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The journey of Sri Lankan Cricket is a
long and ardous one and it took almost a 100 years to evolve into an
officially recognized “test playing nation”, The first international
cricket match was first played in 1882 against an all England team and
the 1st three day match was played in 1889. Ceylon as Sri Lanka was
called then applied for full membership to gain ICC cricket status, but
it had to play 51 unoffiial matches and many international games
beforethis happened. Mr. Gamini Dissanayake the then president of the
Board of control of Cricket also had a lot to do with it. He hardly knew
anything about cricket but took the trouble to study the subject and
plead his case for Sri Lankan cricket before the ICC. On the 21st of
July 1981 Sri Lanka gained “Test Status”. This is perhaps more
noteworthy because the basic infrastructure, awards, sponsorships which
are in plenty today, encouragement and assistance were all absent. What
they had was dedication, commitment and willingness to learn and this
made the “emerald isle” appear on the cricketing map.
When Sri Lanka came under British rule, in addition to administrators
and the military, came the crickt enthusiasts from Cambridge and Oxford
who really laid the foundation for the game. Kandy District was the
first center that witnessed early cricketing activity and the Europeans
there fielded a very strong team. The spirit in which the game was
played was tremendous. The game was played on rough turf and the players
had to walk miles before they reached the spot. Rev. Joseph Brooke was
responsible for introducing cricket in public schools and did a lot to
increase the popularity of the game as early as the 1830’s. The first
cricket match between 2 Sri Lankan teams was in 1864 and the first big
match between Central Province and Colombo took place in 1867. In 1869,
the “dimboola-Agrapatana” cricket club was formed and the first cricket
ground at Radella was opened. The arrival of Malay troops in Sri Lanka
saw the establishment of the Malay Cricket club and that set the trend
for other cricket clubs to follow suit.
George Vanderspar, a Dutchman took Sri Lankan Cricket to new heights. He
was the one who initiated the idea that overseas exposure would
strengthen the team. It was in 1884 that Sri Lanka toured India. Another
first that he was responsible for was the introduction of coir matting
for cricket. Even schoolboys were given an opportunity to show their
talent. Till about 1910, the European Colombo cricket club dominated.
Grdually the Colombo sports club came into being. Samuel Peter and Dr.
John Rockwood took over the administration from the English. Hiring of
professional coaches and improving the standard of Sri Lankan cricket
was the first priority.
A natural inclination towards the game and a strong desire to learn from
experts saw the birth of strong cricketing personalities. Acting as a
conduit for the local administration and M.C.C, many teams passing
through Sri Lanka promoted the game and contributed to its development.
The year 1948 saw the birth of a regular Board of control for Cricket.
Saravannamuttu was its president. The board organized overseas tours for
its players and in a miraculously short time, Cricket in Sri Lanka
reached new heights. The Asian Crcket conference held in 1949 chalked
out programs for the development of the game in Asia.
Perhaps the crowning glory of Sri Lankan Cricket was the aggressive
batting during the one-day series against the world’s best team
Australia. Sri Lanka defeated the Aussies. The names of Sanath
Jayasuriya, Aravind De silva, Arjun Ranatunga all deserve special
mention because of their batting prowess. Chaminda Vaas emerged as a
very good opening bowler and Muthiah Muralitharan who has come in for a
lot of flak because of his bowling action weathered the storms and has
emerged a spin bowler of world-class repute. In the recent one day
series against India, Sri Lanka has perhaps not showed its full
potential, but it is a team filled with fighters and is sure to bounce
back again.
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Authored by M. Hemdev.
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