Tour of United Arab Emirates  2013-14           Captain: Angelo Mathews

to play against Pakistan

©  Test Cricket Tours

49th Sri Lankan Test tour

(December 2013  -

          January 2014)

Sixth Test-playing series abroad against Pakistan by Sri Lanka

  (previous tour 2008-09)

Because the dangers remained too great to invite international teams to Pakistan this series, like that held two years before, had to be played at a neutral venue.  Pakistan's proposed to play a day-night Test but Sri Lankadeclined because the players had no opportunity to practise under floodlights and with the new pink ball.

Other Sri Lankan Tours

Previous tour

Australia  2012-13

Zimbabwe 2013cancelled

Next tour 

England 2014

Next tour to Pakistan

 2017-18

Members of the Test tour party  (16  +  1

Opening batsmen:.Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva.

Middle-order batsmen:  Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Mahela Jayawardane, Dinesh Chandimal,  Angelo Mathews.

Wicket-keeper:Prasanna Jayawardane.

Spin bowlers: Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senananyake, Dilruwan Perera.

Fast bowlers  Nuwan Kulasekara, Vishwa Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal

Left-handed batsman/wicket-keeper Kusal Perera is here known as K J Perera, while off-spinner Dilruwan Perera is here known as D K Perera. They both have the initials M D K.

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(31 December 2013) :

  29 yrs  2 months.

Representation of clubs :

Premier League teams

Bfd : Bloomfield (2)

Ct: Colts Cricket Club (3)

NCC: Nondescripts  (2)

Pan:  Panadura (1)

Rag:  Ragama (1)

SSC: Sinhalese Sports Club (4)

TU:  Tamil Union (3)

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

T20 / ODI  member of limited-overs squad

Test Appearances made before the tour

M Jayawardene  138,  Sangakkara 117,  P Jayawardene 52,  Herath 47,  Mathews 33,  Kulasekara 20,  Lakmal 14,  Thirimanne 10,  Chandimal 7,  Eranga 7,  Karunaratne 6,  Pradeep 4,  J K Silva 3,  V Fernando 0,  D Perera 0, Senanayake 0.

Tour officials

Selectors

Sanath Jayasuriya (chairman),  Hashan Tillakaratne, Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, Chaminda Mendis and Eric Upashantha

Selection

Not considered:   Mahela Jayawardene was given paternity leave for the limited-overs tour because his wife was expecting their first child in December.  Rangana Herath was rested from the Twenty20 squad, and Shaminda Eranga was omitted from the limited-overs tour to manage his workload

One-day and T20 squads announced:  25 November 2013.

Ramith Rambukwella was selected subject to the fitness of his knee, which was injured against New Zealand..

Withdrawal:  Rangana Herath withdrew from the ODI series for personal reasons. Ajantha Mendis who was to be flown back after the T20 matches remained with the squad to take his place.

Unavailable for Tests:  Tillakaratne Dilshan (retired), Chanaka Welegedara (recovering from injury).

Test Tour party Announced:  23 December 2013.

Not selected:   Ajantha Mendis, Thisara Perera (he had been accused of match fixing in the 2013 IPL, a charge which the BCCI vehemently refuted).

Time between selection of ODI side and departure from Sri Lanka

  11 days

(25 November to 6 December)

Travel

Colombo    Q  Dubai

The limited-overs squad’s departure from Colombo was on the evening of 6 December and the team flew in to Dubai on 7 December.

Eight cricketers flew out later to join the Sri Lanka squad for the Test series. Mahela Jayawardene, Rangana Herath, Prasanna Jayawardene, Nuwan Pradeep, Dilruwan Perera, Shaminda Eranga, Kaushal Silva and new cap Vishwa Fernando arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday 26 December, in time to watch Sri Lanka’s victory in the final ODI.

Time spent in UAE

   45 days

(7 December - 21 January)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements  (1)

Kusal Perera took the place ofLahiru Thirimanne who twisted his ankle and was unable to complete the tour.

Nuwan Kulasekara injured his hamstring and also had to return to Sri Lanka early on c 5 January.

Fixtures/Results

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced its itinerary of matches against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates on Friday 2 August 2013

† not first-class

§  one-day international

⊕  T20 international

Time spent in United Arab Emirates before First Test:

   24 days

(7 December - 31 December)

Test appearances on tour

3  -  

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

Highlights

•   .

•   Man.

•   S

Tour Summary

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

Return to Sri Lanka

Dubai     Q   Colombo

Depart from Dubai on 21 January

Time away from Sri Lanka

    46 days  

(6 December to 21 January)

Postscript

Graham Ford announced in September that he would not seek a renewal of his contract as Sri Lanka’s national head coach, owing to family commitments.  Paul Farbrace was appointed to take up the post on 1 January 2014.

Other Test tours in 2013-14

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