Russel Arnold

Russel Arnold Biography

Russell Premkumar Arnold is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was a left-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm off break bowler. Due to his ability to quickly adapt to the situation and an unselfish approach towards the game, he garnered much praise from his peers and was hailed as a complete cricketer.

Arnold was born on 25 October 1973 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a calm and composed character on the field who mainly batted at number six, which helped him in batting under pressure situations.

Background

Arnold was supported and encouraged by his grandfather to consider taking up cricket as a profession. He used to play as an opener for St. Peter's College, Colombo and worked his way into the Sri Lanka U-19 team.

He made his mark in Under-19 cricket on a tour to England in 1992, scoring 242 runs at an average of 48.40 in three matches as an opener. He then arrived on the domestic scene the following year as a 20-year old.

Debut

Arnold made his Test debut against Pakistan at Colombo in April 1997. He started his career as an opener and in his debut match, he managed to score a total of 39 runs. In his second match, he scored a total of 87 runs including his maiden fifty in the second innings.

He made his ODI debut against South Africa at Lahore in November 1997. He scored 11 runs off 21 balls. In his next ODI match against England at Lord's, he was out for 3 runs off 21 balls.

Rise to Glory

After consistent performances in four domestic seasons, Arnold was put into the reserve squad for the Pakistan tour of Sri Lanka in 1997. But he did not make it to the main squad.

After an unimpressive performance in his debut match, it was a big task for him to break into the Sri Lankan team of the 90s which had an intimidating batting line up. However, in 1999 he was brought back into the test squad and started making the opportunity count.

He scored his maiden test hundred against Pakistan at Lahore in March 1999. He opened the batting and scored 123 runs off 208 balls. He was then given a new role and pushed down the order in the ODI team which resulted in the emergence of a new Russel Arnold.

He batted in the middle order and scored tons of runs, especially at number six where he has scored 1703 runs at 44.81.

Russel's Record in Numbers

Arnold has amassed 1821 runs, including three hundreds and 10 fifties in 44 test matches at an average of 28.01, and also taken 11 wickets in the process.

He featured in 180 ODIs in which he has scored 3950 runs, including one hundred and 28 fifties at an average of 35.26. He has also taken 40 ODI wickets at 43.47. He scored 7 runs in the solitary T20I that he played.

Retirement

Arnold announced his retirement from international cricket after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup final. He then played A-grade cricket in Australia for some time and turned a full-time commentator afterwards.

He also provides match predictions through his mobile app Ask Rusty. He is now known for his commentary and post-match analysis.