The
Sinhalese Sports Club is one of the most famous cricket grounds in
Sri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It is the
headquarters of
Sri Lanka CricketSri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka , is the controlling body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka....
, the controlling body of
cricket in Sri LankaCricket is the most popular sport in Sri Lanka, followed by Football and Rugby Union. Sri Lanka is one of the ten nations that take part in test cricket and one of the five nations that has won a cricket world cup...
. The Ground often cited as the
Lord'sLord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
of Sri Lanka, hosting most domestic finals and one of preeminent international cricket venues. The ground staged its first
testTest cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in 1984 against touring New Zealand team. The first One Day International played in 1982 against the England team. Sri Lankan team has an impressive test record here. Out of 31 matches played winning 16 matches, losing only 6 matches while drawing 9 matches.
History
In 1899, after a combined school cricket team, composed mainly of
SinhalaThe Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
cricketers from
Royal CollegeThe Royal College of Colombo was founded in January 1835 in Colombo. It is considered to be the leading Public School in Sri Lanka...
,
S. Thomas' CollegeThe College of St Thomas the Apostle, popularly known as "S. Thomas' College", is a private Anglican school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka...
and
Wesley CollegeWesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri Lanka.In 1858 Rev. Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon. On March 2 1874 Wesley College, Colombo is a Methodist educational institution in Sri...
beating
Colts Cricket ClubColts Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.-Honours:* P Saravanamuttu Trophy 1991–92* Premier Trophy 1999–002001–022004–052008–09 -External links:*...
by a one run decided form an all-Sinhalese club, and thus found
Sinhalese Sports ClubThe Sinhalese Sports Club is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese is the most successful club in Sri Lankan domestic cricket, having won the Premier Trophy a record 30 times to 2008.-History:-Honours:...
. The club leased a land in
Victoria parkThe Viharamahadevi Park is a public park located in Colombo, next to the National Museum in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest and largest park of the Port of Colombo. situated in front of the colonial style Town Hall building. The park is named after the mother of King Dutugamunu, Viharamahadevi...
with sandy soil and covered with
cinnamonCinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
trees. The ground was next to the Lawn club and by the side of National Museum of Colombo and National Arts Gallery.
In 1952 again club crown leased another 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) and shifted in to present location in maitland place, which was used as an
aerodromeAn aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...
by the
allied forcesThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Ground
The pavilion of the ground was built in 1956 with the sponsorship of Donovan Andree, a leading nightclub entrepreneur. A giant
scoreboardA scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...
and sightscreens were built in mid-70s. Later the current scoreboard was built. The ground also has a media center and commentary box with modern facilities. Various sponsors including Lankabell,
Seylan BankSeylan Bank PLC is a privately owned Commercial Bank in Sri Lanka, which was owned by the Ceylinco Consolidated. It has branches both in urban as well as rural areas of Sri Lanka. Seylan bank had 114 banking centres island wide with 3900 staff members in 2007....
and
HSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
have built stands bearing their brands. There are two grass embankments for the spectators.
Highlights
In 1992 Australian tour of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka lost the SSC Test match to Australia by 16 runs after being set a target of only 181 runs. This is one of Sri Lanka's narrowest defeats in Test cricket.
Shane WarneShane Keith Warne is a former Australian international cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet...
picked 3 wickets in thirteen balls and this was his first notable performance in Test cricket.
In the
2001-02 Asian Test ChampionshipBangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka competed in the second Asian Test Championship between August 2001 and March 2002. India pulled out of the tournament due to political tensions with Pakistan....
, Mohammed Ashraful of Bangladesh become the youngest cricketer to score a Test hundred, one day before his 17th birthday. However Bangladesh went on to lose the match by an innings and 137 runs.
Chaminda VaasWarnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas , usually known as Chaminda Vaas, is a Sri Lankan cricketer is regarded as the best fast bowler to have come out of the country - he has been described as the 'most penetrative and successful new-ball bowler Sri Lanka have had'...
took 8 wickets for 19 runs in 2001/02 against Zimbabwe, the best bowling performance in a One Day International match. The Zimbabwean total of 38 was the lowest team innings total in ODIs at that point of time.
Kumar SangakkaraKumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, Sinhalese cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman...
and
Mahela JayawardeneDenagamage Proboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene , known as Mahela Jayawardene, is the former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is a specialist batsman who has a Test average of over 50, and an ODI average in the 30s...
shared a partnership of 624 runs against South Africa in 2006/07 season, the highest partnership for any wicket in Test and
first classFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
cricket.
1996 Cricket World Cup
ICC Champions Trophy Cricket
The
2002 ICC Champions Trophy-Semifinals: -Finals: =*Ricky Ponting *Adam Gilchrist *Michael Bevan*Jason Gillespie*Nathan Hauritz*Matthew Hayden*Brett Lee*Darren Lehmann*Jimmy Maher...
was held in
Sri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Six group matches played in
SSCThe Sinhalese Sports Club is one of the most famous cricket grounds in Sri Lanka. It is theheadquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket, the controlling body of cricket in Sri Lanka. The Ground often cited as the Lord's of Sri Lanka, hosting most domestic finals and one of preeminent international cricket...
. Other matches played in R Premadasa Stadium.
2002 ICC Champions Trophy
See also
External links