Former Sri Lanka Cricket Captain Duleep Mendis 62 not out tomorrow

By A. C. De Silva

Great day for Mendis: Former Sri Lanka cricket captain, manager and coach Duleep Mendis will celebrate his 62nd Birthday tomorrow. He has performed a yeomen service to Sri Lanka cricket after first playing for St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa, then S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, then the Sinhalese Sports Club, then captain All-Ceylon and topped it off being the Manager of the All-Ceylon Cricket Team.

The performances by Duleep Mendis when he was a fine player at St. Sebastian's and then at S. Thomas' Mount Lavinia are only too well known to the cricketing fans of Moratuwa, Mount Lavinia and other places in Sri Lanka are only too well known. Then he come over to Sinhalese Sports Club and then to the Sri Lankas Captaincy raised his prowess a lot.

To take all things at the top, He was involved in Cricket World Cups: Prudential World Cup 1975 - Player, he was Player again in 1979, then Captain of the 1983 and Captain again in 1987. He was coach of the Benson and Medges World Cup Team of 1992, then Manager of Wills World Cup 1996, then Sri Lanka Chairman of Selectors of the ICC World Cup 1999, Batting Coach of Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2003 and Cricket Board Chief Executive Officer of World Cup 2007. So, it has been a bagful of appoints that he was entrusted with and he deserved all the honour placed on him.

Came into Picture in 1975

Duleep Mendis came into the picture really in 1975 when Sri Lanka was involved in the inaugural World Cup in England. It would have been quite an interesting and special trip for him. Being a knowledgeable critic on the game, Mendis has gathered plenty of experience of manging various teams.

When he was first made captain for two Tests against India and Pakistan at home, after taking over the leadership from Bandula Warnapura, the team did well at the start for the Australian and New Zealand in 1983.

Duleep Mendis led Sri Lanka in 19 Tests and emerged as the most successful Sri Lanka skipper at that time. As captain of Sri Lanka he did well to bring honour to Sri Lanka during the first 25 Tests. During the memorable Test at Lord's he narrowly missed an opportunity to hit twin hundreds at Lord's when he scored 111 and 94 runs.

Sri Lanka beat India in 1985

Duleep Mendis led Sri Lanka to our first ever Test win, when we beat India at the P. Sara Stadium in 1985 in a memorable series of matches. Then in the Test at Asgiriya, he along with Roy Dias saved Sri Lanka from a humilating defeat and brought them towards a close finish. Widely respected internationally for his wide ranging knowledge of the game and his administrative skills. Mendis has been an as set to Sri Lanka's cricket in many aspects.

However, the skilled master of the game whose massive sixes at Lord's against Ian Botham still revive fond memories in the hearts of Sri Lankan fans, has largely been victimised by political stooges appointed to the administration.

Clearly sidelined by corrupt elements, Mendis today spends a relaxed life as a mere figurehead in cricket, while for the country's loss, his wealth of experience and knowledge is going waste, unutilised for the benefit of the game.

Duleep's first class career records-Matches 98, Runs 5242, Hundreds 10, Fifties 33, Highest 194 for Sri Lanka Board Presidents XI against Tamil Nadu in the Gopalan Trophy in Madras in 1977. Test Career Record: Test 23, Runs 1252, Hundreds 4 fifties 7 highest 124 vs India in 1985. One day Internationals: 71 matches, Runs 1365.