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MAIN COMMERCIAL PARTNERS |
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The Early Days |
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Bandula Warnapura and Keith Fletcher go out to toss, Sri Lanka v England, Inaugural Test, Colombo, February 17, 1982 |
"Some future observer will doubtless note what is selected for survival from among the manifold ways of the British. To hazard a prediction, I would give my vote to cricket."
This prophecy is attributed to John Still, the British writer, famed for his work 'Jungle Tide' who visited Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) in 1897.
It is proof that by then, cricket was being played in the country. The British newspaper 'The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News' in its issue of 5 October 1878 carried a news feature (with a sketch) on 'Cricket in Ceylon' describing a match played at Kandapolla in the up-country on 12 & 13 August that year. It described how players from Badulla had to "journey from 40 to 50 miles across country to get to the ground, and that by many this distance was accomplished by foot."
The ground was described as "a really beautiful and most picturesquely situated ground with a wattle and daub pavilion." It was a low scoring game with Kandapolla scoring 48 & 54 for 7 wickets and Badulla 68 & 30, Kandapolla winning by 4 runs and 3 wickets to spare.
H Woosnam Mills, Co-Editor 'Times of Ceylon' writing in 'Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon' tracing the history of cricket to the early 1860s mentions that a match between Colombo and Up-Country was then a regular feature. In the Up-country, the Dimbula-Dikoya match was played annually since 1872, alternately at Radella and at Darrawella.
The Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) is regarded as the first club formed possibly in 1863. Renowned cricket writer S P Foenander quotes the 'The Times of Ceylon' July 1863 to a news item which says "The merchants and sportsmen of Colombo have just formed a cricket club called the Colombo Cricket Club". Veteran statistician S S Perera quotes a report in 'The Colombo Journal' (the only newspaper at the time) where reference is made to a meeting "for establishing a cricket club on Saturday 8th September 1832".
By the turn of the century, apart from the CCC, names of several other cricket clubs in Colombo are mentioned. The Colombo Colts (formed in August 1873), the Colombo Malay Club (1879), the Nondescripts Cricket Club (March 1888), the Colombo Sports Club (1895), the Colombo Bloomfield and Athletic Club (1894) and the Sinhalese Sports Club (1899) are among them. In the outstations the earliest clubs were Dimbulla (1856), Galle Cricket Club (1878) and ones in Kandy (1885), Kalutara (1888) and Jaffna (1890).
First international game
When the ship P&O Peshawar docked in Colombo with the English team en route to Australia in 1882, Ivo Bligh's team took time off to play a two-day game on 13 October against an All-European team. In reply to the local team's 92 all out, the England team scored 155. In the second innings, Ceylon had a low score of 16 for 7 wickets but managed to draw the game.
Thereafter, whistle-stop games were played whenever the England and Australian teams passed through Colombo by ship to play in 'The Ashes' series in either country.
The formation of the Ceylon Cricket Association (CCA) in 1922 followed a request by the MCC to have a controlling body if they were to send a team to Ceylon. The year 1927 saw the first extended tour by the MCC when two three-day games were played. In the 1920s several matches were played against teams from England (MCC), Australia, New Zealand and India (Bombay Presidency).
An official All-Ceylon team went on an official tour for the first time in December 1932. That was to India where the team led by Dr C H Gunasekera played ten matches. Thereafter there were regular tours to and from Test playing nations. 'Unofficial' Tests were played with these countries.
The first inter-club tournament was organised by the CCA in 1938. The leading first class clubs took part and played for the 'Daily News Trophy'.
The CCA was replaced by the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon on 25 June 1948 as the controlling body. P Saravanamuttu, President of the CCA was elected President. The Board was very active in the years to follow with teams visiting Ceylon regularly and tours extending to a fortnight.
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