Tour of Sri Lanka 2006          Captain:  Ashwell Prince
	South Africa’s 40th Test tour   (February - March 2008)       Fourth Test-playing tour of Sri Lanka by South Africa   (previous tour 2004)	The three-match Test series against Sri Lanka was scaled down to two Tests and a single warm-up game so that the triangular series could be played between 10 and 28 August, apparently to allow India to squeeze in an ODI series in America though it was not part of the future tours programme. Ashwell Prince became South Africa’s eighth Test captain since re-admission when Graeme Smith had to withdraw for an operation to his ankle. Despite starting the tour with a convincing performance against Sri Lanka ‘A when Rudolph and Kallis each scored 150, South Africa lost both the Test matches. In the first Test Mahela Jayawardene played an innings of 374 and Sangakkara 287 in a massive partnership of 624 for the third wicket before Muralitharan took ten wickets to win by an innings. Sri Lanka also won the second Test, though by a margin of only one wicket, Murali capturing a further twelve wickets. Following a bomb explosion in Colombo, the South Africans withdrew from the Unitech Cup triangular one-day series and returned home, amid much protest from the Sri Lankan Board.	Other South African tours     Previous Tour Australia 2005-06   Next tour Pakistan 2007-08   Next tour of Sri Lanka 2013  postponed June 2015
	Members of the Test tour party (14)     Opening batsmen  Herschelle Gibbs Middle-order batsmen   Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers Wicket-keeper:  Mark Boucher Spin bowler:   Nicky Boje, Thandi Tshabalala. Fast bowlers  Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn.	H M Amla D 23 RHB     N Boje Eg 33 SLA     M V Boucher CC 29 WK   vice-captain ODI   A B de Villiers T 22 RHB ODI   H H Dippenaar Eg 29 RHB ODI   H H Gibbs CC 32 RHB  opener ODI   A J Hall HL 30 RHB     RFM ODI   A Nel T 29 RFM ODI   M Ntini W 29 RF ODI   S M Pollock D 33 RHB    RFM ODI   A G Prince W 29 LHB   captain ODI   J A Rudolph  + Eg 25 LHB     G C Smith    w/d CC 24 LHB  captain     D W Steyn T 23 RF     M S Tshabalala Eg 21 OB ODI     Joined the tour party for the L Bosman ODI   one-day internationals R J Peterson ODI       R Telemachus ODI       J van der Wath ODI +  added to team before departure	Representation of Supersport Series teams:       CC(Bo, WP) - Cape Cobras (2) D  (KZN) - Dolphins (2) E  (FS, GW) - Eagles (4) HL(G, NW) - Highveld Lions (1) T(Es, No) - Titans (3) W(EP, Br) - Warriors (2)           Average age of  team at time of first Test match (27 July 2006)    28 yrs  2 months
	Test Appearances made before the tour	Pollock 101,  Boucher 94,  Gibbs 77,  Ntini 67,  Boje 41,  Rudolph 33,  Nel 22,  Prince 21,  de Villiers 20,  Hall 17,  Steyn 6,  Amla 5, Tshabalala 0.
	Tour Officials	Goolam Rajah Tour manager Mickey Arthur Coach Vincent Barnes Assistant coach Shane Jabaar Physiotherapist Adrian le Roux Fitness trainer Gordon Templeton Media officer Gustav Obermeyr Computer analyst Faisel Nagel Security officer    ? Masseur
	Selectors	Haroon Lorgat (convenor of the national selection panel),  Mickey Arthur (coach),  Joubert Strydom, Mustapha Khan
	Selection	Unavailable:   Jacques Kallis, recovering from tennis elbow. Test Tour party announced:  13 June 2006. Not selected :  Withdrawal :  Graeme Smith suffered an ankle injury while running, and Ashwell Prince was appointed in his place as South Africa’s first non-white captain. Jacques Rudolph was given Smith’s place in the team. One-day squad announced :  31 July 2006. Mark Boucher took over from Ashwell Prince as one-day captain.	Time between selection and departure from South Africa   35 days (13 June to 18 July)
	Travel   Johannesburg  Q  Colombo	Departure was on 18 July.  The team landed in Sri Lanka on Wednesday 19 July. After the media interviews at the airport, the team were driven to the Taj Samudra hotel Only 12 of the 14 players arrived at this stage. Thandi Tshabalala joined the squad late from Australia where he was representing a junior South Africa team.   Shaun Pollock missed the first Test and arrived on 27 July, having been allowed to stay home with his wife who having their second child.	Time spent in Sri Lanka    30 days (19 July- 18 August)
	On-tour selection panel	Ashwell Prince (captain),  Mickey Arthur (coach),  Haroon Lorgat (on-tour selector for Tests),  Mustapha Khan (on-tour selector for ODI's)
	Reinforcements	Dale Steyn, was retained for the one-day team as cover for Makhaya Ntini due to a hamstring injury.
	Fixtures/Results	a Colombo Colts Sri Lanka A Drawn b COLOMBO (SSC) SRI LANKA  First Test LOST inns 153 r c COLOMBO (PSS) SRI LANKA  Second Test LOST 1 w d ϯ Colombo (SSC) Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI Won 3 w e § Colombo (RPS) Sri Lanka (1st ODI) Abandoned f § Colombo (SSC) Sri Lanka (2nd ODI) Cancelled g § Colombo (SSC) Sri Lanka (3rd ODI) Cancelled h § Colombo (RPS) Sri Lanka (4th ODI) Cancelled i § Colombo (RPS) Sri Lanka (5th ODI) Cancelled	† not first-class §  one-day international   Time spent in Sri Lanka before First Test:  8 days (19 July - 27 July)
	Test appearances on tour   (v Sri Lanka 2006)	2  -  Amla,  Boje,  Boucher,  de Villiers,  Gibbs,  Hall,  Ntini,  Prince,  Rudolph,  Steyn 1  -  Nel,  Pollock. 0  -  Dippenaar,  Tshabalala.
	Match appearances     T  Test match o  one-day international  x other match  ⊕ T/20 international      W won  L lost  D drawn   N no result   A abandoned   u unknown result	a b c d e f g h i H M Amla                   N Boje                   L Bosman                   M V Boucher                   A B de Villiers                   H H Dippenaar                   H H Gibbs                   A J Hall                   A Nel                   M Ntini                   R J Peterson                   S M Pollock                   A G Prince                   J A Rudolph                   D W Steyn                   R Telemachus                   M S Tshabalala                   J  J van der Wath                     R E S U L T S   D L L W A C C C C	South Africa’s six previous Test tour results:     in Australia 2005-06 (3 Tests)  - lost 0-2 in West Indies 2004-05 (4 Tests)  - won 2-0 in India 2004-05 (2 Tests)  - lost 0-1 in Sri Lanka 2004 (2 Tests)  - lost 0-1 in New Zealand 2003-04 (3 Tests)  - drawn 1-1 in Pakistan 2003-04 (2 Tests)  - lost 0-1
	Highlights	• In the first Test at Colombo SSC South Africa were 587 behind as Andrew Hall (64) and Jacques Rudolph (90) began South Africa’s 2nd innings with an opening stand of 165. •  Mark Boucher scored 85 in 4 hours to continue the defiance against Murali's bowling. •  At Colombo PSS Prince (86) and de Villiers (95) retrieved South Africa from 4-70 with a stand of 161, even gaining a first innings lead
	Tour Summary	F W L D Aban Cancelled Test Matches 2 0 2 0 - - Other first-class matches 1 0 0 1 - - †Minor matches 1 1 0 0 - - § One-day internationals 5 0 0 0 1 4 All Matches 9 1 2 1 1 4	F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   T  Tied   D Drawn   Canc  Cancelled Aban  abandoned
	Return to South Africa Johannesburg  Q  London	The Test specialists Nicky Boje, Hashim Amla and Jacques Rudolph left Colombo for Johannesburg early on Wednesday 9 August. After a bomb killed seven people in Colombo, the South Africans held a team meeting on Monday night 14 August.  Players were unanimous that they should call off the tour and go home, but the decision was made by Cricket South Africa in the light of security reports.  They left on 18 August and arrived home on Saturday 19 August.	Time away from South Africa   32 days   (18 July to 19 August)
	Finances	Sri Lanka Cricket would have asked Cricket South Africa to compensate them for the financial damage incurred following the team's pull out but Olive Group who reported on security was appointed by ICC, and their report concluded it was not safe.
	Accounts of the tour
	Postscript	The tour should be remembered for Kumar Sangakka and Jayawardene sharing the world record stand of 624, and Murali’s bowling, but this became overshadowed by the South Africans going home early. The Sri Lankans promised “presidential levels of security” but an independent security analyst described the risk to the players as being at an unacceptable level  so the team was consequently withdrawn. The Sri Lankan Board criticised the security consultants for not visiting Colombo to inspect recent security measures, after their report led to South Africa abandoning the tri-series tournament.
	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 (Bombay) , 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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