Graeme Labrooy

Sri Lankan cricketer

Graeme Labrooy
Personal information
Full name
Graeme Fredrick Labrooy
Born (1964-06-07) 7 June 1964 (age 59)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
RoleBowler
RelationsWendell Labrooy (brother)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 132)17 December 1986 v India
Last Test1 March 1991 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 50)27 November 1986 v India
Last ODI9 March 1992 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI
Matches 9 44
Runs scored 158 249
Batting average 14.36 8.58
100s/50s 0/1 0/0
Top score 70* 33
Balls bowled 2158 2,308
Wickets 27 45
Bowling average 44.22 41.68
5 wickets in innings 1 1
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling 5/133 5/57
Catches/stumpings 3/– 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 9 February 2006

Graeme Fredrick Labrooy (Sinhala: ග්‍රැහැම් ලැබ්‍රෝයි; born 7 June 1964) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in nine Test matches and 44 One Day International from 1986 to 1992.[1] He was the chairman of selectors for the national team and currently serves as an international match referee.[2] His younger brother Wendell Labrooy is also a first-class cricketer and match referee.[3][4] Labrooy holds the unique distinction of never playing any of his nine test matches at home. He had modelled his text book bowling action on Richard Hadlee and he was regarded as a huge fan of Hadlee.[5]

Playing career

He pursued his education at Maris Stella College in Negombo.[6] He played school cricket for Maris Stella College and captained the Maris Stella College cricket team.[7] In 1981, he was part of the Sri Lankan school cricket team which toured England.[8] In 1983, he was voted as the Best Outstation Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year and was also voted as best school all-rounder and best school bowler in the same year.[4] He initially pursued his career as a spinner when he was in his mid 13s to 15s but later decided to become a seamer in his school cricket days.[4]

A right-hand bat and right-arm fast medium bowler, Labrooy took 124 first class wickets at 33.56, but struggled in the international arena with averages in the mid-40s. He made his ODI debut on 27 November 1986 along with Hashan Tillakaratne against India during the 1986–87 Champions Trophy.[9] A month later, he made his test debut against India on 17 December 1986 and batted as a tailender on debut while also recorded expensive bowling figures of 1/164.[10] Together with his moderate batting ability, he enjoyed occasional all round success. During an ODI against Australia at the 1989 Benson & Hedges World Series, he became the first player ever to be dismissed on the very second ball faced by a batsman in an ODI innings after hitting a six off the first ball.[11][12] In the same match against Australia, Max Walker who was the commentator for Channel Nine made a stir regarding his name by comparing his name with fellow Sri Lankan cricketers names which were relatively longer than Labrooy.[13][14] He also became the first player to be dismissed with a batting strike rate of 300 in an ODI match.[15] He took his maiden test five-wicket haul against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane in 1989.[16]

In a test match against New Zealand in 1991 at Auckland, he took seven wickets and batting at number 9 position he smacked 70 from just 80 deliveries taking only 89 minutes out of which 60 off those runs came in boundaries (hammering 12 fours and 2 sixes).[17] It also turned out to be his last test match appearance for Sri Lanka.[18] Due to political tension in Sri Lanka, his nine Test matches were sporadic and all played abroad.[19] During his short test career, he established new ball partnership with Rumesh Ratnayake. He was part of the Sri Lankan squad at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, his maiden and only World Cup tournament and also the tournament incidentally marked his last international appearance for Sri Lanka.[20]

He played one domestic season for Negombo Cricket Club and then represented Basnahira North and Colombo Cricket Club in domestic cricket from 1983 to 1991. He retired from professional cricket in 1992 after featuring in one domestic season for Galle Cricket Club.[4]

Referee

After retirement, Labrooy became a board member of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, and served as an international referee. In 2010, he was appointed in the Asian regional match referee panel by the International Cricket Council. He had previously officiated as a match referee in Sri Lankan domestic cricket matches until 2009.[4]

His first appearance at an ICC event as match referee came during the 2000 ICC Under-19 World Cup. He then went onto officiate as an international match referee at the 2012 ICC T20 World Cup, 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, 2018 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup and 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.[21][22][23] His first official T20I as match referee came during a match between Canada and Afghanistan at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.[24] His first ODI as match referee came during a match between Scotland and Afghanistan at the ICC World Cricket League Championship in 2013.[25]

He had also served as match referee in the Indian Premier League in 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons and also in the inaugural edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League. He also served as a match referee in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League in 2020.[26][21]

In January 2020, he was named as one of the three match referees for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup tournament in South Africa.[27][28]

Selection committee

In 2005, he was appointed as the secretary of Sri Lanka Cricketers' Association (SLCA) and resigned from the position in 2011.[29][30][31]

On 15 September 2017, Labrooy was appointed as the chief selector of the national team replacing Sanath Jayasuriya.[32][33] He along with former selector, Asanka Gurusinha and three new persons included former national team manager Jeryl Woutersz, former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Gamini Wickremasinghe, and former domestic Sri Lankan cricketer, Sajith Fernando were appointed in the selection committee.[34] In 2018, he was appointed in a temporary seven member cricket advisory committee by the Sports ministry (with the intervention of the then sports minister Faizer Mustapha) which functioned until the Sri Lanka Cricket Elections.[35] In June 2018, he was reappointed as the chief selector of national cricket team replacing Asanka Gurusinha.[36][37][38] However, when he was reappointed as the chief selector of the team, concerns were raised over the conflict-of-interest whereas Labrooy was also serving as one of the match referees in the ICC elite panel.[39][40] In November 2018, he was replaced by Ashantha de Mel as the chief selector.[41][42]

Business

Labrooy had also worked for Brandix apparel industry and also for Finlays Insurance brokers.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Graeme Labrooy profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Graeme Labrooy appointed as the chief selector of Sri Lanka". Cricket Country. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Wendell Labrooy profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (26 May 2018). "Rare feat of two brothers serving in ICC panel as Match Referees". Daily News. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Graeme Labrooy Profile - ICC Ranking, Age, Career Info & Stats". Cricbuzz. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  6. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "හිටපු ක්‍රීඩා ඇමති දයාසිරි තේරීම් කමිටුවට බලපෑම් කළාද? : ග්‍රැහැම් ලැබ්රෝයි | STRAIGHT DRIVE". YouTube. Ada Derana 24. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. ^ Perera, Bernard (23 July 2017). "'Battle of the Lagoons' make a comeback". Sunday Observer. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Cricket – Maris Stella College". Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs India 1st Match 1986/87 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 26 November 1986. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs India 1st Test 1986/87 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  11. ^ Lynch, Steven. "What's the record for the most sixes in an ODI series". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Full Scorecard of Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st Match 1989/90 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 26 December 1986. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Max Walker dies: The 12th Man Billy Birmingham pays tribute to cricket and TV legend Big Maxy". Fox Sports. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Max Walker on Graeme Labrooy". YouTube. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Batting records | One-Day Internationals". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Full Scorecard of Australia vs Sri Lanka 1st Test 1989/90 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  17. ^ "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs New Zealand 3rd Test 1990/91 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  18. ^ "India's nadir". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 7 June 2005.
  19. ^ Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 457. ISBN 0947540067.
  20. ^ "Full Scorecard of England vs Sri Lanka 23rd Match 1991/92 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 9 March 1992. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Four pairs of brothers at LPL". Daily News. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Match officials appointed for U19 Cricket World Cup". International Cricket Council. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  23. ^ "ICC confirm match officials and squads for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier". International Cricket Council. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Full Scorecard of Scotland vs Afghanistan 33rd Match 2011-2013/14 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  25. ^ "Full Scorecard of Scotland vs Afghanistan 33rd Match 2011-2013/14 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  26. ^ "LPL Umpire and Match Referee Panel announced". NewsWire. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  27. ^ "Match officials named for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup". International Cricket Council. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  28. ^ "Labrooy, Wimalasiri in panel". Daily News. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  29. ^ Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (6 March 2013). "Players' association happy with SL board, says Labrooy". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Board officials knew about IPL contracts - Labrooy". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  31. ^ Pathiravithana, S.R. "Cricket by cricketers, for cricketers and of cricketers". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  32. ^ Fernando, Andrew Fidel (15 September 2017). "Graeme Labrooy appointed Sri Lanka chief selector". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Graeme Labrooy set to be Sri Lanka's next chief selector". CricTracker. 16 September 2017.
  34. ^ "Gurusinha reappointed selector after resigning". ESPNcricinfo. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  35. ^ Balasuriya, Madushka (5 November 2018). "Chandika Hathurusingha, Graeme Labrooy part of new Cricket Advisory Committee". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  36. ^ "SLC reappoint Labrooy as chief selector". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Sri Lanka retains Graeme Labrooy as chief selector". Sportstar. The Hindu. 4 June 2018.
  38. ^ "La Brooy retained as cricket chief selector". The Sunday Times. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  39. ^ "Labrooy has the last laugh". Sunday Observer. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  40. ^ "Selector or Referee: ICC clarifies stance on Labrooy". The Morning. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  41. ^ Balasuriya, Madushka (25 November 2018). "Ashantha de Mel to head Sri Lanka's new selection panel". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN Inc. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  42. ^ "Sri Lanka Cricket announce new selection panel". International Cricket Council. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2022.

External links

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Sri Lanka squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup
Sri Lanka