Roy Dias

Who is Roy Dias?

Roy Luke Dias is a former Sri Lankan cricketer of Negombo chetty Tamil origin. An elegant and stylish right-handed batsman he played 20 Test matches and became the first Sri Lankan to hit 1,000 Test runs. He played representative cricket for Sri Lanka from 1979 to 1987 and became the first Sri Lankan test cricketer of any of the three distinct Sri Lankan Tamil groups in the Island, and with his 214 runs in the 1979 ICC Trophy he was an integral part of Sri Lanka's tournament victory, as he played four matches with a batting average of 71.33, scoring 214 runs. The victory meant Sri Lanka qualified for the 1979 cricket World Cup, and, surprisingly, Sri Lanka won one match in that tournament as well. Dias made a patient 50 as Sri Lanka made their way to 238 for 5, before bowling India out for a meagre 191.

Sri Lanka was promoted to Test status three years later, and Dias was picked for the first Test. He had a difficult start, being dismissed for a duck by Bob Willis as Sri Lanka fell to 11 for 2, but battled better in the second innings against England's spinners Derek Underwood and John Emburey.