Lalith Wasantha Silva Kaluperuma (born 25 June 1949,

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 ...

) is a former Sri Lankan

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

er and ODI cricketer, who played

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 ...

from 1970 to 1983. He played in Sri Lanka's first Test team in 1982.

Cricket career

Kaluperuma was educated at

Kalutara Vidyalaya Kalutara Vidyalaya ( si, කළුතර විද්‍යාලය) is a Buddhist boys' school in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The college was founded in 1941 by Sir Cyril De Zoysa. It is a national school providing primary and secondary education. ...

and

Nalanda College, Colombo ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = ...

. He played for Bloomfield in Sri Lankan domestic cricket. An off-spin bowler, useful lower-order batsman and fine fieldsman in the gully, he was a regular member of the Sri Lankan team throughout the 1970s. When Sri Lanka toured Pakistan in 1973-74 he took 8 for 50 in the first innings of the match against the North West Frontier Province Governor's XI. In the

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 ...

match in 1975-76 he took 2 for 36 and 8 for 43 to give Sri Lanka victory by 22 runs. Kaluperuma played in the first World Cup in 1975, and also toured India in 1975-76 and England in 1981 with the Sri Lankan team. When Pakistan played two unofficial Tests in Sri Lanka in 1975-76 he played a significant role in Sri Lanka's victory in the first match, scoring 96 and 50 not out, and taking three wickets in the second innings. He took eight wickets in the match when the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

played Sri Lanka in a four-day match in 1981. A few days earlier, in a 45-over match, he had taken 4 for 35 when Sri Lanka beat Australia for the first time. Kaluperuma played in Sri Lanka's inaugural Test against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1981–82. However, he bowled 21 wicketless overs, followed by six wicketless overs in the next Test. It appeared that the captain,

Duleep Mendis Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the team, who captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a speciali ...

, had little faith in him, and he never returned to international cricket. Shortly afterwards, he joined an unofficial Sri Lankan

tour of South Africa The Tour of South Africa was a stage cycling race in South Africa that was only held once, in 2011. It was part of UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by th ...

in 1982–83, which led to a ban from international cricket and cricket in Sri Lanka. In the first of the two unofficial Tests he took 5 for 123 in

South Africa's South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

only innings, which were the Sri Lankan team's best figures of the tour.

Later career

In 2003, Kaluperuma joined the board of national selectors in Sri Lanka, and two years later he was made chairman of the board.

References

External links

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Lalith Kaluperuma
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaluperuma, Lalith 1949 births Living people Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lankan cricketers All-Ceylon cricketers Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club cricketers Sri Lankan cricket administrators