Rumesh Ratnayake

Rumesh Ratnayake

Source:, 9 February 2006

Rumesh Joseph Ratnayake (born January 2, 1964, Colombo) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 23 Tests and 70 ODIs from 1982 to 1993.

During a career often blighted by injury, Ratnayake was a strapping right arm fast-medium bowler who was capable of swinging the new ball and generating considerable pace and bounce. He was also a more than useful hard-hitting lower order batsman, as Test match fifties against Pakistan and England testify.

One of his best performances came in the 1985/86 series against India, taking 20 wickets at 22 for the series. In the 2nd Test he managed 9 wickets in the match which gave Sri Lanka a rare Test win, and inaugural series victory. Other good hauls include 6 for 66 against Australia at Hobart in 1990/91 and 5 for 69 against England at Lords.