Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan national cricket team have played international cricket ever since 1926 but had to wait until 1981 to receive Test status.

Administrated by Sri Lanka Cricket, which used to be the Board of Cricket Control in Sri Lanka (BCCSL), they have enjoyed plenty of success on the world stage, including back in 1996 when they won the one-day World Cup.

Their second major trophy arrived in 2002 when they lifted the ICC Champions Trophy along with India as co-champions, due to a no result as the match was rained off twice.

In their early days as an international team, they were known as Ceylon. Their opening first-class match was against Marylebone Cricket Club at Victoria Park in Colombo. 

They had to wait until 1933 to gain their first win when they defeated Patiala at the Dhruve Pandova Stadium.

The M.J. Gopalan Trophy was a match Sri Lanka played which used to be held every two years between 1952 to 2007. Their opponents were Tamil Nadu, or Madras, as they were formally known. 

Sri Lanka's debut at a World Cup came in 1975 at the tournament in England. They were drawn in Group B along with Australia, Pakistan and the West Indies, but failed to win a game. 

In 1979 they picked up their first win in the competition. This victory came against India and they won by 47 runs at Old Trafford in Manchester. That was also their first success against a Test playing nation. In their earlier scheduled tie against the West Indies, it was a no result, which meant they finished Group B on six points and in third place above India.

Following their promotion to a Test playing side, they opened up England in 1982 in a five-day match. It took them a while to adapt to the new format of the game and it wasn't until 1985 that their first win arrived, again against India. They also won the series, which was a fair reflection of how far they had developed as a nation in the sport in such a short space of time.

Since 1981, eight venues in Sri Lanka have been used to play Test cricket. The most regularly used has been the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, whilst not far behind is the Asgiriya Stadium.

In 1996 they co-hosted the 1996 World Cup, which they then went on to win. It was the first time they had the honour of playing hosts to a major tournament and they beat Australia in the final by seven wickets.

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