Sri Lanka Cricket

Captain - Dimuth Karunaratne (Test and ODI), Lasith Malinga (T20)

Head Coach - Rumesh Ratnayake

Assistant Coach - Bret Lee

Representing - Sri Lanka

Team Colour - Blue and Yellow

Sponsorship - Kent RO Purifiers

The Sri Lankan Cricket Team is the sole representative of Sri Lanka in all the events organised by the International Cricket Council such as the ICC World Test Championship, ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, etc. Also, this team represents Sri Lanka in all the international bilateral and multilateral series which are recognized by ICC from time to time.

Table of Contents

1. History
2. Performance in Major ICC Tournaments
3. Governing Body
4. Support Staff
5. The Sri Lankan Team Jersey
6. Records
7. Trophies and Awards
8. Fan Following

History

The Sri Lanka national cricket team started as the Colombo Cricket Club in 1832. By the 1880s a national team named the Ceylon national cricket team. The Ceylon national team started playing first-class cricket by the 1920s. It was awarded the Associate Member status by the International Cricket Council in 1965. The Ceylon national cricket team was renamed to Sri Lanka cricket team in 1972. It played its first international cricket match in 1975 against West Indies during 1975 Cricket World Cup.

Sri Lanka was awarded Test status in 21 July 1981 and became the eighth Test playing nation. However it was a long wait until 6 September 1985 before Sri Lanka registered their first Test win by beating India, in the second match of the series by 149 runs at the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo. Sri Lanka got their first ODI win as well against India at Manchester, England, in 16 June 1979. They went on to win the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

Performance in Major ICC Tournaments

ICC Cricket World Cup

The Sri Lankan team has played 63 matches so far in 13 World Cups and has won 29 of the matches. With 31 losses in the ODI World Cup, Sri Lanka has one of the average winning percentages in the World Cup. They have played one quarterfinal in 2015, one semi final in 2003, and three finals in 1996, 2007 and 2011. They have won the Cricket World Cup once in 1996.

*Last updated in Oct 2019

ICC Champions Trophy

Sri Lanka has also participated in all the editions of the ICC Champions Trophy and has won the tournament once as joint winners with India in 2002. It has played 26 matches over 8 editions of the tournaments has won 14 of the matches. Also, it has played the semifinals of the tournament 2 times in 1998 and 2013.

*Last updated in Oct 2019

ICC T20 World Cup

The cricket team of Sri Lanka has participated in 7 T20 World Cups and played 31 matches in the tournament over the years. It has won 22 matches and lost 9, with one appearance in the semifinals - 2010 and three appearance in the finals - 2009, 2012, 2014, having won once in 2014. Sri Lanka's performance at the World T20s have been very impressive over the years.

*Last updated in Oct 2019

Governing Body

Sri Lanka Cricket which was formerly known as the Board of Cricket Control in Sri Lanka or BCCSL, is the governing body for cricket in Sri Lanka. It also regulates first-class cricket within Sri Lanka including all major domestic competitions namely the First-class tournament Premier Trophy, the List A tournament Premier Limited Overs Tournament and the Twenty20 Tournament. Sri Lanka Cricket also organise and host the Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournament between teams from four different provinces of Sri Lanka.

Support Staff

The Sri Lankan Team Jersey

In Test matches, the Sri Lankan team wears cricket whites which is the standardized attire for Test Cricket. It includes an optional sweater or sweater-vest with a dark blue and blue V-neck. The Sri Lankan flag is depicted on the left side of jersey's chest with the Test cap number below the flag which again is a standardized concept. The helmets and fielder's hat are deep blue in colour. Former manufacturers of Sri Lankan Jerseys are Reebok, AJ Sports, Asics, ISC and Adidas.

In limited overs cricket, the One Day and Twenty 20 kits of Sri Lanka vary from year to year with new Jerseys with new designs and concepts introduced almost every year. But the general tone of the Jersey is bright blue colour in various shades with yellow stripes in shoulders and waist. When the team plays in official ICC tournaments such as ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and Asia Cup, "SRI LANKA" is written on the front of the jersey.

Also see - South Africa Cricket Team

Records

As of today, Sri Lankan cricket team has played 272 Test matches. Of which they have been able to win 86 times, lost 101 times, and 85 matches were drawn. In One Day Internationals, Sri Lanka has competed in 816 matches, winning 376 matches and losing 399. They have tied 5 matches, and 36 had no result. Sri Lanka has participated in a total of 108 T20I matches and won 54 of them; losing 52 with 1 tied and 1 ending in no result.

Trophies and Awards

The Sri Lanka Cricket team has won three ICC Trophies so far — the 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy, the 2002 Champions Trophy and the 2014 World T20.

Fan Following

Cricket is undoubtedly the most popular sport in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is also one of the twelve nations which officially participate in international Test cricket. Winning the cricket world cup in 1996 gave a huge boost to its fan following. Not to mention it is one of the six nations to have ever lifted the cup. Cricket in Sri Lanka, is played at professional, semi-professional and recreational levels.

Whenever an international cricket match is scheduled in the country, it is attended and watched with interest by a large part of the population. Sri Cricket Team and Board have their official twitter handles which are followed by millions around the world.