TheEngland cricket team touredSri Lanka in February and March 2001, playing threeTest matches and threeOne Day Internationals. England won the Test series 2–1, while Sri Lanka took the ODI series 3–0.
22–26 February 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
Sri Lanka won by an innings and 28 runs Galle International Stadium Umpires:Arani Jayaprakash (Ind) andPeter Manuel (SL) Player of the match:Marvan Atapattu (SL) |
7–11 March 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
England won by 3 wickets Asgiriya Stadium,Kandy Umpires:B. C. Cooray (SL) andRudi Koertzen (SA) Player of the match:Darren Gough (Eng) |
Sri Lanka'sB. C. Cooray alongside South Africa'sRudi Koertzen were appointed as standing umpires for the second Test match atAsgiriya Stadium,Kandy.[2] He and Koertzen made fair share of errors during the test match which eventually changed the outcome of the match with England winning the match by a margin of three wickets in a low scoring yet tricky run-chase. Both of them were even escorted safely from the stadium by the security officials due to the tense situation which arose during the course of the match as fans chanted and booed the umpires in the stands criticising their erroneous calls. The match consisted at least 13 clear umpiring mistakes with Cooray playing the majority of his part.[3] The Sri Lankan local fans vent their frustrations in the stands protesting against his umpiring blunders by holding placards and banners mentioning and accusing Cooray of having sold the match to secure a visa to England. The phrases "B.C You Sold This Match. Have Got Your Resident Visa for England" were seen during the fourth day of the match.[4][5]
Cooray took the centre-stage when England were batting in their first innings where he turned down the loud appeals on three occasions when England skipperNasser Hussain was trapped lbw which was later proven costly as far as Sri Lanka were concerned as Hussain went onto complete a match winning century and in fact Hussain was the beneficiary of Cooray's umpiring.[6][7] He also denied the caught and bowled dismissal claimed byMuttiah Muralitharan whenGraeme Hick was batting. On the other hand, Atherton also survived a close lbw call thanks largely due to Cooray. He also made another ridiculous decision by ruling outSanath Jayasuriya during Sri Lanka's second innings when replays clearly suggested that the ball bowled byAndy Caddick had actually bumped well before it was taken on bounce by slip fielderGraham Thorpe who actually had to dive in order to complete the catch.[8][9] Jayasuriya who was a casualty of Cooray's brain fade umpiring showed dissent at the decision as he hurled his helmet across the boundary line.[10] The continuous flaws in umpiring also increased tensions between the team players of Sri Lanka and England withKumar Sangakkara at one point losing his cool and involved in an heated verbal exchange with England'sMichael Atherton and eventually Sangakkara labelled England as "cheats".
However, it has been pointed out that just as many decisions went against England, including what is widely considered the worst LBW decision in cricket History when Stewart was given out LBW despite the ball pitching two feet outside of leg stump
He also received backlash for his refusal to admit the mistakes he committed during the match. During the post-match presentations, fans of Sri Lanka and England yelled for him to be named Man of the Match. Initial reports by local media revealed that he would be dropped for the third and final test of the series, thus forcing him to a retirement from umpiring. However, the reports were deemed rumours as he was recalled as TV umpire for the third and final test which was confirmed byK. T. Francis who then served as the director of umpiring with theSri Lanka Cricket.[11] Despite such assurance from Francis, the second Test at Asgiriya turned out to be his last international match as an umpire.[12]
15–17 March 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
England won by 4 wickets Sinhalese Sports Club Ground,Colombo Umpires:Asoka de Silva (SL) andDave Orchard (SA) Player of the match:Graham Thorpe (Eng) |
23 March 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium,Dambulla Umpires:Asoka de Silva (SL) andLalith Jayasundara (SL) Player of the match:Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) |
25 March 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
Sri Lanka won by 66 runs R. Premadasa Stadium,Colombo Umpires:B. C. Cooray (SL) andNandasena Pathirana (SL) Player of the match:Mahela Jayawardene (SL) |
27 March 2001 Scorecard |
v | ||
Romesh Kaluwitharana 102* (117) |
Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets Sinhalese Sports Club Ground,Colombo Umpires:Gamini Silva (SL) andTyron Wijewardene (SL) Player of the match:Romesh Kaluwitharana (SL) |
