Pallekelle Stadium gets a facelift to stage international matches

By S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr.

CRICKET: Pallekelle Cricket Stadium owned by Sri Lanka Cricket should be ready for playing club matchers by April this year. Later on international cricket matches can be played at this venue which will solve one of the burning issues which the cricket administrators face in staging international cricket matches in the hill capital. The present venue, the Asgiriya Stadium is owned by Trinity College. Asgiriya is tagged as a Test venue, but is still a school ground and is required by the school for all its sports activities and practices. Just before an international cricket match, a lot of money is spent by Sri Lanka Cricket to upgrade the grounds and have the facilities to bring it to acceptable Test standard. At the same time, the ground is closed, thus depriving the schoolchildren of the use of this ground.

Asgiriya Stadium is what it is today, thanks to the efforts of Sri Lanka Cricket. At present the over grown shrub jungle at Pallekelle Stadium has been all cleared and the outfield planted with grass. The turf strips are under preparation with the National Curator Anuruddha Polonowita nurturing it. The infrastructure needs a lot of development as it has been in a state of neglect for quite sometime. A provincial office has been opened at this venue as a first step towards developing cricket in the Central Region and from here the provincial coach and Kandy District cricket coaches will operate.