Rumesh Joseph Ratnayake (born 2 January 1964), 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 who played in 23 Test matches and 70

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 ...

s from 1982 to 1993. He is the current interim head coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team. Ratnayake was born in

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 ...

. During a career often blighted by injury, he was a strapping right arm fast-medium bowler who was capable of swinging the new ball and generating considerable pace and bounce. He spearheaded the Sri Lankan fast bowling attack in his heyday although his international career was relatively short due to being injury prone. He was also a more than useful hard-hitting lower order batsman, as Test match fifties against

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and

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testify. He is usually known for his appointments as interim coach of Sri Lanka national cricket teamusually in between permanent appointments. He also works as fast bowling coach being attached to the High Performance Center of Sri Lanka Cricket on a full-time basis.

International career

One of Ratnayake's best performances came in the 1985/86 series against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, taking 20 wickets at 22 for the series. In the 2nd Test he managed 9 wickets in the match which gave

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

a rare Test win, and inaugural series victory. Other good hauls include 6 for 66 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 ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in 1990/91 and 5 for 69 against

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. His bowling spell of 6/66 was instrumental in restricting Australia for 224.

After retirement

In July 2001, Ratnayake became the administrative team manager for the Sri Lankan national cricket team. In 2003, Ratnayake was a development officer for the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council also known as ACC is a cricket organisation which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional ...

and was a coach and selector for the Asian Dream Team, a composite team of lesser Asian cricketing nations that played 6 matches in Sri Lanka that year. Ratnayake was in May 2007 linked with the

Sri Lankan 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 ...

assistant coaching job with some saying he had been given the interim coaching job. Ultimately it was the deputy's job that he was offered, and later declined in June 2007.: He has also advised cricket hopefuls in Canada. In August 2011, he became the head coach of Sri Lankan national team. On 8 August 2017, after

Champaka Ramanayake Champaka Priyadarshana Hewage Ramanayake (born January 8, 1965, in Galle), or Champaka Ramanayake, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 18 Tests and 62 ODIs from 1986 to 1995. Champaka is a highly experienced and respected intern ...

resigned, Ratnayake was again appointed as the fast bowling coach of the national team. In January 2022, he was appointed as the interim coach of Sri Lankan side for the home bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of

Mickey Arthur John Michael Arthur (born 17 May 1968) is a South African-Australian cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer, who played in South African domestic cricket from 1986 to 2001. He has served as the head coach of the Derbyshire County Cri ...

whose contract with the national side as head coach had expired on 4 December 2021. He was persisted as the interim coach of Sri Lankan side for the five match T20I series against Australia in February 2021 and for the bilateral series against India in March 2021. It has been revealed that the unprofessionalism and lackluster attitude of Sri Lanka cricket in finding the head coach after the departure of Mickey Arthur resulted in extended coaching gig for Ratnayake.

References

External links

Fiery Paceman Rumesh Ratnayake
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnayake, Rumesh 1964 births Living people Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lankan cricketers Nondescripts Cricket Club cricketers Alumni of St. Peter's College, Colombo Cricketers at the 1983 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Sri Lankan cricket coaches Coaches of the Sri Lanka national cricket team Coaches of the Oman national cricket team