Eric Upashantha

A rangy fast medium bowler with a bustling approach to the wicket, Eric Upashantha has been on the fringes of the Sri Lankan team for a number of seasons, but inconsistent performances have stopped him from cementing a permanent position despite Sri Lanka's dearth of pace bowlers. He made his ODI debut on Sri Lanka's tour of Pakistan in 1995/96, after making the squad during the proceeding tour of Australia, but failed to make an impact and dropped out of the picture. Recalled for the Asian Test Championship in 1999, shortly before the World Cup in England, he played his only Test to date against India at SSC. In the first innings he struggled - as did the other seamers - bowled a vigorous spell in the second, capturing 2-41. In the following Pepsi Cup he managed to impress sufficiently to earn a position in the World Cup squad. In conditions that generally favoured the seam bowlers his performances were disappointing. Failing to deliver with a consistent action he struggled to control the ball, bowling an inconsistent length and spraying the ball. Again he fell out of favour, returning to play for Colts Cricket Club in the domestic competition. Since then he appeared briefly during Sri Lanka's ODI tour of New Zealand in February 2001, before being recalled to the squad for England as cover for the injured Dilhara Fernando.(30.04.2002)