Exactly 43 years ago to this date, the Sri Lankans took world cricket by storm.
Apart from the six Full members, the International Cricket Conference (ICC) had invited Sri Lanka and a team comprising cricketers from East Africa for the inaugural World Cup in 1975. None bothered to take the Sri Lankans seriously. But they nearly pulled off an upset at The Oval against the formidable Aussies comprising the Chappell brothers, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Rodney Marsh and others.
Set a target of 329, the Sri Lankans went down by 52 runs, but the result could have been different had Duleep Mendis and Sunil Wettimuny not been forced to retire hurt and go to the hospital.
Sri Lanka were 150 for two at the half-way mark with Mendis (32) and Wettimuny (52) in glorious touch. Their two best batsmen – captain Anura Tennekoon and Michael Tissera were yet to come. Mendis and Wettimuny were scoring at a fanatic rate and the Australian skipper Ian Chappell smelled a rat. So, he threw the ball to his strike bowler – Jeff Thomson. What followed was absolute mayhem.
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Sunil, the eldest of three Wettimuny brothers who played for Sri Lanka, retired prematurely from cricket to concentrate on a career in aviation. As a renowned pilot, Sunil had steered many planes through stormy weather and technical glitches. But what he faced that day at The Oval was beyond him. Worse, it was his international debut as well. Before being forced to retire hurt, Sunil had left an indelible mark, becoming the first Sri Lankan to score a half-century in international cricket.
In the pre-helmet era and with little other protection, Wettimuny was hit twice by Thomson in the rib cage. Another delivery cracked his hip bone. There was more chaos in the next over. Wettimuny was hit on the instep and as he was hopping around, Thomson tried to run him out.
Thommo minced no words. “Look mate, the foot is not broken for God’s sake. But if you face up to the next ball, it bloody well will be broken.” The crowd started booing at this stage. Wettimuny was not going to throw in the towel. Thomson wasn’t going to be held back either. The next ball was a yorker too and into the instep of Wettimuny again.
He couldn’t carry on any longer and quit after a valiant effort.
“I will never forget that debut. I was thinking, “Am I here to die?” Wettimuny told this writer.
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“I faced eight overs of Jeff Thomson (12 per bowler). The whole lot of barrage. I was hit five times. The last two on my foot were unbearable. Not that the others were not painful,” Wettimuny said.
“I would have walked out of that pitch when I got hit in the first couple of times if no one was watching. The shame to walk out of the match saying ‘sorry I can’t face this’ made me to stay.”
In between the painful experiences of Wettimuny, he also witnessed his batting partner Duleep Mendis getting hit on the forehead and falling flat on the floor. He was lying face down on the pitch.
“Duleep was hit bang on the forehead. I still remember that horrific sound. The ball flew some 35 yards after hitting Duleep. I rushed to him. He’s a dark guy, but his face was just chalk white. There was no movement. I really thought Duleep was dead!”
“It was an absolute nightmare. In the background, I could hear the Sri Lankan crowd singing some classical songs like ‘Danno Budunge’. The fans were having a good time. It was do or die out in the middle and I didn’t want to die. I wanted to survive. The Australian captain was really worried. He couldn’t figure out what to do as we were going at 11 runs an over. In 29 overs, we had to score some 178 runs with eight wickets in hand. “
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Duleep had been taken to the nearby St. Thomas’ Hospital. Sunil joined him soon. X-rays revealed that Sunil had fractured his hip and right foot. The Sri Lankan team and some members of the Australian side visited the hospital to check on the two players.
In a notebook that kept records of patients, a hospital attendant had shabbily made some remarks. In front of the column, ‘cause of injury’, she had scribbled, ‘hit by Thomson.’ A London policeman, whose part of the duty was to check on the patients admitted to the nearby hospitals had made note of the comments. He went in search of Duleep’s room. The cop entered the room and asked the nurse for Duleep. When she pointed her hand towards Mendis, the police officer asked, ‘Excuse me Sir. Do you want to press charges against Mr. Thomson?’ He had thought that the Sri Lankan had been assaulted by some Thomson.
What happened afterwards;
Four years later, in the second edition of the World Cup, Duleep Mendis (64) and Sunil Wettimuny (67) posted half-centuries as Sri Lanka stunned India in Manchester. It was their maiden win in an official international match. Mendis went onto become captain and for the next four decades held all crucial positions of Sri Lankan cricket from being Head Coach, Chairman of Selectors and CEO.
Sunil Wettimuny knew President J. R. Jayewardene well as he had been both the President of SSC and Board of Control for Cricket. He made a request to grant him duty leave from Air Ceylon to represent Sri Lanka in international matches. President Jayewardene turned down the request reluctantly saying that it would set a bad precedent. Instead of making himself available for the inaugural Test in 1982, Wettimuny decided to quit the game and concentrate on flying.
