Sri Lanka's Cricket Stadiums

You will see Sri Lankans playing cricket anywhere at any time - whether it's schoolboys in crisp whites amidst the amoral green of paddy fields in the hills, fathers and sons playing on the beaches, when ever the evening tide washes away the crease, or street urchins playing underneath the street lights of a Colombo suburb at three o' clock in the morning.

Visit Colombo during 'Big Match' season when the established boys' schools take on each other in a series of legendary battles and you will see trucks bedecked with flags, bands and excited troupes of boys loudly proclaiming their allegiances and loyalties roaring all over the city.

Walk down a Sri Lankan road when there is a major cricket match going on - say a One Day International or the closing stages of a tight test match - and you won't even have to switch on your portable stereo to find out what the score is, it will be blaring out of every TV screen and radio.

There is no more welcoming a place than Sri Lanka for a cricket tour - declaring your love for the game makes you an honourary Sri Lankan, a shared devotee of the nation obsession.

And for those of you whose passions have been aroused by watching England battle Australia for the Ashes, well now there's a way you can have a little taste of what international players experience. All you need to do is to pull your cricket-obsessed friends out of their sofas, wrestle the cans of bitter and lager from their hands and embark on a cricketing holiday of a lifetime in that utopia for cricket fans - Sri Lanka.

Exotic Sri Lanka

Serendipity spoke to Charlie Austain from Red Dot Tours, a leading travel company who specialise in bringing over groups of expatriate cricket fans for tailor made cricketing holidays.

We asked him what made Sri Lanka such an attractive destination for cricket fans. "Sri Lanka is good value and the cost advantage over the West Indies and South Africa makes it attractive.

Schools were also becoming bored with the West Indies/South African/Australian tours and were searching out for something more exotic" explains Charlie, "India is slightly too daunting for most groups, but Sri Lanka is exotic and laid-back and generally trouble-free.

However, prices have increased now though because of rising hotel rates and that is a serious worry, especially for club and university tours."

Despite that, Charlie Austin says there is also one major advantage that Sri Lanka offers, "The facilities are also good because you can play on international pitches - in the UK, most average cricketers can only dream of playing at Lord's or the Oval. Nowhere else in the world is it so easy to hire a Test venue - it's a major attraction".

First class cricket

Most of the country's first class cricket is played in Colombo, and it is home to many of the most established clubs in the country. In the plush Colombo 7 suburb known as 'Cinnamon Gardens', there's the Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC), Colombo Cricket Club (CCC), Bloomfield Sports and Athletic Club and the venerable Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC), all within a few minutes walk of each other.

The SSC is Sri Lanka's equivalent of Lord's (even boasting its own Long Room) and is the most prestigious club on the island, as well as being the headquarters of the country's cricketing authority, Sri Lanka Cricket.

It has a chequered past, having been used as an aerodrome by the Allied Forces in the Second World War! Nowadays though, the only low flying objects are likely to be googlies.

It has superb facilities including indoor and outdoor nets, a well-maintained outfield, a pancake batting square, and a giant scoreboard that can be manned for a small fee. It also boasts other sporting facilities, such as a fully equipped gymnasium, tennis courts, squash courts, and two huge swimming pools.

Of the SSC, Charlie comments, 'I love the SSC because of the sense of history, and the giant dressing rooms and scoreboard that make you feel like a professional for a day.

'Even though it has a packed schedule the whole year round, it is well worth a shot - when, if ever, are you ever going to play at Lords?

Colonial past

For echoes of Sri Lanka's colonial past, try the NCC and the CCC which have a more elegant, laid-back ambience - think wooden floored pavilions and circular ceiling fans languidly beating back the heat, while you sit in a comfortable planters chair sipping a fresh lime juice.

Both are very well suited for amateur tours, being scenic venues with large tropical trees and white washed walls ringing the grounds, rather than scores of empty terraces.

They also feature excellent flat pitches that help the batsmen rack up the runs - though NCC has a good reputation for helping fast bowlers in the morning too!

In the suburbs of Maradana, is the gigantic R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, (also known as the Khettarama Stadium) which was the brainchild of the late Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who championed the development of this colossal 35,000 seater concrete bowl, the biggest in Sri Lanka.

This day-night venue is best remembered for being the scene where the world record for the highest test total was set - 952/6 declared by Sri Lanka against India in 1997, which saw the then Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya and partner Roshan Mahanama sharing the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket, with 576 for the second wicket.

Who knows, the cricket gods at the ground may be munificent enough to reward your own efforts with such largesse! There's also a new training centre behind the stadium with 16 practice pitches and dormitories for the Sony Max Cricket Academy, which started in 2003.

Close by is another special stadium, the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium (or the Sara Oval) which is a beautiful old stadium with a long and interesting history. Home to the Tamil Union Club, the stadium is currently being re-built, with a new pool and sports centre being added.

To the south are another couple of good venues: the Colts Cricket Club and the Burgher Recreation Club, both of which have excellent pitches, comfortable pavilions, and practice nets - and even though the outfield's a bit ragged and bumpy, well, that can only help when it comes to fielding practice! Two more venues, which come to fielding practice!

Two more venues, which come recommended for school and club tours, are the Moors Sports Club and the Air Force Ground, opposite the Trans Asia Hotel in central Colombo.

Moors in particular, is a quaint old ground, an oasis of peace amongest some of Sri Lanka's tallest buildings, with a pristine white wall that rings the outfield.

Finally, just out of the city there are a couple of stadiums of note in Moratuwa, home to the Tyronne Fernando Stadium (45 mins from Colombo) and Panadura (1 hour from Colombo), ideal for those staying in the tourist coastal resorts of Bentota or Kalutara, and both of which have good turf pitches and look forward to fixtures with touring teams.

Throughout the year

But, perhaps the whole point of coming to play cricket in Sri Lanka is not to stay in built-up urban conurbations - but to get out there and explore one of the most beautiful countries in the world, playing in some of the most stunning and breath-takingly beautiful grounds in the world.

For instance, if you travel to the North Central Province to Dambulla, you'll not only see some of the oldest archaeological sites in the country-including UNESCO - protected cave temples which date back to 85 BC - but also the newest International cricketing venue in Sri Lanka - the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

Constructed in an astonishing 167 days in 2000, this magnificent 30,000 seater has a stunning location, looking out over the Dambulla Tank reservoir and the Dambulla Rock and since it's located in the dry zone, this means that it gives Sri Lanka the ability to host one day matches right through the year - monsoon or no monsoon.

The pitch here is pretty bowler friendly, for the seamers in the morning because of the high water table and heavy sweating, and in the afternoon for the spinners when the pitch has a tendency to crumble.

An hour's drive south from Dambulla you will find the Welegedera Stadium in Kurunegala, a breathtakingly beautiful venue, surrounded with tropical trees, with the dramatic back drop of the huge granite 'Elephant Rock'.

It regularly hosts international teams for practice matches, so the facilities and dressing room are in good condition and the pitch is excellent, which favours batsmen because of its true bounce and relatively quick pace - though, beware, the giant rock acts as an oven, making it very hot indeed!

In the cool hills

Heading further south brings you to the cool climates of the hill country, with the beautiful town of Kandy at its heart. It is home to such attractions as the tranquil Sri Dalada Maligawa, the sacred Temple of the Tooth, where the tooth of the Buddha is said to be stored, as well as the rolling Royal Botanical Gardens and the Peradeniya Campus.

It is also home to Asgiriya International Stadium, one of the prettiest grounds in the world, with steep hills, quaint stadium and bountiful foliage on offer.

The stadium was primarily a school venue, playing host to Trinity College cricket, but has been re-developed to become a regular fixture for three match Test series. It has a reputation for producing exhilarating matches, with the flat pitch offering a bit more bounce to fast bowlers than the Sri Lankan norm, and the buffalo-grassed outfield also proving lightning fast.

Unfortunately, demand is high because of the school and international commitments, but the nearby Peradeniya University's ground makes for a good alternative, with its natural amphitheatre-like setting.

The southern stadiums

And finally, we head to the South, home to two of the best grounds in the country. The Galle International Stadium is in the charming city of Galle, and features a picturesque 450 year old, UNESCO-protected Dutch Fort as the backdrop, and views of the Indian Ocean gleaming in the distance, with the sea providing a cooling breeze across the ground.

It used to be called the Es-planade, and was a common ground for the town where football used to be played. The inaugural first class match was played in 1984 and its first Test match in 1977, when Sri Lanka took on New Zealand.

The venue is available much of the year, except in the run-up to the major international tours, when it is much prized as a Test centre. The facilities have large dressing rooms, an indoor training centre, outdoor practice nets, a club bar and a media centre.

The pitch itself is hard, dry and flat - a nightmare for fast bowlers, and manna from heaven for batsmen. However, it does bear fruit for spinners, with over 70% of the wickets taken in the nine matches played here taken by slow bowlers.

Further down South is Uyanwatte Stadium in Matara, a city that has a long association with cricket - the first cricket match was played here in 1884, and the Matara Cricket Club was born in the year 1904, the bulk of the side consisting of European tea planters.

Its native son Sanath Jayasuriya has also gone on to great things, captaining Sri Lanka for many years. The grounds themselves are favoured by visiting international teams for practice, though it has never hosted an ODI or Test match - which will hopefully change sometimes in the future.

The facilities are more limited than Galle, but the pitch is rock solid and true, and the ground's staff disarmingly friendly - as are the locals who will filter in to sit under the trees and watch the cricket, giving friendly encouragement to both sides.

Courtesy Serendipity