Sri Lankans arrive today

Press, 18 February 1983, Page 34

Sri Lankans arrive today

By.

JOHN COFFEY

Overseas cricket teams have visited this country since Parr’s All England XI in the summer of 1863-64. The tour cycle takes another turn with the arrival in Christchurch this evening of the first side from Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankans begin their tour with a three-day fixture against Canterbury, starting at Lancaster Park tomorrow, but their debut will be overshadowed by the first of the limited-overs internationals against England at Auckland. It is a situation that will not be unfamiliar to the Sri Lankan captain. Duleep Mendis. and his men. They have ' spent the last two weeks playing in the southeastern stales of Australia, performing very much in the shadow of the World Series Cup tournament. Cricket has a long historyin Sri Lanka, but it is only 12

months since it was given full test status and the pioneering tour of New’ Zealand is a continuation of Sri Lanka's emergence at international level. The Sri Lankans will have no opportunity to familiarise themselves with New Zealand conditions before step-

ping out against Canterbury tomorrow. Conversely. Canterbury's players have not had a chance to gauge the quality of their opponents. Past performances suggest that Sri Lanka has a number of representatives who are thoroughly competitive at the highest level. The batsmen. Mendis - who scored a century in each innings against India — and RoyDias. whose test average is in excess of 50. have especially made their marks. Mendis was the first to impress the Australians on the present tour, with an outstanding innings of 141 in the drawn two-day game against Victoria. Mendis faced only 132 deliveries and hit 22 fours and one six in his slay of 161 minutes. Sri Lanka had mixed fortunes in its limited-overs appearances. It lost to Victoria by six wickets, and convincingly beat Australian Capital Territory. In the latter

match the medium-paced bowler. Vinodhan John, had five wickets for 24 runs from his 10 overs. The three-day encounters with New South Wales and Tasmania were drawn. Rain curtailed play in Sydney, and even three declarations could not produce a positive result at Hobart.

Sri Lanka is likely to choose a shadow test XI against Canterbury. It has only one other first-class fixture. against Auckland, leading up to the start of the first test at Lancaster Park early next month.

The itinerary is: February 19 to 21. v. Canterbury: February

23. v. Minor Associations. New Plymouth: February 24. v. Minor Associations, Wanganui: February 26 to 28. v. Auckland: March 2. one-day international at Dunedin: March 4 to 8. first test at Christchurch: March 11 to 16. second test at Wellington: March 19. one-day international at Napier: March 20. one-day international at Auckland.