Sri Lanka and the World Cup in 1975: Striking Images

The photographs are reproduced in reverse temporal order.

 1. Tamil demonstrators invade the field during the World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Lords 11 June 1975  and lie down in protest — Pic from Fazals photostream in http:www.Flickr.com/photos/

  2. Ground staff seem to have been the first to intervene … before the bobbies were called in (Pic 3). … obviously we were in an era without heavy security within the grounds.

 3. The Sri Lankan players were not worried at all. HSM Pieris is chatting with Rick McCosker on the left while Tony Opatha and Michael Tissera are on the extreme right.

 4. Duleep Mendis felled by a Thompson bouncer. Mendis was carried off and did not return to resume his innings. This, as we know, was the era before helmets — Pic from The Prudential Cup Review, ed. by Gordon Ross, p. 19.

. 5. Captains Clive Lloyd and Anura Tennekoon at the Toss, Manchester, 7 June 1975 —  Pic from The Prudential Cup Review, ed. by Gordon Ross, p. 11.

 6. Sri Lankan Squad at the 1975 ICC Tourney and World Cup, 1975: standing left to right = Duleep Mendis, Lalith Kaluperuma, Sunil Wettimuny, Tony Opatha, HSM Pieris, DLS de Silva, DS de Silva, Dennis Chanmugam, Anura Ranasinghe, Bandula Warnapura, Seated left-to-right: David Heyn, Anura Tennekoon, KMT Perera (Manager), Michael Tissera, Ranjit Fernando.

 7. Most of the Lankan players assembled with the bus which took them to Nuwara Eliya for an acclimatization boot camp supervised by Raja Wickremesinghe prior to their departure for England for the two tournaments. David Heyn, Roy Dias and Sarath Fernando and Neil Perera (BCCSL) are standing on the left and Raja Wicks and KMT Perera on the right. Michael Tissera and Sunil Wettimuny are missing because they travelled up by car. Pic from Anura Tennekoon Album

 8. The Sri Lankan squad after a practice match in Colombo. The training squad was larger than those eventually selected.

Ground       Sarath Fernando, Ranil Abeynaike

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4th Match: Sri Lanka v West Indies at Manchester – Jun 7, 1975…… Sri Lanka 86 (37.2/60 ov); West Indies 87/1 (20.4/60 ov) …. West Indies won by 9 wickets (with 236 balls remaining)

7th Match: Australia v Sri Lanka at The Oval – Jun 11, 1975……Australia 328/5 (60/60 ov); Sri Lanka 276/4 (60/60 ov)…… Australia won by 52 runs

12th Match: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Nottingham – Jun 14, 1975 ….. Pakistan 330/6 (60/60 ov); Sri Lanka 138 (50.1/60 ov) ….. Pakistan won by 192 runs

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Several of these photographs can be found in Michael Roberts, Essaying Cricket. Sri Lanka and Beyond, Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2004 …  372 pages + xvi prelim pp + 60 pages of images. ISBN 955-1266-26-9-0 …. Orders/Enquiries to: vybooks@gmail.com Attn: ASELA …. Web: www.vijithayapa.com

The tale of Sri Lankan Tamil demonstrations is depicted in images in Michael Roberts, Incursions and Excursion sin Sri Lankan Cricket, Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2011 … 176 pp ….  ISBN 978-955–53198-0-5. The images include snaps from Manuka Oval in Canberra, St Georges Ground at Grenada and the Toronto streets around its main cricket theatre.