Words: Mark Machado
Photographs courtesy of the Warnapura family
Hailing from a distinguished lineage of eminent personalities, Bandula Warnapura was born to Dr Warnapurage Leelarathna Fernando from Vaverset Place, Wellawatta and Romlyn Rajapaksa of Beligodapitiya, Rambukkana. Born on the 1st of March 1953, Bandula was the 4th of 6 children.
Bandula Warnapura was at the forefront of Sri Lankan Cricket in the early 80s. A product of Nalanda College and a stalwart of Bloomfield Cricket Club, Bandula would have the distinction of being Sri Lanka’s first test captain.
An able leader, he had been captain of Sri Lanka since taking over from Anura Tennekoon in 1979. A prolific schoolboy cricketer he broke into the national side in the mid 70’s. He found his feet as an international cricketer in 1977 when impressive performances with both bat and ball earned him the title of Man of the Series against Tony Greig’s England who were over for an ‘unofficial’ three match ODI tour.
What younger followers of the game may not appreciate is that before Sri Lanka became full members of the ICC in late 1981, much of Sri Lanka’s cricket at the time was ‘unofficial.’ Due to this Bandula’s averages on cricket data bases often appear modest. Because the scores and the performances from these unofficial matches didn’t contribute to official scores.
When the team was being selected for the inaugural test there was much debate about some of the spots in the team and while some would be surprised about the inclusion of 18 year old Arjuna Ranatunga there was no doubt that not only would Bandula captain the side, but he would also face the first ball and be a key part of the bowling attack.
The first test was played in February 1982 at the P Sara Oval. While a brief glance at the scorecard would suggest an empathic 7 wicket victory for England inside four days, this doesn’t tell the whole story. The Lankans fought hard and played good cricket in the first few days and many spectators were left with the impression that the difference between the two sides was experience and greater exposure to the benefits of being a professional athlete.
Bandula got the country’s first test run off the bowling of Bob Willis, scoring 40 in the first test and has a unique distinction of being one of a handful of players who have opened the batting and opening the bowling (in the second innings) in the same test match.
