Sports
Rekindling memories of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test – 40 years on
By Dion Schoorman
Today, 17th February, is the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match and marked a special milestone in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. That game against England began at the Colombo Oval on 17th February 1982.
On the day of the inaugural Test, the country came to a virtual standstill, with everyone being at the game, including the then-President J. R. Jayewardene, Senior Minister and Cricket Board President Gamini Dissanayake and almost the entire Cabinet (of course the cabinet was not nearly as big as the present day!). Cricket administrators from around the world and former Sri Lankan ‘greats’ were all assembled in the main pavilion of the Colombo Oval – known today as the P Sara Stadium.
In attendance was also a spritely young Percy Abeysekera, who entertained everyone with his theme song of those days: ‘ICC, Sir, when can we call you friend?’ The song referred to Sri Lanka’s long struggle to gain Test status, and ended in typical Percy style: ‘NOW, we can call you friend!’
Late Bandula Warnapura faced Sri Lanka’s first ball in Test match cricket and scored the first run. He became the nation’s first Test cricketer.
Late Bandula Warnapura faced Sri Lanka’s first ball in Test match cricket and scored the first run. He became the nation’s first Test cricketer.There was a carnival atmosphere at the grounds – a special coin had been minted for the occasion and was to be used at the toss. The sponsors Hatton National Bank had produced a special range of souvenirs – the most popular one being the cap with the words “Inaugural Test Match – I WAS THERE!’
It was then time for action and Sri Lankan umpires Herbie Felsinger and Kandiah Francis strolled out to the middle signalling the start of play.
When play began, Sri Lankan captain Bandula Warnapura immediately notched up a set of unique records – he became the first skipper to win a toss, he then faced the first ball and scored the first run. He missed out on the chance to get the first boundary and then had the unfortunate record of being the first dismissal. Sadly, the two players involved in that first ball – the bowler Bob Willis and batsman Warnapura have passed away – Willis in December 2019 and Warnapura just four months ago in October 2021.
The Test followed England’s incredible Ashes triumph of 1981 and opening the bowling were the heroes of the famous Headingley Test – Bob Willis and Ian Botham. The pair bowled with great hostility and gave the Lankans a baptism of fire soon reducing the hosts to 34 for four, with the cream of the batting back in the pavilion, and the team’s two youngest members – Ranjan Madugalle and Arjuna Ranatunga – at the crease.
Old doubts began to surface… Was Sri Lanka ready for Test cricket? Can two schoolboys do what their more experienced seniors could not?
Thankfully, those doubts were soon dispelled, as Madugalle (65) and Ranatunga (54) first dug themselves in playing watchful but steady cricket. As they grew in confidence, the youngsters unfurled a range of attractive strokes all around the wicket. Madugalle hit Sri Lanka’s first six and added three more boundaries whilst Ranatunga struck seven fours as the pair notched up Sri Lanka’s first two half-centuries in Tests in a stand of 99 for the fifth wicket to lift the home spirits. The stand ended when Ranatunga shouldered arms to a ball from Derek Underwood which nipped back into the stumps. Ashantha de Mel (19), and wicketkeeper Mahes Goonetilake (22 not out) helped Madugalle add useful runs and Sri Lanka was eventually dismissed for a slightly disappointing 218. Left armer Underwood was the chief destroyer for England with five wickets.
Sri Lanka were 34 for four in the first innings having elected to bat
first in the inaugural Test match. Schoolboy Arjuna Ranatunga posted
the nation’s maiden half-century.
Sri Lanka were 34 for four in the first innings having elected to batThat score was made to look much bigger when the hosts – led by a fiery Ashantha de Mel – rocked England with some early strikes to have them at 40 for three. David Gower (89) and skipper Keith Fletcher (45) then added 80 for the fourth wicket to restore some order. However, the hosts were not about to give up. Showing great determination and character they maintained the pressure on their more experienced opponents and when Underwood was dismissed first ball England were 216 for nine and in real danger of conceding a first innings lead. That they were able to avoid that ignominy was thanks to wicketkeeper Bob Taylor who remained unbeaten on 31 as England crawled to 223 – a lead of just five runs. De Mel was the pick of the bowlers with four for 70, and was ably supported by veteran legspinner Somachandra de Silva and left arm spinner Asoka de Silva with three and two wickets respectively.
When Sri Lanka batted a second time, skipper Warnapura (38) struck five fours and shared a second wicket partnership of 83 with the elegant Roy Dias who weighed in with a typically silken 77 including 11 fours, and the hosts were strongly placed at 152 for 3, at the end of the third day. At the wickets were Duleep Mendis on 16 and first innings hero Madugalle who had just come in and was yet to open his account. The Sri Lankans clearly had the upper hand and their fans were jubilant and dreaming of a sensational win to mark their entry into Test cricket. Another 150 runs would leave the visitors a tough task on a wearing wicket.
Sadly for Sri Lankan fans, the fairy tale was not to be and instead the fourth day turned into a nightmare for the hosts. The day began well enough as the overnight pair of Mendis and Madugalle moved sedately along and took the score to 167 when suddenly everything started to go horribly wrong. Madugalle who had made just three off 52 balls edged Emburey to Cook and shortly afterwards the other first innings hero Ranatunga was snapped up by Fletcher off Emburey for two. Underwood then had Somachandra de Silva caught by Fletcher for one. Mendis who had made 27 with a six and two fours, tried to hit his way out of trouble but was caught by Willis off Emburey. The hosts lost their last seven wickets for a mere eight runs, to slide from 167 for 3 to 175 all out.
Off spinner John Emburey who went wicketless in the first innings, was virtually unplayable on a wicket assisting spin and grabbed a rich haul of six for 33 off 25 overs whilst Derek Underwood bagged three more wickets to add to the five he took in the first innings for a match bag of eight wickets. England were left a target of 171 for victory and although De Mel dismissed Geoff Cook for a duck, to briefly excite local fans, Chris Tavaré atoned for his first inning duck with a stolid 85 and Gower weighed in with 42 not out to ease their side to a seven-wicket win and break the hearts of the local fans.
Since that first Test, for the last 40 years our cricketers have caused a whole range of emotions over their performances – from gut wrenching disappointments to delirious ecstasies. There has been a lot of angst but there certainly have been magical moments of rapture as well.
(Dion Schoorman covered the nation’s first Test match 40 years ago. Later he went onto become the Bureau Chief of Reuters in Colombo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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