Kennington Oval 1975: Where Jeff Thomson outgunned Tamil Demonstrators

Early in the World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka at Kennington Oval on 11th June 1975, a ‘troop’ of Sri Lankan Tamil men stormed on to the field to demonstrate their hostility to the political situation in Sri Lanka. This act is said to have been organised by Left-oriented activists associated with the EROS. Violene was not intended and this was apparently self-evident to all the cricketing men on the field. As Anura Tennakoon (captain) told me, they were not perturbed. for the most part, the Australian bowling was not all that bothersome either — BUT there was a speed merchant called Jeff thomson whose slinging paceeventually hospitalised tow well-set batsmen. K.O.victory

17-Tamil protest Oval, 11 June 1975

35.Mendis felled LRD Mendis retired hurt at 150/2

WETTIMUNY HIT SRD Wettimuny retired hurt at 164/2

ADDENDUM I: An Email Note from Gerald H. Peiris: “I watched the broadcast of this match at Peter Ranasinghe’s home in Perth. Sri Lanka was well on the way to a sensational victory when Thomson struck. He was thoroughly condemned by the Australian press, the following day.”

ADDENDUM II, from Editor Thuppahi: “If tales lodged in memory are valid, Thomson threw the stumps down as Duleep Mendis lay twitching out of the crease. The English umpires, quite sensibly, refused to rule Mendis out ….. But he was effectively out of action (hospitalized too).”

Prudential World Cup, 7th Match: Australia v Sri Lanka at The Oval, Jun 11, 1975

Prudential World Cup – 7th match, Group B
Australia won by 52 runs
Played at Kennington Oval, London (neutral venue)
11 June 1975 (60-over match)
Australia innings (60 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR
RB McCosker b de Silva 73 111 2 0 65.76
A Turner c Mendis b de Silva 101 113 9 1 89.38
IM Chappell* b Kaluperuma 4 7 1 0 57.14
GS Chappell c Opatha b Pieris 50 50 5 1 100.00
KD Walters c Tennekoon b Pieris 59 66 5 0 89.39
JR Thomson not out 9 7 0 0 128.57
RW Marsh not out 9 7 0 0 128.57
Extras (b 1, lb 20, w 1, nb 1) 23
Total (5 wickets; 60 overs) 328 (5.46 runs per over)
Bowling O M R W Econ
ARM Opatha 9 0 32 0 3.55
HSM Pieris 11 0 68 2 6.18
B Warnapura 9 0 40 0 4.44
AN Ranasinghe 7 0 55 0 7.85
DS de Silva 12 3 60 2 5.00
LWS Kaluperuma 12 0 50 1 4.16
Sri Lanka innings (target: 329 runs from 60 overs) R B 4s 6s SR
SRD Wettimuny retired hurt 53 102 7 0 51.96
ER Fernando b Thomson 22 18 4 0 122.22
B Warnapura st †Marsh b Mallett 31 39 5 0 79.48
LRD Mendis retired hurt 32 45 5 0 71.11
APB Tennekoon* b IM Chappell 48 71 6 0 67.60
MH Tissera c Turner b IM Chappell 52 72 7 0 72.22
AN Ranasinghe not out 14 18 3 0 77.77
HSM Pieris not out 0 3 0 0 0.00
Extras (b 6, lb 8, w 8, nb 2) 24
Total (4 wickets; 60 overs) 276 (4.60 runs per over)
Bowling O M R W Econ
DK Lillee 10 0 42 0 4.20
JR Thomson 12 5 22 1 1.83
AA Mallett 12 0 72 1 6.00
KD Walters 6 1 33 0 5.50
MHN Walker 12 1 44 0 3.66
GS Chappell 4 0 25 0 6.25
IM Chappell 4 0 14 2 3.50

Match details


Toss – Sri Lanka, who chose to field
Points – Australia 4, Sri Lanka 0
ODI debut – SRD Wettimuny (Sri Lanka)
Player of the match – A Turner (Australia)
Umpires – WL Budd and AE Fagg

SUNIL W at oval -getty Sunil in full flow before Jeff Thomson ‘disposed’ of him 

LISTEN to the Commentary = http://web.cricbuzz.com/cricket-scores/7913/australia-v-sri-lanka-11-jun-1975

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, cricket for amity, heritage, life stories, martyrdom, performance, political demonstrations, power politics, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, trauma, unusual people, world events & processes

One response to “Kennington Oval 1975: Where Jeff Thomson outgunned Tamil Demonstrators

  1. Pingback: Sri Lanka vs Australia, Kenington Oval, June 1975 | Critiquing Cricket

Leave a Reply