Anura Tennekoon (born 29 October 1946) is a former Sri Lankan
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er and captain of the
Sri Lanka national cricket team
The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ජාතික ක්රිකට් කණ්ඩායම, ta, இலங்கை தேசிய கிரிக்கெட் அணி) nicknamed The Lions ...
. He was educated at the
S. Thomas' College in
Mount Lavinia
Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia ( si, දෙහිවල-ගල්කිස්ස, translit=Dehivala-Galkissa; ta, தெஹிவளை-கல்கிசை, translit=Tehivaḷai-Kalkicai), population 245,974 (2012) is the largest suburb of the City of ...
.
After captaining the school team and being selected as best schoolboy batsman of the year, Tennekoon went on to play
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
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
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...
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
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...
, to honour them for their services before Sri Lanka became a
full member of the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
(ICC).
Personal life and early career
Anura Punchi Banda Tennekoon was born in
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...
to a Family from
Nikaweratiya
Nikaweratiya is a town in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. It consists of 42 Grama Niladari divisions. The division of Nikaweratiya is the second largest electoral division in Sri Lanka and its extent only second to the Monaragala
Mona ...
. At the age of six, he moved to
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
, and was admitted to
S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
, motto_translation = Be Thou Forever
, song = Thomian Song
, athletics = Yes
, sports = Yes
, nickname = Thora
, denomination = Anglican
, patron ...
. Staying at the school hostel, Tennekoon was soon accustomed with cricket, and became part of the school cricket team.
He eventually went on to captain the Thomian cricket team,
and was chosen as Sri Lanka's best schoolboy batsman in 1964. He had had the best
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
of 56.84 in the previous season, having scored a total of 513
runs.
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
The Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. Singhalese is the most successful club in Sri Lankan domestic cricket, having won the Premier Trophy a record 32 times to 2017. Although the name is correctly spelt wi ...
(SSC). Tennekoon also played for the Ceylon Board President's XI in
Gopalan Trophy
The M. J. Gopalan Trophy was an annual first-class cricket competition played between Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Madras (now Tamil Nadu) between 1952–53 and 2007–08.
History
The idea of the competition came about with the starting of a silve ...
matches.
He was selected to tour England with
the Ceylon team in 1968, but the tour was cancelled just before it was due to begin.
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.
International career
Tennekoon was the ninth ODI
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
for Sri Lanka, and played four
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) matches, leading the Sri Lankan side in all of them. Tennekoon captained the Sri Lankan cricket team at the inaugural
Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
of
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
during which he played his first three ODIs. The first match was played against the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
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
Bernard Denis Julien (born 13 March 1950) is a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer who played as an allrounder. As a right handed batsman who bowled left arm pace and spin, Julien played in 24 Tests and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies. H ...
without scoring. The Sri Lankan team played their second match of the tournament against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
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
In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman.
Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...
out by
Ian Chappell
Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...
just two runs short of his
half century
One half ( : halves) is the irreducible fraction resulting from dividing one by two or the fraction resulting from dividing any number by its double. Multiplication by one half is equivalent to division by two, or "halving"; conversely, ...
. According to the
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
, Tennekoon and teammate
Michael Tissera
Michael Hugh Tissera (born 23 March 1939 in Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan ODI cricketer who played in the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
School
Tissera was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, where, initially appearing in 1954 aged fourte ...
batted without being intimidated by the Australian fast bowling attack despite two of their teammates having to retire after being injured. Sri Lanka's third and last match in the tournament was against
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
on 14 June 1975. Tennekoon made 30 runs for his team, but Pakistan easily defeated Sri Lanka.
Tennekoon's fourth and final ODI was against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
on 9 June 1979, as part of the
1979 Cricket World Cup
The 1979 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '79) was the second edition of the Cricket World Cup. Organised by the International Cricket Conference, it was held in England from 9 to 23 June 1979.
The tournament was once aga ...
. 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
Leslie Warren Stott, (born 8 December 1946), is an English born form New Zealand cricketer who played one One-Day International for New Zealand in 1979.
In retirement, Stott has worked as a cricket administrator, a commentator and a coach.
Dom ...
. 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
Bandula Warnapura ( si, බන්දුල වර්ණපුර; 1 March 1953 – 18 October 2021) was a Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He played four Test matches and twelve One Day Internationals (ODI ...
. Sri Lanka received full member status of the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
in 1982, two years after Tennekoon's retirement. The achievements of Sri Lankan players like Tennekoon may have contributed to this.
Cricket administration
After his retirement from the game, Tennekoon has functioned as the manager of the
Sri Lanka A cricket team
The Sri Lanka A cricket team is a national cricket team representing Sri Lanka. It is the second-tier of international Sri Lankan cricket, below the full Sri Lanka national cricket team. Matches played by Sri Lanka A are not considered to be Test ...
.
He was appointed chief executive officer of
Sri Lanka Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) on 30 June 1975 as a national spo ...
, 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. In 2009, Tennekoon was appointed to the selection committee for the national cricket team.
See also
*
List of St. Thomas' College alumni
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennekoon, Anura
1946 births
Living people
Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers
Sri Lankan cricketers
Sri Lankan cricket captains
Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup
All-Ceylon cricketers
People from Anuradhapura