History of Sri Lankan cricket to 1988

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This article describes the history of Sri Lankan cricket to 1988 when domestic first-class cricket was about to be introduced. The Sri Lanka international team has played Test cricket from 1982.

1 Beginnings
2 Early developments
3 Growth of domestic cricket
4 International cricket
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Beginnings

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, has an age-old civilisation. It came under European influence and control after Dutch colonists arrived in the 17th century; although the interior hilly region of the island remained independent for over a century with its capital at Kandy. The British East India Company established control of the island in 1796, using war with France as its excuse for commandeering Dutch territory. Ceylon was declared a Crown Colony in 1802, but the island was never to be officially connected with British India. The fall of the kingdom of Kandy in 1815 unified the island under British rule.

As everywhere that the British arrived in numbers, cricket soon followed and it is reasonable to assume that the game was first played on the island by 1800.

Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972.

[edit] Early developments

The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on 5 September 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1832 when it played against the 97th Regiment.

In October 1882, Ivo Bligh's team played an odds game in Colombo en route to Australia, where they famously "recovered those Ashes". In 1888-89, an English team led by George Vernon toured Ceylon and India, including an 11-a-side game against All-Ceylon at Kandy. In 1890, the Australian team en route to England played in Colombo.

First-class cricket in Ceylon became restricted to games against visiting touring teams, notably the English and Australian teams who used Ceylon as a stopover on the long voyage to each other's country. Douglas Jardine's infamous "bodyline team" was there in 1932-33. Occasionally, teams representative of Ceylon played matches abroad, especially in India.

[edit] Growth of domestic cricket

In 1938, the first domestic competition was established when 12 teams competed for the Daily News Trophy. The tournament's title was changed to the P Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1950-51 and then the Robert Senanayake Trophy in 1976-77. After Sri Lanka began playing Test cricket in 1982, the inevitable sponsors came on board and the tournament was rebranded as the Lakspray Trophy for the 1988-89 season when, for the first time, it was designated first-class.

Subsequently, the title of P Saravanamuttu Trophy was resurrected from 1990 and since 1998 it has been called the Premier Trophy. The Sinhalese Sports Club has won the tournament a record 29 times to 2006.

[edit] International cricket

Throughout the 20th century, the game became increasingly popular in Sri Lanka and the national team won the ICC Trophy in 1979. Soon afterwards, Sri Lanka was admitted to full membership of the ICC and was awarded Test Match status. The inaugural Test was played at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo in February 1982 against England but Sri Lanka lost by 7 wickets.

For the continuation of cricket in Sri Lanka from 1988, see : 1988-89 Sri Lankan cricket season