This week marks the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest Test matches that the Sri Lankan team has been involved in – The Oval Test of 1998.
Time flies indeed and it seems like yesterday that Murali took 16 wickets and an airborne Sanath cut one over point for six. Those are the known facts of that memorable win. Here are some minute details that set up what was Sri Lanka’s greatest Test win – a win that gave us many more opportunities in and against England.
Sri Lanka usually get to play in England in the early part of the summer. In May and June when pitches are green and the ball moves around, the batters struggle to get on top of their game. Since the 1998 win, the ECB has never given us an August Test match. But the trend will turn next year when Sri Lanka tour England for three Tests.
Unlike the present day when packed international schedules and league cricket give you very little time for warm-up games, on that 1998 tour, Sri Lanka were well seasoned by the time the one-off Test match came, having spent two and half months in England. In that period, the team played five First Class games and six one-day warm-up matches against counties. There was also the Emirates tri-nation series, which Sri Lanka won with South Africa being the third participant.
Russel Arnold had started off the campaign by scoring a double hundred. He would have featured in The Oval Test had he not got a pair in the last First Class game before the Test match, a pair that he collected within half an hour. How come?
Hampshire batted first and posted a total in excess of 300. Sri Lanka were reeling at 39 for four and Arnold had scored a duck. A draw was looming large as it had rained for two days. Those days, English counties received bonus points if they beat a touring Test side. So, the Hampshire captain came up with a deal. He told the Sri Lankan camp to declare their first innings and that Hampshire would follow suit by declaring their second innings setting Sri Lanka a target of 309 in 80 overs. Offer accepted, but Arnold fell for another duck, collecting a pair.
Sri Lanka chased down the target with an over to spare with Chandika Hathurusinghe scoring a hundred and Mahela Jayawardene scoring 90. That’s how MJ pipped Russel out of contention from the Test match.
Sri Lanka had won seven games while three were drawn and more importantly all the batters were in good form by the time the Test match came. Their only blemish on the tour came against Glamorgan when they were shot out for 54 in the first innings but soon the team fixed the batting woes.
By the time Sri Lanka arrived in London for the one-off Test, they found the wicket unusually dry. There was a reason for this. Pakistan star Saqlain Mushtaq was Surrey’s overseas player and the wickets had been purposely made dry to suit their overseas signing. That in a way played into the hands of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka were to play three seamers with Mario Villavarayan slotted in as the third quick and set for his debut. But on the morning of the game, the equation changed as the team opted for the additional spin of Kumar Dharmasena.
England seamers weren’t able to swing the ball and conditions were perfect for batting. England did score 445 in the first innings, but they had gone at a snail’s pace scoring at 2.7 runs an over.
Sri Lanka took them by surprise going at four runs an over when Sanath and Aravinda were in the middle and by day four there was considerable assistance for the spinners and Sri Lanka’s first innings lead of 146 was like gold dust.
The attacking style of the Sri Lankan batters caught England off guard. Bazball maybe a new concept for the Barmy Army, but Sanath and Aravinda gave an exhibition of that 25 years ago. Suddenly when England went defensive in a bid to draw the game, bowling wide outside off-stump. Sanath summed up the confidence levels in the Sri Lankan camp by playing that cut show over point while still being airborne. That remains an iconic image of the great game of ours.
A lot of people forget that Roy Dias was our coach. The contributions that man has made for our cricket is huge, but they aren’t often highlighted.
Mr. Ranjit Fernando’s report as Team Manager is an interesting read indeed. He had made up his mind to send a fast bowler back home ahead of the Test match for breaching curfew. The captain and vice-captain were literally pleading with him to be lenient. Eventually, Mr. Fernando relented and none dared to take chances with curfews from that point on. He had several tricks up his sleeve. A manager needs to have them managing young men who are full of enthusiasm and exuberance.
