Gehan Mendis

Gehan Dixon Mendis (born 24 April 1955) is a former cricketer who was an opening batsman for Sussex and Lancashire between 1974 and 1993. He was part of the Lancashire team that won the 1990 Benson & Hedges Cup and 1990 NatWest Trophy. Mendis scored over 21,000 runs in his first-class career.^[1]

Gehan Mendis

Personal information
Full name	Gehan Dixon Mendis
Born	(1955-04-24) 24 April 1955 (age 70) Colombo, Ceylon
Batting	Right-handed
Role	Opening batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1974–1985	Sussex
1986–1993	Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A Matches 336 313 Runs scored 21,436 8,327 Batting average 36.83 29.42 100s/50s 41/108 8/41 Top score 209* 141* Balls bowled 177 – Wickets 1 – Bowling average 158 – 5 wickets in innings 0 – 10 wickets in match 0 – Best bowling 1/65 – Catches/stumpings 144/1 83/0
Source: CricketArchive, 15 March 2016

Career

As a youngster, Mendis represented the Sussex Young Cricketers, England Schools Cricket Association, and National Association of Young Cricketers teams,^[1][2] and in 1974, Mendis played for Bede College as they won the British Colleges National Knockout Cup.^[3] He made his first-class debut for Sussex in a 1974 County Championship match against Worcestershire at the Central Recreation Ground, Hastings. Mendis made one run in the match.^[4] In 1977, Mendis was part of a Sussex team that lost to Ireland at Pagham; Mendis scored 42 in the first innings of the match.^[5][6] Mendis scored 1326 runs in the 1980 season, which was the first time that he had scored over 1000 runs in a season. During the season, Mendis scored two double centuries.^[7][8] In addition, he was the top scorer in the 1980 Gillette Cup with 296 runs from 4 innings, including two centuries.^[9] Mendis scored 119 against Glamorgan and 141 against Warwickshire, both at the County Ground.^[10] As a result, he was named the Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year for 1980.^[11] In 1985, Mendis almost became the twelfth first-class cricketer to score five centuries in six innings; he was 96 not out when Sussex declared in a match against Hampshire.^[12]

After 12 seasons with Sussex, Mendis joined Lancashire for the 1986 season.^[1][12] During his time at Lancashire, Mendis frequently practised in the nets with Wasim Akram.^[13] In 1988, Mendis carried the bat in a match against Glamorgan at St Helen's, Swansea; Mendis scored 65* in Lancashire's second innings total of 163.^[14][15] In 1990, Mendis was part of the Lancashire team that won both the Benson & Hedges Cup and the NatWest Trophy.^[16] He scored 180 runs in a match against Nottinghamshire at Southport.^[17] The 1990 Natwest Trophy semi-final was played over three days, and Mendis batted throughout, scoring 121*, eventually receiving the man of the match award.^[16][18] In 1993, Mendis was given a benefit year by Lancashire.^[1]

Mendis also appeared in a 1989 match for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Scotland at Glenpark.^[19]

Personal life

Mendis was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and his family emigrated to the United Kingdom when he was 12; as a result, he was eligible to play for either Sri Lanka or England, although he did not make international appearances for either.^[1] As of 2015, he worked in Wilmslow, Cheshire as a teacher.^[16] His nephew Alex Mendis has played for Sussex Second XI in the Second Eleven Championship between 2005 and 2006.^[20]