Sri Lanka is one of the twelve nations that take part in

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

and one of the six nations that has won a

cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

. Cricket is played at professional, semi-professional and recreational levels in the country and international cricket matches are watched with interest by a large proportion of the population. Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) was occupied by the British in 1796 and became a

British colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

in 1815. As in all places that the British arrived in large numbers, cricket soon followed and it is reasonable to assume that the game was first played on the island by 1800. 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 The Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) is a first-class cricket club in Sri Lanka. It is the oldest in the country, having been formed in 1863, and is headquartered at 31 Maitland Crescent, Colombo 7, close to the headquarters of Sri Lanka Cricket. Hi ...

was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1832. Since then, the sport has grown domestically with major events such as the

Premier Trophy The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

(dating from 1938), now known as the

Major League Tournament (Sri Lanka) The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 seas ...

and the

Premier Limited Overs Tournament The Premier Limited Overs Tournament (currently known as AIA Premier Limited Overs Tournament for sponsorship reasons) is the main domestic limited overs cricket competition in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Repub ...

(starting 1988–89), now known as the

Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament The Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament is the main domestic limited overs cricket competition in Sri Lanka.It was established in 2020–21 and has existed under four different names.replacing the Premier Limited Overs Tournament, after Sri Lanka ...

. Sri Lanka's

one day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut came in the

1975 Cricket World Cup The 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '75) was the inaugural men's Cricket World Cup, and the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the International Cricket Confer ...

. The country was awarded

status by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

in 1981.

History

Cricket was brought to the nation when it was colonized by the British. 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. 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

was formed soon afterwards and matches began in November 1833 when it played against the 97th Regiment.

Early Years

The first recorded match dates back to 1832 as reported in '' The Colombo Journal''. By the 1880s a national team, the Ceylon national cricket team, was formed which began playing

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

by the 1920s. The Ceylon national cricket team achieved Associate Member status of the

in 1965. Renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, the national team first competed in top-level international cricket in 1975, when they were defeated by nine

wickets In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a ...

by the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

during the

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, England.

Underdog Era

Sri Lanka was awarded Test cricket status in 1981 by the

International Cricket Conference The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body was renamed as the Intern ...

. They played their first Test match against England at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, on 17 February 1982.

Bandula Warnapura Bandula Warnapura (; 1 March 1953 – 18 October 2021) was a Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He played four Test matches and twelve One Day Internationals (ODI) during his international cricketing career ...

was the captain for

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in that match, which England won by 7 wickets. After Sri Lanka was awarded Test status on 21 July 1981 as eighth Test playing nation, they had to wait until 6 September 1985, where Sri Lanka recorded their first Test win by beating India, in the second match of the series by 149 runs at the

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium (Tamil language, Tamil: பாக்கியசோதி சரவணமுத்து மைதானம், ) Colombo Oval or P. Sara or simply PSS is a multi-purpose stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is curr ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. They have also won the

2001-02 Asian Test Championship Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

, defeating

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in the final by an innings and 175 runs. Sri Lanka won their first Test match under the leadership of

Duleep Mendis Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a Sri Lankan former cricketer and former captain of the team. Mendis captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a speci ...

on 11 September 1985 against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, winning by 149 runs at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1–0. Sri Lanka had to wait more than seven years for their next series victory, which came against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in December 1992, when they won the two-match series 1–0. This was immediately followed by a one-wicket victory against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a one-Test series. Two years later, on 15 March 1995, Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test match under the leadership of

Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga (; ; born 1 December 1963), is a Sri Lankan politician and former cricketer, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain for Sri Lanka, and scored the winning boundary in the final. He is regarded as the pion ...

against New Zealand, when they beat them by 241 runs at Napier. This win also resulted in their first overseas Test series victory, 1–0. Their next series too was an overseas series, against

, and that one too resulted in Sri Lankan victory. Sri Lanka registered their first ODI win against

at Old Trafford, England on 16 June 1979.

Modern era

After many years of underdog status, Sri Lanka finally entered the limelight of the cricketing world after winning the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 for sponsorship reasons, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tournament wa ...

under the captaincy of

. Meanwhile, they revolutionized modern day batting strategies by rapid scoring during the first 15 overs. Sri Lanka later became the co-champions in

2002 ICC Champions Trophy The 2002 ICC Champions Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Sri Lanka in 2002. It marked the third edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, with the previous two tournaments being known as the ICC Knock Out Tournaments. Originally scheduled to be ...

and also became six times Asian champions in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. On 11 September 1999, under the leadership of

Sanath Jayasuriya Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya (, ; born 30 June 1969), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, captain, cricket administrator and coach. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket. A left arm orthodox sp ...

, Sri Lanka won their first Test match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, when they beat them by six wickets at

Asgiriya Stadium Asgiriya Stadium, (, ) is a cricket ground located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Uniquely owned by Trinity College, Kandy, it is situated a short distance away from the city centre. Historically, it was a prominent venue for Test matches when internatio ...

, Kandy. Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1–0. On 14 June 2000, Sri Lanka played their 100th Test match. It was against

, at SSC,

, under the leadership of

. Pakistan won by 5 wickets. On 4 August 2016, they played their 250th Test match when they played Australia in Galle. They won the match by 229 runs, and also won the Warne-Muralidharan trophy for the first time since its inception. On 17 August 2016, under the leadership of

Angelo Mathews Angelo Davis Mathews (; ; born 2 June 1987) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the national cricket team in all formats. Mathews plays all formats for Sri Lanka. Mathews was a member of the team that won the 2014 I ...

, Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0 for the first time in Test cricket. Until 2017, Sri Lanka had whitewashed Zimbabwe three times, Bangladesh once and Australia once in Test cricket. Sri Lanka played their first day-night Test match on 6 October 2017 against Pakistan at

Dubai International Cricket Stadium The Dubai International Stadium, aka the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the other two being ...

. Under the captaincy of

Dinesh Chandimal Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal (; born 18 November 1989) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. A handy right-handed middle order batter who sometimes plays as the wicket-keeper, Chandimal ...

, Sri Lanka convincingly won the match by 68 runs and sweep the series 2–0. In the match,

Dimuth Karunaratne Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne (born 21 April 1988; ), popularly known as Dimuth Karunaratne, is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and former captain of Test cricket, Test and One Day International, ODI team of Sri Lanka national cr ...

became the first Sri Lankan to score a fifty, a century and a 150 in a day-night Test. Lahiru Gamage, who debut in the match became the first Sri Lankan to take a wicket in a day-night Test, whereas

Dilruwan Perera Mahawaduge Dilruwan Kamalaneth Perera (; born 22 July 1982) is a Sri Lankan former international cricketer, who played for Sri Lanka in all formats of the game. He plays domestically for the Colts Cricket Club. Perera is a right-arm offbreak bo ...

became the first Sri Lankan to take a five-wicket haul in a day-night Test. Sri Lanka played their first

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) match at the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

, on 15 June 2006, against England, winning the match by 2 runs. In 2014, they won the

2014 ICC World Twenty20 The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament, that took place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April 2014. It was played in t ...

, defeating India by 6 wickets. As of July 2018, Sri Lanka have faced nine teams in Test cricket, only recent Test nations Afghanistan and Ireland are missing from their list of opponents, with their most frequent opponent being

, playing 55 matches against them. Sri Lanka has registered more wins against

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

than any other team, with 14. In ODI matches, Sri Lanka have played against 17 teams; they have played against India most frequently, with a winning percentage of 39.49 in 149 matches. Within usual major ODI nations, Sri Lanka have defeated

on 34 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs. The team have competed against 13 countries in T20Is, and have played 15 matches against

. Sri Lanka have defeated

and

6 occasions each. Sri Lanka was the best T20I team in the world, where they ranked number one in more than 32 months, and reached World Twenty20 final in three times. As of 29 January 2024, Sri Lanka have played 313 Test matches; they have won 100 matches, lost 121 matches, and 92 matches were drawn. As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 816 ODI matches, winning 376 matches and losing 399; they also tied 5 matches, whilst 36 had

no result The result in a game of cricket may be a "win" for one of the two teams playing, or a "tie". In the case of a limited overs game, the game can also end with "no result" if the game can't be finished on time (usually due to weather or bad ligh ...

. As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 108 T20I matches and won 54 of them; 52 were lost and 1 tied and 1 no result match as well. From 8 July 2017 to 23 October 2017, Sri Lanka lost twelve consecutive ODI matches, which is their second-longest losing run in ODIs. In the meantime, Sri Lanka involved 5-0 whitewash in three times against South Africa, India and Pakistan in 2017. And a 3-0 whitewash against the West Indies 3 years later (2020). On 9 September 2019, Sri Lanka won the T20I series 3–0 against

in their home under

Dasun Shanaka Madagamagamage Dasun Shanaka (born 9 September 1991) is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and former limited overs captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team. An All-rounder, Shanaka is a right-arm medium fast bowler and an aggressive lower order b ...

's captaincy. It was the first time that Sri Lanka whitewashed Pakistan in a T20I series. In July 2021, Sri Lanka won T20I series against India 2–1, recording their first ever bilateral T20I series win against India. On 4 March 2022, Sri Lanka played their 300th Test match in

Mohali Mohali, officially Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar or Ajitgarh, is a planned city in the Mohali district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India, which is an administrative and a commercial hub lying south-west of Chandigarh. It is the headquarters of the M ...

against India. Sri Lanka lost the match by an innings and 222 runs. Amid political turmoil back home, Sri Lanka won the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

, defeating Pakistan in the final on 11 September 2022. On 28 April 2023, Sri Lanka won their 100th Test match against Ireland at Galle. They won the test series 2–0. They became the 8th test nation to reach this milestone. Sri Lanka cricket was suspended, by the ICC on 10 November 2023 due to the alleged political interference with the cricket administration. The suspension was fully lifted on 28 January 2024.

Administration

The Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), is the principal national governing body of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. It operates the

Sri Lankan cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test cricket, Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T ...

Sri Lanka A cricket team The Sri Lanka A cricket team is a national cricket team representing Sri Lanka. It is the second-tier of international Sri Lankan cricket, below the full Sri Lanka national cricket team. Matches played by Sri Lanka A are not considered to be Test ...

Sri Lankan women's cricket team Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Ind ...

and

within Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a full member of the

and the

Asian Cricket Council The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is a cricket organization which was established in 1983, to promote and develop the sport of Cricket in Asia. Subordinate to the International Cricket Council, the council is the continent's regional administrati ...

. Sri Lanka co-hosted the

and the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, while the latter hosted World Cup matches for the first time. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the 2 ...

National teams

The

Sri Lanka national cricket team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test cricket, Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T ...

is governed by the

Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It was first registered with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports (Sri Lanka), Ministry of Sports as the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka on 30 June 1975 as a national ...

(SLC) and is a member of the

(ACC). Since 1981, the SLC has been affiliated with ICC, the international governing body for world cricket. In 1983, the SLC became one of the founding members of the ACC.

Performance

The following list includes the performance of all of India's national teams at major competitions.

Men's senior team

The

is the national

team of

. The team first played

One day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

cricket in the

and were later awarded

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

status in 1981, which made

the eighth Test cricket playing nation.

Women's senior team

The Sri Lankan women's cricket team is the team that represents Sri Lanka in international

women's cricket Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...

matches. Sri Lankan women's cricket team's international debut came in 1997 with a three match ODI series against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Since then, the team has represented Sri Lanka in international women's cricket tournaments.

Men A team

Women's A team

Men's U-19 team

Women's U-19 team

Organisation of cricket in modern Sri Lanka

International cricket

International cricket in Sri Lanka generally does not follow a fixed pattern. For example, the English schedule under which the nation tours other countries during the winter and plays at home during the summer. Generally, there has recently been a tendency to play more one-day matches than

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

. Cricket in Sri Lanka is managed by the

(SLC).

Men's National Team

The

Sri Lanka National Cricket Team The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, (; ) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test cricket, Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T ...

represents

in international cricket matches. Sri Lanka have been participating in international cricket since 1975 and competed in international tournament since the first ever the

. They have competed in numerous tournaments over the years including the ACC tournaments. The Sri Lanka national cricket team has also provided some of the greatest players to the world, the biggest example of which is Kumar Sangakkara. Sri Lanka cricket has a rich history. The Sri Lanka men's national team is currently ranked No. 6 in Tests, No. 6 in ODIs and at 8th position in T20Is. Sri Lanka won two World Championship cups in 1996 under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. *Test International- Mahela Jayawardene - batting

obtained Full Member status of the ICC in 1981, becoming the eighth nation eligible to play Test cricket. The

played their first Test match on 17 February 1982, against

, and recorded their first victory on 6 September 1985, in a match against

. Since then, they have played nearly 300 matches, against every other Test-playing nation. Sri Lanka holds the world record for the highest team score, which was established against India in 1997. The highest

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

in Test cricket was also established by two Sri Lankan batsmen;

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene (; born 27 May 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team, Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

and

Kumar Sangakkara Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara (; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who represented Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2015. A former captain in all formats. He was born in Matale, Central Province. In first-class cricke ...

. Sri Lankan players also hold the highest partnership scores for the second and third wickets. Top order batsman and former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Kumar Sangakkara holds several Sri Lankan batting records as he has scored the most runs for Sri Lanka in Test cricket. He is also the record holder for the highest number of

centuries A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

as well as the highest number of half-centuries. The 374 made by

against South Africa in 2006 is the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan cricketer, surpassing the previous best of 340 by

, which was established in 1997. It is also the fourth-highest individual score in Test cricket. Jayawardene, Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara 19are the only Sri Lankan players who have scored triple centuries. *One Day International- Kumar Sangakkara batting in his final ODI in Sri Lanka

Kumar Sangakkara batting in his final ODI in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka played their first ODI International in 1975 against West Indies . They were able to participate in first edition of

Cricket World Cup The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is a quadrennial world cup for cricket in One Day International (ODI) format, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is one of the world's most viewed sporting events and consid ...

. Later 1996, they clinch the ODI world cup title under

captaincy. *T20 International- Sri Lanka played their first T20 International in 2006 against

. Sri Lanka have made great impact in T20 international from their early day of this format. They have also been able to clinch the T20 world cup title in year

Women's National Team

The

Sri Lanka national women's cricket team The Sri Lanka women's national cricket team represents Sri Lanka in international women's cricket. One of ten teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of the sport), the team is organised by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), a ...

represents

in international women's

matches. Sri Lanka have been participating in international cricket since 1997 and competed in international tournament since

1997 Women's Cricket World Cup The 1997 Women's Cricket World Cup, also known as the Hero Honda Women's World Cup, was the sixth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, held in India. With 32 matches involving a record 11 teams across 25 cricket grounds, England, Australi ...

. They have competed in numerous tournaments over the years including the ACC tournaments. They are the second most successful women's cricket team in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. The Sri Lanka Women's national team is also currently ranked No. 5 in ODIs and at 7th position in T20Is. *Test International- Sri Lanka made their debut as a Test playing nation in 1998 against

. In past time, Sri Lanka women's rarely play test and won it *One Day International-Sri Lanka played their first ODI International in 1997 against

. They were not able to participate in first five edition of

Women's Cricket World Cup The Women's Cricket World Cup is the quadrennial international championship of Women's One Day International Cricket tournament. Matches are played as One Day Internationals over 50 overs per team. There is also another championship for Tw ...

. But from late 19s they have been reaching to ODI world cup consequently. *T20 International- Sri Lanka played their first T20 International in 2009 against

. Sri Lanka Women's have made great impact in T20 international from their early day of this format. They have been reaching

ICC Women's T20 World Cup The Women's T20 World Cup is the biennial international championship for women's Twenty20 International cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council, with the first edition having been held i ...

consequently from first Edition.

Domestic Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of all major domestic competitions

Men's Domestic Cricket

=First class competitions

= * National Super League 4-Day Tournament * ' Major League Tournament

=Limited overs competitions

= * National Super League Limited Over Tournament *

=Twenty20 competitions

= *

Lanka Premier League The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) is a professional franchise cricket league established in 2020 in Sri Lanka. Matches are played using the Twenty20 cricket format by five teams named after Sri Lankan cities. The league was int ...

* National Super League T20 * Major Clubs T20 Tournament

Women's Domestic Cricket

=Limited overs competitions

= * Sri Lanka Women's Division One Tournament

Inter-City Tournaments

The National Super League (NSL) is an inter-city tournament, in which each city is assigned a set of cricket clubs, where the best players are selected to play for each city, it covers all three formats (First Class, List A and T20), the tournament has a women's version. * First-class Tournament - National Super League (NSL): National Super League 4-Day Tournament, established in 2022, currently with 5 teams.

Defunct Tournaments

Several competitions have been arranged where teams were formed out of each of the major provinces, independent to the above clubs (these tournaments are defunct and are replaced with the National Super League): * Inter-Provincial Cricket (1990-2011) Consisted of 5 teams ( Basnahira North, Basnahira South, Kandurata,

Ruhuna The Principality of Ruhuna ( Sinhala: , ), also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna, is a region of present-day Southern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the center of a flourishing civilisation and the cultural and economic centres of ancient Sri L ...

, and Wayamba) *

Sri Lanka Premier League The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was a Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was intended to be the premier Twenty20 league in the country, held by Sri Lanka Cricket, when it replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition. Af ...

(SLPL) (2012) was a Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was intended to be the premier Twenty20 league in the country, held by Sri Lanka Cricket, when it replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition. * Super Four Provincial (2017-2018) Consisted of 4 teams (Colombo, Dambulla, Galle, and Kandy)

Stadiums

Sri Lanka has a plethora of international standards Cricket stadiums.

Active stadiums

International competitions hosted

Performance in international competitions

''A red box around the year indicates tournaments played within

Men's team

ICC World Test Championship

ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC T20 World Cup

ICC Champions Trophy

World Cup Qualifier

Asia Cup

Commonwealth Games

Asian Games

Defunct tournaments

Women's team

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup

ICC Women's T20 World Cup

ICC Women's Championship

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier

ACC Women's Asia Cup

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier

Asian Games

Men's U-19 team

U-19 World Cup

U-19 Asia Cup

Women's U-19 team

Under-19 Women's World Cup

Under-19 Women's Asia Cup

Men's A team

ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup

Women's A team

ACC Women's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup

References

External links

List of Sri Lankan CricketersOfficial Home of Sri Lanka CricketCric Info – Sri LankaSL Cricket – A Forum for Sri Lankan Cricket fans to beIsland Cricket – A Sri Lanka Cricket fan site powered by User Generated Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cricket in Sri Lanka Sport in Sri Lanka

History

Early Years

Underdog Era

Modern era

Administration

National teams

Performance

Men's senior team

Women's senior team

Men A team

Women's A team

Men's U-19 team

Women's U-19 team

Organisation of cricket in modern Sri Lanka

International cricket

Men's National Team

Women's National Team

Domestic Cricket

Men's Domestic Cricket

=First class competitions

=Limited overs competitions

=Twenty20 competitions

Women's Domestic Cricket

=Limited overs competitions

Inter-City Tournaments

Defunct Tournaments

Stadiums

Active stadiums

International competitions hosted

Performance in international competitions

Men's team

ICC World Test Championship

ICC Cricket World Cup

ICC T20 World Cup

ICC Champions Trophy

World Cup Qualifier

Asia Cup

Commonwealth Games

Asian Games

Defunct tournaments

Women's team

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup

ICC Women's T20 World Cup

ICC Women's Championship

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier

ACC Women's Asia Cup

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier

Asian Games

Men's U-19 team

U-19 World Cup

U-19 Asia Cup

Women's U-19 team

Under-19 Women's World Cup

Under-19 Women's Asia Cup

Men's A team

ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup

Women's A team

ACC Women's T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup

See also

References

External links