Rumesh Ratnayake

Rumesh Joseph Ratnayake (born 2 January 1964), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 23 Test matches and 70 One Day Internationals from 1982 to 1993. He is the current interim head coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team. Ratnayake was born in Colombo. During a career often blighted by injury, he was a strapping right arm fast-medium bowler who was capable of swinging the new ball and generating considerable pace and bounce. He spearheaded the Sri Lankan fast bowling attack in his heyday although his international career was relatively short due to being injury prone. He was also a more than useful hard-hitting lower order batsman, as Test match fifties against Pakistan and England testify. He is usually known for his appointments as interim coach of Sri Lanka national cricket teamusually in between permanent appointments. He also works as fast bowling coach being attached to the High Performance Center of Sri Lanka Cricket on a full-time basis. International career One of Ratnayake's best performances came in the 1985/86 series against India, taking 20 wickets at 22 for the series. In the 2nd Test he managed 9 wickets in the match which gave Sri Lanka a rare Test win, and inaugural series victory. Other good hauls include 6 for 66 against Australia at Hobart in 1990/91 and 5 for 69 against England at Lord's. His bowling spell of 6/66 was instrumental in restricting Australia for 224.