Asgiriya Stadium
 Dharmaraja-Kingswood 104th encounter |
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| Ground information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Asgiriya, Kandy |
| Coordinates | 7°17′59″N 80°38′02″E / 7.29972°N 80.63389°ECoordinates: 7°17′59″N 80°38′02″E / 7.29972°N 80.63389°E |
| Establishment | 1915 (Broke ground 1911) |
| Capacity | 10,300 |
| Owner | Trinity College |
| Operator | Trinity College |
| Tenants | Sri Lanka Cricket Kandy Cricket Club |
| End names | |
| Hunnasgiriya End Hanthana End |
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| International information | |
| First Test | 22 April 1983: Sri Lanka v Australia |
| Last Test | 1 December 2007: Sri Lanka v England |
| First ODI | 2 March 1986: Sri Lanka v Pakistan |
| Last ODI | 16 December 2001: West Indies v Zimbabwe |
| Domestic team information | |
| Kandy Cricket Club (? – present) | |
| As of 28 April 2009 Source: [CricketArchive Cricinfo] |
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Asgiriya International Stadium, is a cricket stadium situated in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Asgiriya Stadium is the private property of Trinity College, Kandy. It is around a 10 minute walk from the centre of the city. The venue would usually be used when an international team toured Sri Lanka for a Test Match.[1] Asgiriya became Sri Lanka's the second Test venue, after the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, when it hosted Greg Chappell’s Australian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 1982–83.
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[edit] History
One of the ICC requirements for Sri Lanka to be granted Test status was to improve the infrastructure of its international venues. It was Gamini Dissanayake's idea, the former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, then called the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, to upgrade Trinity College’s cricket ground to international status.
The first cricket match at Asgiriya was against the Australian cricket team in Sri Lanka in 1982–83, becaming Sri Lanka's the second Test venue, after the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium. Test Matches were played regularly until the last Match, which was three years ago with the English cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2007–08. Sri Lanka won that Test, with Muttiah Muralitharan claiming his 709th Test wicket to go past Shane Warne as the highest wicket taker in Test cricket.
Sri Lanka’s first Test win at Asgiriya came in 1998 against Zimbabwe, 15 years after the ground hosted its first Test. More success soon followed in the coming years as Sri Lanka won their first Test against Australia in 1999, which still remains the Sri Lanka's only Test win against Australia; a game remembered for the dreadful collision between Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie. Both players had to be airlifted to Colombo for medical treatment after being seriously injured. Waugh broke his nose while Gillespie had a broken bone in his shin.
Asgiriya has also hosted a 1996 Cricket World Cup fixture between Sri Lanka national cricket team and Kenya national cricket team with Sri Lanka making a record 398, the highest score at the time.
Asgiriya Stadium has hosted a total of 22 Test Matches and seven of them won by Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Cricket decided to shift all international cricket to Pallekele, about 15 kilometers from the city, but it is possible that Asgiriya will get an occasional international match.[2]
[edit] Distinction of the stadium
The stadium has the unique distinction of being the only Test class cricket stadium in the world to be owned and maintained by a secondary school, Trinity College, Kandy, an elite private boys school in Sri Lanka, founded in the 19th century in the British Public School tradition.
Surrounded by mountains in the ancient Sri Lankan hill capital of Kandy, Asgiriya is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. Ranjan Madugalle, Ravi Ratnayeke, Kumar Sangakkara, and Kaushalya Weeraratne, all of whom represented Sri Lanka at the highest level at cricket, are but a few who honed their budding cricketing talents at Asgiriya whilst schoolboys at Trinity.
[edit] Key milestones
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- 1892 - Cricket is introduced at Trinity College
- 1911 - Work on Trinity's Asgiriya grounds begins
- 1915 - His Excellency Sir Robert Chalmers, G.C.B., declares open the new Asgiriya Playing field with its pavilion and gymnasium.
- 1915 - The first inter-school cricket match to be played at Asgiriya takes place, between Trinity College, Kandy, and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Trinity beat St Thomas' by an innings and 18 runs. His Excellency Sir Robert Chalmers graces the occasion.
- 1969 - Marylebone Cricket Club vs the Central Province in a 50 over match.
- 1982 - Asgiriya becomes a Test Cricket Stadium
- 1983 - First Test match takes place, between Sri Lanka and Australia
- 1986 - First ODI takes place, between Sri Lanka and Pakistan
- 1996 - Hosts a 1996 Cricket World Cup fixture between Sri Lanka national cricket team and Kenya national cricket team with Sri Lanka making a record 398, the highest score at the time.
[edit] World Cup Cricket
[edit] 1996 Cricket World Cup
| 6 March 1996 Scorecard |
Sri Lanka  398/5 (50 overs) |
v | Kenya  254/7 (50 overs) |
Sri Lanka won by 144 runs Asgiriya Stadium, Asgiriya, Kandy, Sri Lanka Umpires: Steve Dunne and V. K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Aravinda de Silva (Sri) |
| Aravinda de Silva 145 (115) Tito Odumbe 2/34 (5 overs) |
Steve Tikolo 96 (95) M Muralitharan 2/40 (10 overs) |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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