History of Sri Lankan international cricket

Ceylon, as the country was known before 1972, played its first first-class match under that name against MCC at Nomads Ground, Victoria Park, Colombo in 1926–27, losing by an innings. ^[1] The team's first win came against Patiala at Dhruve Pandove Stadium in 1932–33. ^[2] The Ceylonese side competed in the M. J. Gopalan Trophy games from the 1950s, through the change of name to Sri Lanka, well into the 1970s. Sri Lankan cricket team's One Day International debut came in the 1975 Cricket World Cup and were later awarded test cricket status in 1981, by the International Cricket Council.

Test status and beyond

• Gained Test Status in 1981 and first played a Test Match in 1982
• Won the 1996 Cricket World Cup hosted by India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan
• Semi Finalists in the 2003 Cricket World Cup hosted by South Africa
• Runners up of the 2007 World Cup hosted by the West Indies
• Runners up of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by England
• Semi Finalists in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 hosted by West Indies

As of April 2010, the Sri Lankan team has played 192 Test matches, winning 31.25%, losing 35.94% and drawing 32.81% of its games.^[3]
Sri Lankan cricket's greatest moment undoubtedly came during the aforementioned 1996 World Cup, when they defeated the top-ranked Australian team in the Final. Sri Lanka's game style over the course of the series revolutionized One Day International Cricket, and was characterized by highly aggressive batting in the first fifteen overs of the innings in order to take advantage of the fielding restrictions imposed during this period. This strategy has since become a hallmark of One Day International cricket.
Sri Lankan cricket team won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008. Sri Lanka whitewashed England 5-0 in the NatWest Series in 2006. It was England's heaviest home defeat in 13 years. Sanath Jayasuriya was the Man of the Series.

Milestones

• Sri Lanka is the only ICC Trophy winning team to have gone on to win the Cricket World Cup at a later date.
• Sri Lanka is the only team to have participated in every edition of the Asia Cup.
• Sri Lanka is the only host team to win a Cricket World Cup.

2009 shooting incident

Main article: 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team

On March 3, 2009, the Sri Lankan team's convoy was attacked in Lahore, Pakistan by gunmen. This led to the death of five policemen and injuries to seven cricketers and a member of the coaching team.^[4] The team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium where they were scheduled to begin the third day of the Second Test. After the incident the test match was called off by the Sri Lankan Cricket board. Sri Lanka had agreed to tour Pakistan, replacing India who refused to do so citing security concerns.^[5]

Injured

• Thilan Samaraweera
• Kumar Sangakkara
• Tharanga Paranavitana
• Ajantha Mendis
• Chaminda Vaas
• Mahela Jayawardene
• Suranga Lakmal
• Paul Farbrace

Governing body

Main article: Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket, formerly the Board for Cricket Control in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), is the controlling body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It operates the Sri Lankan cricket team and first-class cricket within Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket oversees the progress and handling of the major domestic competitions: the First-class tournament Premier Trophy, the List A tournament Premier Limited Overs Tournament and the Twenty20 Tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket also organize and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament, a competition where five teams take part and represent four different provinces of Sri Lanka.