Sidath Wettimuny

Sidath Wettimuny was a fixture at the top of the order following Sri Lanka's inauguration into the Test arena. Wettimuny was a solid right-hand batsman with a compact technique. Wettimuny was the younger of two brothers to play for Sri Lanka; in fact in a rare instance he opened the batting with his brother, Mithra, in two Test matches. Wettimuny made two centuries at test level both of them having historical significance. At Faisalabad, on Sri Lanka's initial overseas tour, Wettimuny stroked a 157, sharing a partnership of 217 with Roy Dias for the second wicket. It was the maiden century at Test level by a Sri Lankan player. At Lord's in 1984, Wettimuny eclipsed his previous effort scoring a superlative 190 in 642 minutes facing 471 balls. Marvellous strokeplay and a steely determination to succeed punctuated the innings. Wettimuny also became the first Sri Lankan to carry his bat through an innings when he completed the feat against New Zealand at Christchurch in 1982-83 - he scored an unbeaten 63 out of a meager total of 144.

Wettimuny suffered from not having a stable partner up the opposite end as Sri Lanka struggled to find an established opening partnership. Towards the end of his Test career he struggled to match his earlier achievements with the bat. His record shows he was a far more effective player on overseas wickets.

After the conclusion of his playing days Wettimuny stayed involved in the game initially as a match referee and later becoming the chairman of selectors for the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Johann P Jayasekera