Anura Tennekoon

Anura Tennekoon (born 29 October 1946) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He was educated at the S. Thomas' College in Mount Lavinia.

Anura Tennekoon
Personal information
Full name
Anura Punchi Banda Tennekoon
Born (1946-10-29) 29 October 1946
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
BattingRight-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 9)7 June 1975 v West Indies
Last ODI9 June 1979 v New Zealand
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA
Matches 4 61 19
Runs scored 137 3481 335
Batting average 34.25 36.26 18.61
100s/50s 0/1 5/19 0/2
Top score 59 169* 61
Balls bowled – 86 –
Wickets – 2 –
Bowling average – 30.00 –
5 wickets in innings – 0 –
10 wickets in match – 0 –
Best bowling – 2/23 –
Catches/stumpings 3/0 60/0 7/0
Source: Cricinfo, 2 April 2010

After captaining the school team and being selected as best schoolboy batsman of the year, Tennekoon went on to play first-class cricket for the Ceylon team (later Sri Lanka). He was regarded as an accomplished batsman. He made his ODI debut in 1975 against West Indies, leading Sri Lanka in the first Cricket World Cup of 1975. went on to lead them in the 1979 World Cup as well, although his participation was impeded by an injury during the tournament.

He was the chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket from 2000 to 2003, and is now a selector for the national team. In September 2018, he was one of 49 former Sri Lankan cricketers felicitated by Sri Lanka Cricket, to honour them for their services before Sri Lanka became a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).[1][2]

Personal life and early career

Anura Punchi Banda Tennekoon was born in Anuradhapura to a Family from Nikaweratiya. At the age of six, he moved to Colombo, and was admitted to S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Staying at the school hostel, Tennekoon was soon accustomed with cricket, and became part of the school cricket team.[3] He eventually went on to captain the Thomian cricket team,[4] and was chosen as Sri Lanka's best schoolboy batsman in 1964. He had had the best batting average of 56.84 in the previous season, having scored a total of 513 runs.[5]

He played his first first-class match for Ceylon against an English side in 1966, and was later picked up by the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC). Tennekoon also played for the Ceylon Board President's XI in Gopalan Trophy matches.[3] He was selected to tour England with the Ceylon team in 1968, but the tour was cancelled just before it was due to begin.[6]

He made his career's highest score in a first class match against India in 1974, hitting an unbeaten 169. This is regarded as one of the best centuries scored by a Sri Lankan batsman before the country gained Test status.[4][7]

International career

Tennekoon was the ninth ODI cap for Sri Lanka,[8] and played four One Day International (ODI) matches, leading the Sri Lankan side in all of them. Tennekoon captained the Sri Lankan cricket team at the inaugural Cricket World Cup of 1975,[7][9] during which he played his first three ODIs. The first match was played against the West Indies on 7 June 1975, ended in defeat for Sri Lanka who managed to score only 86 runs. Tennekoon too was unsuccessful in this match, having been caught by David Murray off the bowling of Bernard Julien without scoring.[10] The Sri Lankan team played their second match of the tournament against Australia on 11 June 1975. They lost the match, but Tennekoon was more successful this time – he scored 48 runs off 71 deliveries, before being bowled out by Ian Chappell just two runs short of his half century.[11] According to the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Tennekoon and teammate Michael Tissera batted without being intimidated by the Australian fast bowling attack despite two of their teammates having to retire after being injured.[12] Sri Lanka's third and last match in the tournament was against Pakistan on 14 June 1975. Tennekoon made 30 runs for his team, but Pakistan easily defeated Sri Lanka.[13][14]

Tennekoon's fourth and final ODI was against New Zealand on 9 June 1979, as part of the 1979 Cricket World Cup. He made the highest score and only half-century of his ODI career during this match, making 59 runs off 96 deliveries before being bowled out by Warren Stott.[15] Later, he damaged a hamstring during practices and could not play for the rest of the tournament. He was replaced as captain by Bandula Warnapura.[16] Sri Lanka received full member status of the International Cricket Council in 1982, two years after Tennekoon's retirement. The achievements of Sri Lankan players like Tennekoon may have contributed to this.[7]

Cricket administration

After his retirement from the game, Tennekoon has functioned as the manager of the Sri Lanka A cricket team.[3] He was appointed chief executive officer of Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka, in December 2000. He held the position until late 2003, when he resigned due to personal reasons.[17] In 2009, Tennekoon was appointed to the selection committee for the national cricket team.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Sri Lanka Cricket to felicitate 49 past cricketers". Sri Lanka Cricket. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  2. "SLC launched the program to felicitate ex-cricketers". Sri Lanka Cricket. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  3. Wijesinghe, Rohan (22 November 2009). "Anura Tennekoon – spirit of cricket". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 29 November 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  4. Manamendra, Renu (3 March 2002). "The "Battle of the Blues" and its reminiscences". The Island. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  5. Akbar, Rangi (23 August 2009). "Fifty years hence and the contest goes on". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  6. S. S. Perera, The Janashakthi Book of Sri Lanka Cricket (1832–1996), Janashakthi Insurance, Colombo, 1999, pp. 320–26.
  7. Manamendra, Renu (1 February 2004). "So, Royal really lost 1885 match to S. Thomas'". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  8. "Sri Lanka Players by Caps (ODI)". Cricinfo.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  9. "Stump the Bearded Wonder No 142". BBC Sport. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  10. "Prudential World Cup – 4th match, Group B". Cricinfo.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  11. "Prudential World Cup – 7th match, Group B". Cricinfo.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  12. "The Prudential World Cup 1975, third Group B match". Wisden. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  13. "Prudential World Cup – 12th match, Group B". Cricinfo.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  14. "The Prudential World Cup 1975, sixth Group B match". Wisden. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  15. "Prudential World Cup – 2nd match, Group B". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  16. "Prudential World Cup 1979, fifth Group B match". Wisden. Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  17. Austin, Charlie (10 October 2003). "Tennekoon to step down as CEO of Sri Lankan board". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  18. "Three new cricket selectors". Sunday Observer. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
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