SL: Zimbabwe To Play Two Tests Against Sri Lanka In Colombo (26 Jun 1996)

26 June 1996

Zimbabwe to play two Tests against Sri Lanka in Colombo

By Sa`adi Thawfeeq

The venue for the first cricket Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, yet to be decided by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board will be in Colombo.

This follows a request made by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to play all their matches in Colombo during their tour of Sri Lanka in August/September due to security reasons.

Zimbabwe are due to arrive in August to participate in the fournation limited-over Singer World Series before playing two Tests with Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Cricket Board has yet to decide on the venue for the Test scheduled to take place from September 11-15, but it is likely that it will be played at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.

The Sara Stadium (formerly Colombo Oval) is the oldest of the six Test-playing grounds in the country and is steeped in tradition and history.

It served as the venue for representative matches against international sides before Sri Lanka achieved Test status and was the venue for Sri Lanka`s inaugural Test against England in February 17, 1982. It also provided the country with its maiden Test victory when it hosted the second Test against India which Sri Lanka won by 149 runs in August 1985.

Of the 27 Tests Sri Lanka has hosted since 1982, the Sara Stadium has been the venue for six Tests, the SSC seven, Asgiriya Stadium six, Tyronne Fernando Stadium four, CCC three and R. Premadasa Stadium one.

The second Test is due to be played from September 18-22 at the SSC grounds.

Zimbabwe was one of two countries in the Wills World Cup (the other was Kenya) who fulfilled their obligations by playing their Group `A` match in Sri Lanka at a time when Australia and West Indies refused to come here for security reasons and conceded walk-overs.

Zimbabwe were quite happy with the security arrangements made for their World Cup game played at the SSC grounds. The match won by Sri Lanka, was played to a finish without any incidents.

In the Singer World Series from August 24 to September 8, Zimbabwe will also play matches against Sri Lanka, Australia and India.

With Zimbabwe playing two Tests in addition to taking part in the limited-over Singer World Series, the national selectors have included a further seven players to the national pool currently under training under coach Davenall Whatmore.

The new additions are: Chandika Hathurusingha, Sanjeeva Ranatunga, Manjula Munasinghe, Chamara Dunusinghe, Jayantha Silva, Champaka Ramanayake, and Samantha Dodanwala.

Meanwhile, their have been 11 additions to the Sri Lanka `B` pool with the inclusion of Sajith Fernando, Naweed Nawaz, Suranga Wijenaike, Mahela Jayawardena, Hemantha Boteju, Tilan Samaraweera, P. Hewage, Anushka Polonowita, Avishka Gunawardena, Sanjeeva Warusamana, and Hemantha Wickremaratne.

Source :: Daily News (http.//www.lanka.net)