List of international cricket grounds in Sri Lanka

Cricket is a popular sport in Sri Lanka. The country has eight grounds that have been used to host international cricket matches, and seven of them have hosted Test matches. However, the Colombo Cricket Club Ground and the Tyronne Fernando Stadium are no longer used for matches at international level, although they are still used for domestic matches and warm-up matches for visiting teams.^[1][2] The Galle International Stadium was destroyed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but was rebuilt and hosted international matches again in 2007.^[3] The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium held its maiden One Day International in 2001, but was unable to host another until 2003 due to a legal problem.^[4]

The Hambantota and Pallekele cricket grounds are both newly constructed for 2011 Cricket World Cup, which Sri Lanka will jointly host with India and Bangladesh. The Pallekele Stadium has been completed, although no international cricket matches have yet been held there. The Hambantota Stadium is still under construction, and is expected to be completed in time for the world cup. The R. Premadasa Stadium will also host world cup matches.^[5] The R. Premadasa Stadium was also one of the three grounds in Sri Lanka that hosted matches for the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The other two were the Asgiriya Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.^[6]

The R. Premadasa Stadium was the venue for the match in 1997 where Sri Lanka scored a record 952 runs for 6 wickets against India.^[7] Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene has scored a total of 2467 Test runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, the most runs scored by a batsman in one ground.^[8] It is also the venue where he scored 374 runs, the highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman.^[9] The venue where the most Test wickets have been taken by a single bowler is also the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, where 166 have been taken by Muttiah Muralitharan. The Asgiriya Stadium ranks second with 117 wickets, and is followed by the Galle International Stadium with 103 wickets. Both these records are also held by Muralitharan.^[10] Sanath Jayasuriya has scored 2514 ODI runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium, making it the venue which has the highest ODI runs by a single batsman.^[11]

Cricket grounds

Kandy	Colombo	Galle	Dambulla
Asgiriya Stadium	Colombo Cricket Club Ground	Galle International Stadium	Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 6,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 30,000
World Cup matches: 1	World Cup matches: 0	World Cup matches: 0	World Cup matches: 0
Test matches: 21[12]	Test matches: 3[13]	Test matches: 27[14]	Test matches: 0
ODI matches: 6	ODI matches: 0	ODI matches: 7	ODI matches: 46
T20I matches: 0	T20I matches: 0	T20I matches: 0	T20I matches: 0
Hambantota	Saravanamuttu SSC CCC R. Premadasa Tyronne Fernando Galle Asgiriya Rangiri Dambulla Pallekele Mahinda Rajapaksa Welagedara Uyanwatta Locations of all international grounds in Sri Lanka		Colombo
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium			P. Sara Oval
Capacity: 34,300			Capacity: 15,000
World Cup matches: 2			World Cup matches: 0
Test matches: 0			Test matches: 19[15]
ODI matches: 17			ODI matches: 12
T20I matches: 7			T20I matches: 1
Pallekele			Colombo
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium			R. Premadasa Stadium
Capacity: 35,000			Capacity: 35,000
World Cup matches: 3			World Cup matches: 9
Test matches: 4[16]			Test matches: 8[17]
ODI matches: 17			ODI matches: 130
T20I matches: 16			T20I matches: 20
Colombo	Moratuwa	Kurunegala	Matara
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground	Tyronne Fernando Stadium	Welagedara Stadium	Uyanwatta Stadium
Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 16,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 15,000
World Cup matches: 1	World Cup matches: 0	World Cup matches: 0	World Cup matches: 0
Test matches: 41[18]	Test matches: 4[19]	Test matches: 0	Test matches: 26
ODI matches: 64	ODI matches: 6	ODI matches: 0	ODI matches: 3
T20I matches: 2	T20I matches: 0	T20I matches: 0	T20I matches: 0

Key

Symbol/ Word	Meaning
Name	Official name
Other names	Nicknames and past names used for the ground.
Capacity	Seating capacity of the stadium (approximately).
Ends	The names of the two ends of the ground.
Test	Starting date of the first Test match played.
ODI	Date of the first One Day International played.
T20I	Date of the first Twenty20 International played.
Ref.	Reference(s)

Name	Other names	Location	Capacity	Ends	Test	ODI	T20I	Ref.
					First match
Asgiriya Stadium	–	Kandy, Central Province	10,300	Hunnasgiriya End Hanthana End	22 April 1983	2 March 1986	–	[20][21]
Colombo Cricket Club Ground (CCC)	Maitland Crescent	Colombo, Western Province	6,000	Press Box End Pavilion End	24 March 1984	–	–	[1]
Galle International Stadium	The Esplanade	Galle, Southern Province	35,000	City End Fort End	3 June 1998	25 June 1998	–	[22][23]
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium	Hambantota International Cricket Stadium	Hambantota, Southern Province	35,000	Thanamalwila End Sooriyawewa End	–	20 February 2011	1 June 2012	[24][25]
P. Sara Oval	Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo Oval	Colombo, Western Province	15,000	Air Force Flats End Press Block End	17 February 1982	13 April 1983	1 February 2010	[26]
Pallekele International Cricket Stadium	Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium	Pallekele, Central Province	35,000	Hunnasgiriya End Rikillagaskada End	1 December 2010	8 March 2011	6 August 2011	[27]
R. Premadasa Stadium	Khettarama Stadium	Colombo, Western Province	35,000	Khettarama End Scoreboard End	28 August 1992	9 March 1986	10 February 2009	[28]
Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium	–	Dambulla, Central Province	30,000	Press Box End Scoreboard End	–	23 March 2001	–	[29]
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC)	Maitland Place, Lord's of Sri Lanka	Colombo, Western Province	10,000	Tennis Courts End South End	16 March 1984	14 February 1982	3 February 2010	[30]
Tyronne Fernando Stadium	Moratuwa Stadium, De Zoysa Stadium	Moratuwa, Western Province	16,000	Press Box End Katubadda End	8 September 1992	31 March 1984	–	[2]
Uyanwatta Stadium	–	Matara, Southern Province	15,000	Hospital End Walpola End	28 December 1973	–	–	[31]
Welagedara Stadium	–	Kurunegala, North Western Province	10,000	City End Swimming Pool End	–	–	–	[32]

Notes

See also

• List of Test Cricket Series against Sri Lanka
• List of Sri Lanka national cricket captains

References

1. "Colombo Cricket Club Ground". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
2. "Tyronne Fernando Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
3. Francis, Tony (15 November 2007). "Race to restore Galle to full glory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
4. "Dambulla back in business". BBC Sport. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
5. Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (14 December 2009). "Sri Lanka World Cup venues on track - ICC". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
6. "The Wills World Cup: Sri Lankan Grounds". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
7. Cozier, Tony (7 August 1997). "Sri Lanka's 952 hints at new era". The Independent. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
8. "Batting records (Test matches): Most runs on a single ground". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
9. "Batting records (Test matches): Most runs in an innings". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
10. "Bowling records (Test matches): Most wickets on a single ground". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
11. "Batting records (One Day Internationals): Most runs on a single ground". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
12. "Asgiriya Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
13. "Colombo Cricket Club Ground: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
14. "Galle International Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
15. "Saravanamuttu Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
16. "Pallekele International Cricket Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
17. "Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
18. "Sinhalese Sports Club Ground: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
19. "Fernando Stadium: Test Matches". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
20. "Asgiriya Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
21. Marikar, Hafiz (3 May 2009). "Trinity’s Asgiriya Cricket Ground". The Nation. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
22. "Galle International Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
23. "Galle International Stadium". The Times of India. 10 September 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
24. "Hambantota International Cricket Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
25. Thawfeeq, Sa'adi (13 November 2009). "How Sri Lanka's World Cup venues were chosen". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
26. "P. Sara Oval". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
27. "Pallekele International Cricket Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
28. "R. Premadasa Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
29. "Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
30. "Sinhalese Sports Club". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
31. "Uyanwatta Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 November 2001.
32. "Welagedara Stadium". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 December 2010.

External links

• Grounds in Sri Lanka from Cricinfo