History of cricket in Sri Lanka

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This article describes the history of cricket in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka national cricket team has played Test cricket from 1982. Domestic first-class cricket began in 1988.

Contents

[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[1].

In October 1882, Ivo Bligh's team played an odds game in Colombo[2] 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] Domestic cricket

[edit] Premier Trophy

In 1938, the first domestic competition was established when 12 teams competed for the Daily News Trophy[3]. 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.

For a full list of winners from 1938, see : Premier Trophy.

[edit] Premier Limited Overs Tournament

The first limited overs cricket tournament in Sri Lanka was the Brown's Trophy in 1988-89[4]. Only four teams competed in the inaugural competition: Sinhalese Sports Club (winners); Nondescripts Cricket Club (runners-up); Galle Cricket Club; Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club. The tournament was renamed the Hatna Trophy in 1990-91 and then given its current name Premier Limited Overs Tournament in 1998-99.

The competition to date has been dominated by three teams: Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club has won five times; Sinhalese Sports Club and Nondescripts Cricket Club have won four times each.

For a full list of winners from 1988, see : Premier Limited Overs Tournament.

[edit] Leading players by season

The lists below give the leading runscorers and wicket-takers in each domestic season.

[edit] Batsmen
  • 1988-89 – DSBP Kuruppu – 339 @ 113.00 (HS 126)
  • 1989-90 – WAA Wasantha – 519 @ 57.66 (HS 134)
  • 1990-91 – UNK Fernando – 656 @ 65.60 (HS 160)
  • 1991-92 – MC Mendis – 551 @ 78.71 (HS 177*)
  • 1992-93 – PA de Silva – 591 @ 53.72 (HS 143)
  • 1993-94 – MAR Samarasekera – 701 @ 50.07 (HS 191)
  • 1994-95 – MS Atapattu – 1302 @ 93.00 (HS 181)
  • 1995-96 – RP Arnold – 1430 @ 79.44 (HS 217*)
  • 1996-97 – RS Kaluwitharana – 1172 @ 73.25 (HS 179)
  • 1997-98 – MS Atapattu – 868 @ 96.44 (HS 223)
  • 1998-99 – TM Dilshan – 1027 @ 51.35 (HS 194)
  • 1999-00 – DA Gunawardene – 711 @ 41.82 (HS 140)
  • 2000-01 – RPAH Wickramaratne – 830 @ 51.87 (HS 139)
  • 2001-02 – DPMD Jayawardene – 1426 @ 89.12 (HS 274)
  • 2002-03 – SKL de Silva – 938 @ 42.63 (HS 133)
  • 2003-04 – TM Dilshan – 1284 @ 51.36 (HS 151)
  • 2004-05 – S Kalavitigoda – 885 @ 49.16 (HS 152)
  • 2005-06 – WMG Ramyakumara – 993 @ 62.06 (HS 150*)

[edit] Bowlers
  • 1988-89 – SD Anurasiri – 24 @ 13.12 (BB 8-53)
  • 1989-90 – KPJ Warnaweera – 71 @ 13.47 (BB 7-16)
  • 1990-91 – FS Ahangama – 39 @ 14.89 (BB 5-44)
  • 1991-92 – GP Wickramasinghe – 38 @ 13.10 (BB 10-41)
  • 1992-93 – CM Hathurusingha – 35 @ 16.65 (BB 8-40)
  • 1993-94 – AMN Munasinghe – 46 @ 16.43 (BB 9-38)
  • 1994-95 – SD Anurasiri – 78 @ 15.67 (BB 8-90)
  • 1995-96 – M Jayasena – 67 @ 21.41 (BB 5-72)
  • 1996-97 – ADB Ranjith – 70 @ 16.40 (BB 9-29)
  • 1997-98 – UC Hathurusingha – 35 @ 16.17 (BB 7-55)
  • 1998-99 – PP Wickramasinghe – 76 @ 13.01 (BB 8-47)
  • 1999-00 – D Hettiarachchi – 55 @ 15.09 (BB 5-20)
  • 2000-01 – S Weerakoon – 80 @ 12.97 (BB 7-51)
  • 2001-02 – M Muralitharan – 87 @ 13.47 (BB 9-51)
  • 2002-03 – PN Ranjith – 69 @ 17.10 (BB 6-27)
  • 2003-04 – M Muralitharan – 96 @ 14.40 (BB 7-46)
  • 2004-05 – S Weerakoon – 52 @ 20.80 (BB 7-81)
  • 2005-06 – SADU Indrasiri – 60 @ 13.55 (BB 7-61)

[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.

Sri Lanka won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

[edit] International tours of Sri Lanka

[edit] Australia

The first Australian visit to Ceylon was in 1935-36. This team, led by Jack Ryder, was en route to India.

Next, in the aftermath of World War Two, came the Australian Services cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1945-46, featuring Keith Miller who scored a century in Colombo. Miller returned as part of the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 which played a game in Colombo during a stopover on their voyage to England.

It was not until 1969-70 that another Australian team arrived in Ceylon. This team played one first-class match against the national Ceylon team before going on to India for a five-Test series.

The 1981 Australians to England played a match in Colombo against Sri Lanka only months before Sri Lanka achieved Test status.

During Sri Lanka's Test era, there have been five Australian tours of the country, four of which featured Test cricket. The visitors in 1996 were there to make up the numbers in a One Day International (LOI) tri-series against India and Sri Lanka. Australia reached the final of the tri-series but lost by 50 runs to Sri Lanka.

[edit] 1982-83

Australia won its first-ever Test against Sri Lanka in 1982-83:

[edit] 1992

Australia won the three-match Test series 1-0 with 2 draws:

[edit] 1999

Sri Lanka won the three-match Test series 1-0 with 2 draws:

[edit] 2003-04

Australia won the Test series 3-0:

[edit] Bangladesh

[edit] 2001-02

Bangladesh achieved Test status in November 2000 and first played Sri Lanka in September 2001 as part of the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship:

[edit] 2002

Bangladesh made its first Test tour of Sri Lanka in July-August 2002, playing 2 Tests and 3 LOIs. Sri Lanka won the Test series 2-0:

[edit] 2005-06

See : Bangladeshi cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2005-06

[edit] 2007

Sri Lanka convincingly won all three Tests by innings margins:

The difference between the two sides was Muttiah Muralitharan who took 26 wickets in the three matches with an average of 10.84 and best figures of 6-28.

[edit] England

By 1911, there had been five English teams in Ceylon. Those were led by Ivo Bligh in 1882-83; George Vernon in 1889-90; WG Grace in 1891-92; Lord Hawke in 1892-93; and Andrew Stoddart in 1894-95. The Bligh, Grace and Stoddart teams were en route to Australia while the Vernon and Hawke ventures took in Ceylon as part of visits to India.

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) teams have visited on no less than 23 occasions since 1911-12, most recently in 2000-01.

Other teams sent from England have been Sir Julien Cahn's XI cricket team in Ceylon in 1936-37, DH Robins' XI cricket team in Sri Lanka in 1977-78 and English cricket team in India in 1984-85. The latter was a very short stopover by the England team en route to India.

The England national cricket team has played four Test series in Sri Lanka: 1981-82, 1992-93, 2000-01 and 2003-04. A fifth tour is presently underway (Oct - Dec 2007).

[edit] 1981-82

England played 1 Test match against Sri Lanka, this being Sri Lanka's inaugural Test. England won the match and thereby the series 1-0:

[edit] 1992-93

Sri Lanka won the only Test played:

[edit] 2000-01

England played 3 Tests and won the series 2-1:

[edit] 2003-04

England played 4 first-class matches including 3 Tests; and 4 limited overs matches including 3 limited overs internationals, one of which was the Bungle in the jungle.

Sri Lanka won the Test series by winning 1 of the 3 matches with 2 drawn:

[edit] 2007-08

This tour featuring Tests and LOIs is currently (Oct 2007) taking place.

[edit] India

[edit] 1945

The India national cricket team visited Ceylon in April 1945 and played one first-class match versus Ceylon at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo.

The match was drawn on account of bad weather. India's team was a strong one captained by Vijay Merchant and including notable players such as Shute Banerjee, Mushtaq Ali, Lala Amarnath, Vijay Hazare and Rusi Modi.

[edit] 1956-57

India visited Ceylon in November 1956 and played two first-class international matches versus Ceylon at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo:

The Indian team was captained by Polly Umrigar and included Nari Contractor, Subhash Gupte, Pankaj Roy, A. G. Kripal Singh and Vijay Manjrekar.

[edit] 1973-74

India toured Sri Lanka in January and February 1974. India played two first-class and two limited overs matches versus Sri Lanka and two further first-class matches versus the Sri Lanka Board President's XI. India defeated Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground by 6 wickets but the other three first-class games were impacted by the weather and were drawn.

[edit] 1985

Sri Lanka won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:

[edit] 1993

India won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:

[edit] 1997

Both Tests in this series were drawn so the series result was 0-0:

[edit] 1998-99

India played in Sri Lanka as part of the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship:

[edit] 2001

India played 4 first-class matches including 3 Tests. They also took part in a limited overs tri-series with Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Sri Lanka won the Test series against India by 2-1 :

[edit] 2006

The Indian team was due to play a series of 3 limited overs internationals but these were abandoned because of continuous heavy rain, although play did begin in the first scheduled fixture. The only game that India did complete was a 50-over match versus the Sri Lanka A team. India won this by 3 wickets.

[edit] New Zealand

[edit] 1983-84

The New Zealand national cricket team visited Sri Lanka for the first time in 1983-84 and played 3 Tests. New Zealand won the series 2-0 with 1 match drawn:

[edit] 1984-85

New Zealand played two limited overs internationals versus Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won the first match by 4 wickets and New Zealand won the second by 7 wickets.

[edit] 1986-87

New Zealand played 1 Test which was drawn. The second and third Tests were both cancelled because of civil disturbances:

[edit] 1992-93

Sri Lanka won the Test series 1-0 with 1 match drawn:

[edit] 1998

Sri Lanka won the Test series 2-1:

[edit] 2003

The teams played 2 Tests which were both drawn:

[edit] Pakistan

[edit] 1948-49

The Pakistan national cricket team visited Ceylon in April 1949 to play two first-class matches versus Ceylon. Both games were played at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. Pakistan, captained by Mohammad Saeed, won the first match by an innings and 192 runs, Saeed himself top-scoring with 93. The great Pakistan bowler Fazal Mahmood took 4-15 as Ceylon were bowled out for only 95 in their second innings. Pakistan won the second match by 10 wickets despite some good batting by Ceylon in their first innings.

[edit] 1972-73

Pakistan visited Sri Lanka in November 1972 to play a single first-class match versus the Sri Lanka national team at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. The match was drawn after being affected by rain. Pakistan, captained by Intikhab Alam, scored 262-8 declared and 48-3 declared. Sri Lanka scored 133 and 120-3.

[edit] 1975-76

Pakistan toured Sri Lanka in January 1976 to play three first-class and two limited overs matches. Sri Lanka surprisingly won the opening first-class match at Colombo Cricket Club Ground by 4 wickets and then Pakistan won the second match at the same venue by the same margin. In between, Pakistan played the Sri Lanka Board President's XI at Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy and they won this by 7 wickets.

[edit] 1978-79

Pakistan, captained by Majid Khan, visited Sri Lanka in April 1979 to play a limited overs match versus the Sri Lanka national team. The match at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium was won by Pakistan by 55 runs after scoring 164-8 in their 40 overs. Sri Lanka in reply could only manage 109-8.

[edit] 1985-86

Pakistan toured Sri Lanka in 1985-86 to play its first Test series there. The series ended 1-1 with 1 match drawn:

[edit] 1994

Pakistan won the Test series 2-0:

[edit] 1996-97

The Test series ended 0-0 with both matches drawn:

[edit] 2000

The Pakistan team in Sri Lanka in 2000 played 3 Tests and a LOI tri-series. Pakistan won the Test series against Sri Lanka by 2-0 with one match drawn:

[edit] 2005-06

Pakistan toured Sri Lanka in March and April 2006 to play two Tests and three limited overs internationals. Pakistan won the Test series 1-0 with 1 match drawn:

Pakistan won the LOIs 2-0 with one match abandoned.

[edit] South Africa

[edit] 1993

With South Africa now re-established in international sport, its national team made an inaugural tour of Sri Lanka in 1993 and played played 3 Tests. South Africa won the series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:

[edit] 2000

The Test series ended 1-1 with 1 match drawn:

[edit] 2004

Sri Lanka won the Test series 1-0 with 1 match drawn:

[edit] 2006

See : South African cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2006

[edit] West Indies

[edit] 1948-49

The West Indies cricket team visited Ceylon in February 1949 and played two first-class matches versus Ceylon. West Indies won the first match at Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo by an innings and 22 runs after scoring 462-2 declared with centuries by Allan Rae, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. Prior Jones took ten wickets in the match. The second match at the same venue was drawn, Rae making another century for West Indies.

[edit] 1966-67

West Indies visited Ceylon in January 1967 and played a single first-class match at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo versus Ceylon. The match was drawn. West Indies was captained by Gary Sobers who scored 115 in his team's only innings. Other centuries were scored by Basil Butcher and Clive Lloyd.

[edit] 1974-75

West Indies visited Sri Lanka in February 1975 as part of a wider tour of India and Pakistan. Captained by Clive Lloyd, West Indies played two first-class matches against Sri Lanka, that were both drawn, and a limited overs match that West Indies won by 8 wickets.

[edit] 1978-79

West Indies visited Sri Lanka in February 1979. The main first-class match with Sri Lanka at Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo was drawn. West Indies had previously drawn a warm-up game against Sri Lanka Board President's XI at Colombo Cricket Club Ground. West Indies also played three limited overs matches.

[edit] 1993-94

The tour featured the inaugural Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies:

[edit] 2001-02

Sri Lanka won the Test series 3-0 :

[edit] 2005

See : West Indian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2005

[edit] Zimbabwe

[edit] 1983-84

The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured Sri Lanka in December 1983. At this time, Sri Lanka had just achieved Test status but Zimbabwe had not. The Zimbabwe team played two first-class matches versus Sri Lanka Board President's XI at Tyronne Fernando Stadium and a Sri Lankan XI at Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium. Both games were drawn. Zimbabwe also played three limited overs matches against the Sri Lankan XI.

[edit] 1996

Sri Lanka won the Test series 2-0:

[edit] 1997-98

Sri Lanka won the Test series 2-0:

[edit] 2001-02

Sri Lanka won the Test series 3-0:

[edit] Multi-national teams

[edit] 1930-31

The Maharajkumar of Vizianagram (aka "Vizzy") raised a team that toured Ceylon in December 1930 and played three first-class matches against a team called Dr J Rockwood's Europeans XI at the Nomads Ground in Victoria Park, Colombo. The tourists won the first game by an innings & 259 runs. The other two games were drawn. Vizzy's team included some notable players, not least the legendary England opening partnership of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. Several good Indian players were involved, including CK Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali.

[edit] 1949-50

A Commonwealth XI cricket team visited Ceylon in February and March of 1950 as part of a three-nation tour that also took in India and Pakistan. The team played two matches at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo against an All-Ceylon XI and against a Ceylon-India-Pakistan Combined XI. The tourists won the first match by an innings and 51 runs; the second match was drawn. Captained by Jock Livingston, who also kept wicket, the team had several well-known players including Frank Worrell, George Tribe, Bill Alley and George Pope.

[edit] 1950-51

Another Commonwealth XI cricket team visited Ceylon in February and March of 1951. The team played two matches at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo against an All-Ceylon XI and against a Ceylon-India-Pakistan Combined XI. The tourists won the second match by 120 runs; the first match was drawn. Captained by Les Ames, who also kept wicket, the team had several well-known players including Frank Worrell, Derek Shackleton, Sonny Ramadhin and Jack Ikin.

[edit] 1967-68

An International XI cricket team toured Ceylon, India and Pakistan during the winter of 1967-68 and played one match in Ceylon versus the Ceylon Board President's XI at the Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. The International XI won by 194 runs. The team consisted of Mickey Stewart (captain), Roger Tolchard (wk), Derek Underwood, Dennis Amiss, Keith Fletcher, Khalid Ibadulla, Harold Rhodes, Gamini Goonesena, Ken Suttle, Harry Latchman and Mike Denness. Ceylon had no answer to the guile of Underwood, who produced outstanding figures of 8-10 and 7-33.

[edit] References

  1. ^ See CricInfo re this club and its ground; see also Bowen
  2. ^ Chris Harte: A History of Australian Cricket, p.128; see also Bowen
  3. ^ See CricketArchive
  4. ^ See CricketArchive

[edit] External sources

[edit] Further reading

  • Cricket: History of its Growth and Development by Rowland Bowen
  • Wikipedia re Ceylon and Sri Lanka
  • Wisden Cricketers Almanack (various editions)
v • d • e
Sri Lankan cricket seasons
v • d • e
International cricket tours of Ceylon and Sri Lanka

History of cricket in Sri Lanka
Australia – 1935-36 | 1945-46 | 1948 | 1969-70 | 1981
England – 1882-83 | 1891-92 | 1892-93 | 1894-95 | 1936-37 | 1977-78
West Indies – 2005 | Bangladesh – 2005-06 | South Africa – 2006
Canada – 2000-01 | Kenya – 2001-02
MCC – 1911-12 to 2000-01