Ranjan madugalle biography for kids

Sri Lankan cricketer

DeshabanduRanjan Senerath Madugalle (Sinhala: රන්ජන් සෙනරත් මඩුගල්ල, [randʒənsenəraθmaɖugallə]; born 22 April ) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who currently serves as the Chief of the panel of ICC match referees. He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, and Royal College, Colombo.

He represented Sri Lanka in international cricket between and , making his debut in the ICC Trophy final against Canada. He had the honor of being in the first Sri Lankan Test team in , and top-scored in the first innings with 65 – making a run partnership with Arjuna Ranatunga. Madugalle represented Sri Lanka in 21 test matches and 63 One Day Internationals and also captained Sri Lanka national cricket team in two test matches and 13 ODIs.^[2]

Madugalle retired from international cricket in at the age of Subsequently, he has become a match referee for the International Cricket Council in and currently serves as the chief of the panel of ICC match referees.^[3] He was promoted to the position of chief match referee of the ICC in in which he has achieved record longevity, but courted controversy at times by exhibiting bias against the India and Pakistan teams early in his career.^[4][5]

ODI career

Madugalle continued as a vital part of the Sri Lankan Test and ODI team, only missing one international game between and However, his ODI performances worried the Sri Lankan selectors, with only one fifty from 25 innings. He was shuffled around the order in an attempt to gain some form, but after scoring a duck in the second and last ODI against New Zealand in , he was dropped for the first three matches of the –85 World Series Cup in Australia. A couple of seasons followed where he was in and out of the team, but a major reorganisation of the squad following the tour of India in –87 gave him the chance again, and he seized it with a Test 60 against New Zealand.

Madugalle was never a good tourist, only averaging with the bat abroad, while he averaged on traditionally tricky Sri Lankan pitches. Indeed, his only century came in a home match – the first match of the 3-Test series against India in Madugalle took nearly seven hours to forge his , but it ensured in a drawn match. In the next match, he only batted once, making 54 from number three to build a solid platform for the next batsmen, which eventually led to a comfortable run victory. They drew the third Test – despite scores of 5 and 10 from Madugalle, and Sri Lanka had won their first Test series.

Performance as captain

In he was appointed captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team, but his team troubled neither Australia, nor England under Madugalle's leadership. Madugalle himself recorded four sub scores as captain, and the two Tests he captained became his last. He also captained the ODI team in his last 13 matches, winning two and losing eleven, but again he failed to back up his captaincy with runs – only passing 25 twice. However, Sri Lanka did win in his very last match, with a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup – in which Madugalle did not bat.

He also played league cricket in England – particularly in for Flowery Field Cricket Club, who were then in the Saddleworth League.

Retirement and match referee

Madugalle only made two international fifties after the '85 India series, both in Tests, and eventually he retired to become a marketing executive in a multinational corporation. He became involved as a match referee in He progressed through the International Cricket Council ranks, refereeing over international matches in 30 years. Thus, he officiated in many more international matches than he played. In , he was appointed as the chief match referee by the ICC. In addition to being seen as an establishment man, his record in being impartial has been questioned by Asian fans - he was seen as harsh on the Indian and in particular Pakistani teams while being relatively light on Australian teams.^[6]

Madugalle set the record for becoming the most experienced match referee in ODIs, refereeing the World Cup Final, and in will referee his th, holding the record of in January He holds the record for being a match referee in most ODIs.()^[7]

He also has the record for becoming the first match referee to officially take part in + Tests. In fact, he's the only match referee in test history to take part in as well as and test matches. He still holds the record for being a match referee in most Test matches ().^[8]

He also holds the record for being a match referee in most T20I matches at ^[9]

Madugalle has officially been a match referee in the most international cricket matches, with over international matches.^[10]

In , Ranjan Madugalle officiated as the match referee of the Cricket World Cup final.

Ranjan Madugalle, on 7 August , became the first match referee to officiate in men's ODIs, reaching this landmark in the third and final ODI between Sri Lanka and India of the Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in series.^[11]

Controversies

During his early tenure as a referee, Ranjan Madugalle courted controversy at times by exhibiting bias against Asian teams, the most notable incidents of which occurred during the Indian tour of Australia in –^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

See also

References

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