Sri Lanka played their first unofficial Test against England at Bogambara-by Hafiz Marikar

Source:Dailynews

The first unofficial Test match between Sri Lanka and England was played in Kandy at the Bogambara Stadium. According to history, the first cricket match took place in 1832.

In 1888-89, an English Team led by George Vernon toured Ceylon and played a game against the All-Ceylon Team at Bogambara.

In 1890, the Australian Team on their way to England played in Colombo. Douglas Jardine’s infamous ‘bodyline team’ was in Ceylon in 1932-33.

Sri Lanka won the ICC Trophy in 1979 and on July 21, 1981, Sri Lanka were admitted to Full Membership of the ICC and were awarded Test status.

In the early days, several Australian Teams stopped here and played matches in Ceylon while travelling to England and back.

In the aftermath of World War II, came the Australian Services Cricket Team to Ceylon and India in 1945-46, featuring Keith Miller who scored a century in Colombo.

It was not until 1969-70 that another Australian Team landed in Ceylon. This team played one game against the Ceylon Team before leaving for India for a five-Test series.

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Teams have visited on 23 occasions since 1911-22. Other teams who visited from England were Sir Julian Cahn’s XI in 1936-37, D. H Robins’ Team in 1977-78 and English Cricket Team in India in 1984-85.

The first Indian Team to step into the country was Elphinstone College, Bombay, in 1903-04.

In 1945 the Indian National Team visited Ceylon in April 1945 and played one First-Class match against Ceylon at the P. Sara Stadium.

The match ended in a draw due to bad weather. In 1956-57 India visited Ceylon in 1956 and played two international matches versus Ceylon at the P. Sara Stadium.

The first match was drawn and the second too ended in a draw. In 1973-74 India toured again and played two First-Class and two limited over matches versus Sri Lanka and two further First-Class matches versus the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI.

SSC Grounds

India defeated Sri Lanka at the SSC Grounds by six wickets but the other three First-Class games were impacted by the weather and were drawn.

New Zealand made a trip in 1937 and the All-Ceylon Team made 227 for eight with De Saram top scoring with a typical 90. Douglas Dias was the first man from the Southern Province to play for All-Ceylon. In reply, New Zealand made 177 for five wickets with Vivien 68 not out and Walter Hadlee, father of Richard, making 18.

That team also consisted of such well-known names as Martin Donnelly and Mervyn Wallace, all of whom had done so well in England just a few weeks before.

In 1984-85, New Zealand played two limited over internationals versus Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won the first match by four wickets and New Zealand won the second by seven wickets.

The Pakistan cricket team visited Ceylon in April 1949 to play two First-Class matches versus Ceylon.

Both games were played at the P. Sara Stadium. Pakistan led by Mohammad Saeed, won the first match by an innings and 192 runs. Pakistan won the second match by 10 wickets despite some good batting by Ceylon in their first innings.

In 1972-73, Pakistan visited Sri Lanka once again in November 1972 to play a First-Class match versus the Sri Lanka National Team at the P. Sara Stadium.

The match was drawn after being affected by rain. Then in 1975-76 Pakistan toured Sri Lanka in January to play three First-Class and two limited over matches.

Sri Lanka won the opening First-Class match at the CCC Grounds by four wickets and then Pakistan won the second match at the same venue by the identical margin.

In between, Pakistan played the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy and they won this match by seven wickets.

Majid Khan

Pakistan captained by Majid Khan, visited Sri Lanka in April 1979 to play a limited over match versus the Sri Lanka National Team.

The match at the P. Sara Stadium went in favour of Pakistan by 55 runs after scoring 164 for eight in their 40 overs. Sri Lanka in reply could only manage 109 for eight.

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 the P. Sara Stadium by an innings and 22 runs and the second match at the same venue was drawn.

The West Indies visited Ceylon in January 1967 and played a First-Class match at the P. Sara Stadium against Ceylon. The match was drawn.

The West Indies visited Sri Lanka in February, 1975 as part of a wider tour of India and Pakistan. Captained by Clive Lloyd, the West Indies played two First-Class matches against Sri Lanka, that were both drawn and a limited over match that the West Indies won by eight wickets.

The West Indies visited Sri Lanka in February 1979. The main First-Class match with Sri Lanka at the P. Sara Stadium in Colombo was drawn.

The West Indies had previously drawn a warm-up game against the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the CCC Grounds.

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 the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the De Soysa Stadium and against the Sri Lanka XI at the P. Sara Stadium. Both games were drawn. Zimbabwe also played three limited over matches against Sri Lanka.