Gamini Goonesena, Sri Lankan cricketer died he was , 80.

Gamini Goonesena

(16 February 1931 – 1 August 2011)

 born in Colombo, was a Sri Lankan first-class cricketer prior to his country being granted Test status. He was educated at Royal College Colombo where he played in the Royal-Thomian encounter and thereafter at the University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1957.

Cricket career

A gifted allrounder who was a right-handed batsman and legbreak/googly bowler. He played first class cricket over a 19 year timespan, 1949–1968, representing 14 different teams during that period. His principal clubs were Nottinghamshire (94 matches between 1953 and 1964) where he twice completed the 'double' of 1000 runs/100wickets in a season, and Cambridge University (52 matches between 1954 and 1957) where he was the first Asian player to captain the side in his last year. As captain he scored 211 in the University match in 1957, still the highest individual score by a Cambridge player in the annual fixture, and then took 4–40 in Oxford second innings to secure a crushing victory for Cambridge by an innings and 186 runs.
He also played in 7 consecutive games for the Gentlemen v Players between 1954 and 1958, which still remains an all time record for an overseas player. He represented Ceylon against Pakistan in 1950 and again against an International X1 in 1968 before they obtained Test status as Sri Lanka in 1982. He also toured the West Indies twice with an E.W.Swanton international team in 1956 and with the International Cavaliers in 1965. He also appeared in 7 matches for the Australian state side New South Wales in their domestic Sheffield Shield competition between 1961 and 1964.
In his very last first class match, playing for the Free Foresters against Oxford University at The Parks in June 1968, he took 10–87 (5–38 & 5–49) to spearhead his teams 299 run victory. During the course of his first class career he played in a total of 194 matches, scoring 5751 runs (average 21.53) and taking 674 wickets (average 24.37). He also took 108 catches.

Later Developments

In 1965 he was appointed as Ceylon's representative to the ICC International Cricket Conference and subsequently managed the Sri Lankan Test side on a tour of India. He also played club cricket for Waverley District Cricket Club (now Eastern Suburbs District Cricket Club) in the 1970s. During the 1990s he became President of Colts CC, one of the oldest clubs on the island, and during this time he also worked as a Test Match commentator for Sri Lankan radio and Television. He retired in 2004 to live in Sydney, Australia and died in Canberra aged 80, on 1 August 2011.

 

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