Hettiarachige Mahes Goonatilleke (born 16 August 1952,
Kegalle
Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle District ...
) is a former
Sri Lankan cricketer
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 ...
, who played five
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
and six
ODIs as
wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...
during 1981 and 1982 – being Sri Lanka's first wicketkeeper in Test cricket.
International career
He is regarded by many as the finest wicket-keeper produced by the island nation and even made 56 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 ...
as an opener in Faisalabad. Goonatilleke had a chance to become a regular wicket-keeper for Sri Lanka, but he chose to
tour South Africa in the 1982/83 season, and that disqualified him from playing international cricket.
References
Cricinfo page
1952 births
Living people
Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers
Sri Lanka Test cricketers
Sri Lankan cricketers
All-Ceylon cricketers
Alumni of St. Anthony's College, Kandy
Wicket-keepers
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