There was a time when the relationship between Sri Lanka and Australia hit the rock bottom.
In 1996, Australia refused to play its opening match of the World Cup in Colombo, citing security fears after a bomb exploded in the Sri Lankan capital the previous month killing more than 80 people. Later that year, Australia refused to play a two-match Test cricket series in Sri Lanka in August.
Three years later, in 1999, Muttiah Muralitharan “chucking” row boiled over at Adelaide Oval in 199, when play was held up for 12 minutes after the Sri Lankans protested umpire Ross Emerson’s no-ball call for throwing in the one-day international against England.
Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga gestured to his players to walk off to the dressing room after Muralitharan had been called from the square leg by umpire Emerson — one of three Australian umpires who had no-balled the Sri Lankan for throwing three years ago.
As Ranatunga argued with umpires, Muralitharan’s team-mates threw their arms around him, consoling the dejected player. When play resumed, Muralitharan completed the remaining two balls of his second over without further incident. Ranatunga brought him on at the other end straight away, away from the critical gaze of Emerson, now standing at the bowler’s end. Muralitharan bowled three overs from Emerson’s end uneventfully.
"We're generally the enemy" 😅
The scenes in Colombo after the fifth ODI were unreal and left Glenn Maxwell and the Aussies stunned as fans thanked them for touring 🥰 #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/Xugt5KVmyX
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 24, 2022
23 years later, the Australian cricket team become a toast of the Islanda nation, who are in in the midst of its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, forcing the island nation’s population to endure power cuts, shortages and months of sometimes violent protests.
The Australian cricket team on Friday received a rousing reception from the Colombo crowd in Sri Lanka after Alex Carey got the visitors home in final limited-overs match.
Australia won the T20I series 2-1 before Sri Lanka hit back with a 3-2 triumph in the ODIs. The tour concludes with two Test matches in Galle starting next week.
Amid a glow of golden shirts worn in thanks for Australia’s visit to a nation in distress, Sri Lanka’s ODI-series winning side shared in the goodwill by handing over a dead-rubber victory to the visitors in Colombo.
Aaron Finch has paid tribute to Sri Lankan cricket fans after they turned Colombo’s largest stadium yellow on Friday night to thank Australia for touring the country despite the economic crisis. Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, forcing the island nation’s population to endure power cuts, shortages and months of sometimes violent protests.
Finch captained the tourists in three Twenty 20 and five one-day internationals on Australia’s first tour of the country since 2016, leading his side to a consolation victory in the final ODI on Friday.
Hard to recall a visiting team getting a reception quite like the Aussies have today. Sensational stuff 🇱🇰 #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/9fcn6AJ6Jj
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) June 24, 2022
“We’re very grateful that we’ve been able to tour here. We know the difficulties that Sri Lanka has faced in recent times,” he told reporters.
“Hopefully over these eight white-ball games we’ve been able to provide some joy to people in the country.”
Thousands of local fans donned the yellow that the Australia team wears in limited-overs cricket as they flocked to the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday after a social media campaign called on them to pay tribute to the tourists.
“It was outstanding, the Sri Lankan people are wonderful people,” Finch added. “The support that they provide is second to none. They are great cricket supporters, it’s not just constant noise, they ride the emotions of the game. When Sri Lanka are up and about, that’s as loud as anywhere you’ll visit in the world.”
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