 0 1 - 1 ϯ Minor matches   2  0 0 1 1 - § One-day internationals   5  0 1 0 - 4 All Matches 13  0 2 3 1 7	F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned
	Return to Sri Lanka Wellington    Q   Colombo	The fourth day, 14 April 2005, was the last day’s play in the Wellington Test.	Time away from Sri Lanka    41 days   (16 December - 1 January) and (23 March - 17 April)
	Postscript	Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had agreed to a five-match ODI tour of India arranged at the last minute to follow after the New Zealand trip.  This would have prevented three cricketers fulfilling their contracts with English counties (Jayasuriya with Somerset, Vaas with Worcestershire and Chandana with Gloucestershire) but the trip never took place.. Instead the two countries met in Sri Lanka in July in a triangular for the Indian Oil Cup.
	Other Test tours in 2004-05	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

Powered by Create