ACS Overseas FIrst-Class Annual 2012

Sri Lanka in 2011/12 Sri Lanka undertook an active Test programme in 2011 and 2011/12, playing a total of 14 Tests spread across five series, but at the end of it could point only to two Test wins (against six defeats) and one drawn series, the other four all being lost. The side finished the season in sixth place in the rankings, down from fourth a year before. The tone was set from the outset: in the First Test against England in 2011, Sri Lanka fell victim to an unexpected, shrewdly-timed declaration and collapsed to an innings defeat in a match in which a draw had seemed certain. This proved the only result in a rain-soaked series (for scores, see the 2012 Wisden); returning home, Sri Lanka found better weather but were on the wrong end of the same 1-0 scoreline, this time as Australia won the toss and the match on a dusty, crumbly wicket in the First Test at Galle (see ‘Matches in 2011’). Sri Lanka’s woes continued in 2011/12 with a further 1-0 defeat against Pakistan in the Emirates; then in South Africa, at last a Test win was recorded but the side still went down to a 2-1 defeat (see the Rest of the World and South Africa sections for these series). The fact that the win was Sri Lanka’s first in 16 matches tells its own story; and it can hardly be a coincidence that the previous win, against India in 2010, was also M.Muralitharan’s final match. Back home again at the end of the season, Sri Lanka were heartened by a further win in the First Test against England, but the world’s top-ranked Test side fought back to win the Second Test and draw the series, thereby retaining its status by a statistical whisker. Some of the problems of the Test side were self-evident. The loss of a performer of Muralitharan’s calibre would affect any side, but Sri Lanka’s problems were aggravated when S.L.Malinga also retired from Test cricket. The result was that the attack was unable reliably to dismiss opponents for reasonable totals; while the batting, although capable of some impressive totals, was brittle and prone to collapse. The cares of leading a struggling side affected the form of T.M.Dilshan and for the home series against England the captaincy passed to D.P.M.D.Jayawardene, and matters were not helped by repeated changes to the coaching staff. The instability and uncertainty that beset Sri Lankan cricket afflicted not only the Test team but also the domestic first-class competition, the Premier Championship, the start of which was disrupted by financial problems. It eventually got under way a month late, on 18 January. Colts finally emerged as champions for the sixth time, thus equalling the record held by Sinhalese. The turning point was probably at the end of February, when Colts inflicted a crushing two-day innings defeat on early championship leaders Ragama; this took Colts to top place, which they never relinquished thereafter. Colts and the runners-up, Sinhalese, were the only teams to go through the Tier A season unbeaten, but Colts secured four wins against Sinhalese’s three and had a convincing points margin over their rivals, although the match between the two was a high-scoring draw. Indeed, 27 of the 45 matches in Tier A ended in draws, a reminder perhaps that Sri Lanka is now the only country where the top flight of domestic first-class cricket is limited to three days. In Tier B, Sri Lanka Army reigned supreme with seven wins in their nine matches (three by an innings). Of their rivals, only Burgher managed as many as four wins. The leading run-scorer in the Premier Championship, by some distance, was the former Test player L.P.C.Silva. He scored 1,143 runs for Bloomfield in Tier A at an average of 81.84 besides making a big hundred for the Development XI against England. The most successful bowler was Sri Lanka Navy’s young leg-spinner B.M.D.K.Mendis, who claimed 64 victims at 18.10. 497