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Full name Ashantha Lakdasa Francis de Mel
Born May 9, 1959, Colombo
Current age 49 years 121 days
Major teams Sri Lanka
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
6s
Ct
St
Tests
17
28
5
326
34
14.17
0
0
3
9
0
ODIs
57
41
9
466
36
14.56
595
78.31
0
0
13
0
First-class
42
57
9
918
100*
19.12
1
2
22
0
List A
70
51
13
577
39*
15.18
0
0
15
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
17
27
3518
2180
59
6/109
7/201
36.94
3.71
59.6
2
3
0
ODIs
57
57
2735
2237
59
5/32
5/32
37.91
4.90
46.3
1
2
0
First-class
42
7056
4132
109
6/109
37.90
3.51
64.7
3
0
List A
70
3347
2569
69
5/32
5/32
37.23
4.60
48.5
2
1
0
Career statistics
Test debut
Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (PSS), Feb 17-21, 1982 scorecard
Last Test
India v Sri Lanka at Kanpur, Dec 17-22, 1986 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (SSC), Feb 13, 1982 scorecard
Last ODI
England v Sri Lanka at Pune, Oct 30, 1987 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span
1981/82 - 1986/87
List A span
1980/81 - 1987/88
Profile
He was a brisk right-arm bowler with the ability to gain genuine outswing, Ashantha de Mel was Sri Lanka's leading pace bowler following their elevation to full Test status. In Sri Lanka's inaugural test against England in 1981-82, de Mel took a highly creditable 4 for 70 and 1 for 33. In the following tour of Pakistan, he toiled willingly, taking 11 wickets. In the one-off Test against India in 1982-83, he became the first Sri Lankan fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul, grabbing 5 for 68 in the second innings. With the bat, de Mel was a handy performer, capable of valuable contributions in the lower order with his aggressive style. A serious knee injury brought his career to a premature end after the 1987 World Cup, but he went on to represent Sri Lanka at bridge, including an appearance at the Commonwealth Games. He also served on the interim committee of the Sri Lanka cricket board, and was a national selector and manager of the under-19 side.
Johann P Jayasekera (April 2004)
