The History of Cricket in Sri Lanka begins with British colonization of the country. The first cricket match in the country was played in 1832. First class match here was played in 1905. First international cricket was played in 1926-27 but officially it entered the international cricket in 1975. The Sri Lanka National cricket team entered test cricket in 1982 and Domestic first class cricket began in 1988.
Early days of cricket:
The history of cricket starts in Sri Lanka when it was known as Ceylon and was a British Colony. Ceylon came under the control of British East India Company in 1796 after defeating France and in 1802 it became a crowned colony. Wherever Britishers arrived cricket followed and it’s assumed that the first cricket match was played in 1800 on this Island although the first recorded match was played in year 1832.
History of Domestic Cricket:
The first Domestic cricket competition was played in this country in 1938 where 12 teams competed for daily news trophy. In 1988-89 it was designated as first class cricket. In 1988-89 the first limited over cricket tournament was held over here in which only four teams participated.
History of International Cricket:
Cricket kept increasing its popularity throughout the 20th century in the country and it became much popular with teams victory in the ICC trophy in 1979. On 21 July 1981 the country was given full membership of ICC and was awarded with status of test playing team. The inaugural test was played in Colombo in February 1982 but England won the match.
Milestones in the History of Sri Lanka cricket team:
The National team won the Asia cup in years 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008. The team’s first major victory in International cricket was in Cricket World cup of 1996 beating the top ranked team Australia. In 2003 World Cup the National team remained a semi finalist. In 2007 World cup it could be among runner ups only. In 2009 T-20 world cup against it was among runner ups but in 2010 ICC T-20 world cup it reached to the finals.
The country’s National cricket team has several records on its name in all three forms of the international cricket. Test matches, One Day International and Tweny20. The History of Cricket began with Britishers in Ceylon and continued in Sri Lanka till date.
