- Ashantha De Mel
Infobox Cricketer
nationality = Sri Lankan
country = Sri Lanka
country abbrev = SL
name = Ashantha de Mel
picture = Cricket no pic.png
batting style = Right-handed batsman (RHB)
bowling style = Right-arm medium-fast (RMF)
tests = 17
test runs = 326
test bat avg = 14.17
test 100s/50s = 0/0
test top score = 34
test overs = 586.2
test wickets = 59
test bowl avg = 36.94
test 5s = 3
test 10s = 0
test best bowling = 6/109
test catches/stumpings = 9/0
ODIs = 57
ODI runs = 466
ODI bat avg = 14.56
ODI 100s/50s = 0/0
ODI top score = 36
ODI overs = 455.5
ODI wickets = 59
ODI bowl avg = 37.91
ODI 5s = 2
ODI best bowling = 5/32
ODI catches/stumpings = 13/0
date = 14 August
year = 2005
source = http://content.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/49368.htmlAshantha Lakdasa Francis De Mel (born
9 May 1959 ,Colombo ) is a former Sri Lankancricketer and selector for the national team. He was one of few Sri Lanka bowlers in the 1980s who could get the ball to anything above medium pace, and he was also said to have the ability to get the ball to swing out.Cricketing career
He only played one Test match outside the
Indian subcontinent , which may explain why his Test average is so high, as conditions there are generally not thought suitable for swing bowlers. He often made small contributions with the bat, and only made ducks three times.1983 cricket World Cup
His finest moment as a bowler arguably came at the 1983 World Cup in
England , where he used the helpful conditions to register his two only ODI five-wicket-hauls. First, at Headingley against Pakistan, he took five for 39, but got little help from his team-mates and couldn't quite carry the team to the target, being last out as Sri Lanka needed 12 more to win off 10 balls. Two days later, however, they moved toThe County Ground, Derby , and de Mel once again took five wickets - this time for only 32 runs, as New Zealand crumbled to 181 and Sri Lanka won by three wickets, their only win in the tournament. De Mel returned Sri Lanka's best bowling figures in every match. He was the tournament's second highest wicket taker with 17 wickets, one behind India'sRoger Binny . Many years later, it was discovered that one of the wickets credited toRumesh Ratnayake in Sri Lanka's first round match against England was actually taken by De Mel, but the scorecards still don't reflect that.Fact|date=March 20081985 Test with Indian cricket team
After this, he usually put in solid performances, but the closest he came to the 1983 heroics was in a 1985 Test with India. The visitors had chosen to bat, but de Mel ran through the middle order, getting players like
Ravi Shastri ,Kapil Dev andDilip Vengsarkar out, and finishing with five for 64. Sri Lanka led by 129 runs on first innings, but de Mel failed to take a wicket in the second innings as India drew the match.Career end
His career was ended in 1987 due to a knee injury, but he continued within the Sri Lankan cricket system, and in May 2004 he was appointed head of selectors in Sri Lanka. That lasted for one year, whereupon he was sacked, only one month after the sports minister
Jeewan Kumaratunga had announced that he would be retained for another year. De Mel has also played bridge, appearing in theCommonwealth Games playing this sport.References
* [http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/48447.html Cricinfo page on de Mel] and linked pages
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