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| Thursday, 12 September 2002 |
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HISTORY OF THE TWO VENUES by Sa'adi Thawfeeq R. PREMADASA STADIUM Till June 23, 1994 it was known throughout the cricketing world as the Khettarama Cricket Stadium. On this day which also happened to be his birthday it was renamed the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in honour of the late President of the country Ranasinghe Premadasa. It was his brainchild to build this colossal structure. Regarded as one of the biggest and fully-fledged cricket stadiums in the world it was commissioned on February 2, 1986 with a limited overs match between a Sri Lanka 'B' side and an England 'B' team. The stadium has a capacity to seat more than 35,000 spectators and is one of Sri Lanka's largest and biggest cricket stadiums which only the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium can rival. On February 4, 1991 the R. Premadasa Stadium was upgraded to international standards with the installation of floodlights. The stadium was built on swamp land previously used by monks to ferry across to the Khettarama temple which stands adjacent to the stadium. The inaugural one-day international was played here on April 5, 1986 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and since then the stadium has become one of the main venues to hold one-day matches. It has hosted 50 one-day internationals so far with the majority of matches being played under lights, the first of which took place between Sri Lanka and Australia on September 5, 1992. The stadium is not confined for one-day cricket alone. On August 28, 1992 it hosted its inaugural Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia. The venue is best remembered for holding the world record for the highest Test total - 952/6 declared by Sri Lanka against India in 1997/98 in which the present Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya scored a triple hundred (340) and Roshan Mahanama (225). They both shared the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket with 576 for the second wicket. Since that record breaking match where India made 537/8 declared, the venue has hosted just one Test against New Zealand the same season. Overall only five Tests have been played here and in recent times it has more or less fallen out of favour as a Test venue because of the slowness of the pitches which hardly encourages stroke-play or assists the bowlers. Recently the stadium became the focal point when the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) made it the practice centre for the national cricket teams by constructing 16 pitches of various pace and bounce, and a dormitory to house between 40-50 cricketers.
Venue of the headquarters of Sri Lanka cricket. Like Lord's Cricket Ground of England, it is used to host virtually all domestic finals. The Asia Cup final held there on April 6, 1986 saw Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan by five wickets to win its first-ever limited-over trophy (if the ICC trophy in England in 1979 for non-Test playing countries is discounted). The ground which belongs to the Singhalese Sports Club since 1952 was at one time during the Second World War an aerodrome constructed hastily by the Allies for the defence of Colombo and the counter-offensive. Since the country was elevated to Test status in July 1981, the SSC (as it is more commonly referred to) undertook the task of developing the ground further by building the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) headquarters, the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation and a 5,500 spectator stand in 1982. A massive scoreboard and sightscreens incorporating facilities for televising and to accommodate the media came up in the mid-seventies. The SSC later expanded by replacing the existing scoreboard with one facing the BCCSL headquarters and recently built a large media centre incorporating 200 print media journalists at one end and an air-conditioned media centre for the electronic media at the other. The first one-day international was played on February 13, 1982 between Sri Lanka and England. The first Test took place on March 16, 1984 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. So far the SSC has hosted a total of 41 one-day internationals and 22 Test matches. The most 'infamous' Test took place in 1992 when Sri Lanka after dominating the first Test of a three-Test series for 4 1/2 days lost to Australia by 16 runs. It was the Test that brought Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne to the limelight. He took three wickets for seven runs to bowl Sri Lanka to defeat after the home side were strongly placed for a win at tea. The venue also marked the farewell to international cricket of Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lanka captain best remembered for leading the side that won the World Cup in 1996. |
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