Wisden overview
Eric Upashantha is no spring chicken. He made his one-day debut against Pakistan as long ago as 1995-96, yet he has failed to grasp the opportunities that have come his way. Strongly built, his pace is undermined by an inconsistent action that collapses under pressure, and he had played just 12 one-day matches in six years when he was recalled for Sri Lanka's tour of England in 2002. It was Upashantha's misfortune to play his solitary Test match on a Colombo featherbed (1309 runs were scored in three innings, and only 12 wickets fell), but he had a dreadful time at the World Cup in 1999 - in conditions that were tailormade for his bustling style of seam bowling. His nadir came at Taunton, when Ganguly and Dravid carved him for 80 runs in 10 fruitless overs, on their way to a world record 318 for the second wicket. But four top-order wickets against New Zealand at Napier in 2000-01 revived his fortunes, and suggested that he may yet be an able ally for Chaminda Vaas Andrew Miller

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