Cricket is a popular sport in Sri Lanka. The country has eight grounds that have been used to host international cricket matches, and seven of them have hosted Test matches. However, the Colombo Cricket Club Ground and the Tyronne Fernando Stadium are no longer used for matches at international level, although they are still used for domestic matches and warm-up matches for visiting teams. [1] [2] The Galle International Stadium was destroyed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but was rebuilt and hosted international matches again in 2007. [3] The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium held its maiden One Day International in 2001, but was unable to host another until 2003 due to a legal problem. [4]
The Hambantota and Pallekele cricket grounds were both newly constructed for 2011 Cricket World Cup, which Sri Lanka jointly hosted with India and Bangladesh. The R. Premadasa Stadium has also hosted world cup matches. [5] The R. Premadasa Stadium was also one of the three grounds in Sri Lanka that hosted matches for the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The other two were the Asgiriya Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. [6]
The R. Premadasa Stadium was the venue for the match in 1997 where Sri Lanka scored a record 952 runs for 6 wickets against India. [7] Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene has scored a total of 2467 Test runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the most runs scored by a batsman in one ground. [8] It is also the venue where he scored 374 runs, the highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman. [9] The venue where the most Test wickets have been taken by a single bowler is also the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, where 166 have been taken by Muttiah Muralitharan. The Asgiriya Stadium ranks second with 117 wickets, and is followed by the Galle International Stadium with 103 wickets. Both these records are also held by Muralitharan. [10] Sanath Jayasuriya has scored 2514 ODI runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium, making it the venue which has the highest ODI runs by a single batsman. [11] The largest non-cricket stadium in Sri Lanka is the 25,000-capacity Sugathadasa Stadium, which is used mostly for association football matches.
Symbol/ Word | Meaning | |
---|---|---|
Name | Official name | |
Capacity | Seating capacity of the stadium (approximately) | |
Test | First | Starting date of the first Test match played |
Last | Starting date of the last Test match played | |
ODI | First | Date of the first One Day International played |
Last | Date of the last One Day International played | |
T20I | First | Date of the first Twenty20 International played |
Last | Date of the last Twenty20 International played | |
Ref. | Reference(s) |
Name | Image | Location | Capacity | Test | ODI | T20I | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | Last | First | Last | First | Last | |||||
Asgiriya Stadium | Kandy, Central Province | 10,300 | v 22 April 1983 | v 1 December 2007 | v 2 March 1986 | v 16 December 2001 | — | — | [12] [13] | |
Colombo Cricket Club Ground (CCC) | Colombo, Western Province | 6,000 | v 24 March 1984 | v 16 April 1987 | — | — | — | — | [1] | |
De Soysa Stadium | Moratuwa, Western Province | 16,000 | v 8 September 1992 | v 8 December 1993 | v 31 March 1984 | v 14 August 1993 | — | — | [2] | |
Galle International Stadium | Galle, Southern Province | 35,000 | v 3 June 1998 | v 18 September 2024 | v 22 August 1999 | v 2 July 2017 | — | — | [14] [15] | |
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium | Hambantota, Southern Province | 35,000 | — | — | v 20 February 2011 | v 4 August 2023 | v 1 June 2012 | v 6 August 2013 | [16] [17] | |
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium | Colombo, Western Province | 15,000 | v 17 February 1987 | v 22 August 2019 | v 13 April 1983 | v 20 July 2007 | v 1 February 2010 | v 24 November 2014 | [18] | |
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium | Pallekele, Central Province | 35,000 | v 1 December 2010 | v 29 April 2021 | v 8 March 2011 | v 26 October 2024 | v 6 August 2011 | v 30 July 2024 | [19] | |
R. Premadasa Stadium | Colombo, Western Province | 35,000 | v 28 August 1992 | v 14 July 2017 | v 5 April 1986 | v 7 August 2024 | v 10 February 2009 | v 18 January 2024 | [20] | |
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium | Dambulla, Central Province | 16,800 | — | — | v 23 March 2001 | v 13 October 2018 | v 17 February 2024 | v 17 October 2024 | [21] | |
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC) | Colombo, Western Province | 10,000 | v 13 March 1984 | v 2 February 2024 | v 13 February 1982 | v 22 February 2020 | v 3 February 2010 | v 4 February 2010 | [22] |
The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) status. The team first played first class cricket in 1926–27 and became an associate member of the ICC in 1965. They made their international debut in the 1975 Cricket World Cup and were later awarded the Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket-playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.
Galle International Stadium is a cricket stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka, situated near Galle Fort and fringed on two sides by the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. Before being brought up to international cricket standards, it was known as 'The Esplanade', and is the home ground of the Galle Cricket Club. This Stadium is identified as one of the luckiest venues for the Sri Lankan national cricket team.
Asgiriya Stadium, is a cricket ground located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Uniquely owned by Trinity College, Kandy, it is conveniently situated a short distance away from the city centre. Historically, it was a prominent venue for Test matches when international teams toured Sri Lanka. Asgiriya gained fame as the country's second Test cricket ground in 1982–83 when it hosted Greg Chappell's Australian team, following in the footsteps of the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium.
Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is a 16,800-seat cricket stadium in Sri Lanka. It is situated in the Central Province, close to Dambulla on a 60-acre site leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. it is the first and only International cricket ground in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The stadium is built overlooking the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.
The R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium(RPS) (Sinhala: ආර්. ප්රේමදාස ක්රීඩාංගනය, Tamil: ஆர். பிரேமதாச அரங்கம்; formerly known as Khettarama Stadium) is a cricket stadium on Khettarama Road, in the Maligawatta suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The stadium was, before June 1994, known as the Khettarama Cricket Stadium and is today one of the main venues where the Sri Lankan cricket team play, having hosted more than 100 one-day international matches. It is the largest stadium in Sri Lanka with a capacity of 38,000 spectators. It has hosted the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 final between Sri Lanka and West Indies; the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy final between Sri Lanka and India and first semi-final of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. This was where the highest Test score in history was recorded; 952 by Sri Lanka against India. With capacity exceeding Lord's in England, the stadium is known as the "home of Sri Lankan cricket".
The Sri Lanka women's national cricket team represents Sri Lanka in international women's cricket. One of ten teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship, the team is organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The 1999–2000 Sri Lankan cricket season featured a Test series between Sri Lanka and India. Sri Lanka then played a further series against Pakistan.
The 2001–02 Sri Lankan cricket season featured three Test series with Sri Lanka playing against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and West Indies.
The 2003–04 Sri Lankan cricket season featured two Test series with Sri Lanka playing against England and Australia.
The 2004–05 Sri Lankan cricket season featured two Test series with Sri Lanka playing against South Africa and West Indies.
The Pakistan cricket team toured Sri Lanka from June to August 2009. The team played three Test matches, five One Day Internationals, and one Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka. The tour was the return tour of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan in 2008–09, where during the second test the match was abandoned due to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team which injured seven players, three staff and killed six Pakistani policemen and two civilians.
The 1997–98 Sri Lankan cricket season featured two Test series with Sri Lanka playing against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The stadium opened on 27 November 2009 and became the world's 104th Test venue in December 2010.
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, also known as Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium, and abbreviately as MRIC Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Sooriyawewa, Sri Lanka. It was built for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and hosted two matches, the first being Sri Lanka against Canada, on 20 February 2011. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people making It the second largest stadium in Sri Lanka.
The 2010 Asia Cup was the tenth edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, which was held in Sri Lanka from 15 to 24 June 2010. Only the test playing nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were taking part in the competition. India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs in the final to win a record 5th Asia Cup title. Pakistani captain, Shahid Afridi was declared the man of the tournament for scoring the most runs in the tournament, 265, with an average of 88.33 and a strike rate of 164.59.
This is a list of Sri Lanka Cricket lists, an article with a collection of lists relating to the Sri Lankan Cricket team.
The West Indies cricket team is touring Sri Lanka from 10 November to 21 December 2010. The tour consists of one three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Tests. A three-day tour match between West Indies and Sri Lanka Cricket president's XI was also played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground from 10 to 12 November.
In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home court, or home ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gain over the visiting team. This benefit has been attributed to psychological effects supporting fans have on the competitors or referees; to psychological or physiological advantages of playing near home in familiar; to the disadvantages away teams suffer from changing time zones or climates, or from the rigors of travel; and, in some sports, to specific rules that favor the home team directly or indirectly.
The 2018 SLC T20 League was a domestic Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in Sri Lanka, between 21 August and 2 September 2018. Four teams took part in the tournament: Colombo, Dambulla, Galle and Kandy. The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and the R. Premadasa Stadium hosted all the matches.
The 2022 Lanka Premier League also known as Mazaplay LPL T20, for sponsorship reasons, was the third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in Sri Lanka. It was originally scheduled to take place from 31 July to 21 August 2022 with Sri Lanka Cricket initially having promised to conduct LPL tournament targeting the August window. The ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka were scrapped due to the hosting of this tournament. However, in July 2022, the tournament was postponed due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, with the aim to play it later in 2022. The tournament was later rescheduled and held from 6 to 23 December 2022. The tournament also emphasized to promote and boost both the economy and international tourism.