Sri Lanka domestic cricket

A brief history

Kanishkaa Balachandran

October 5, 2006

Domestic cricket in Sri Lanka is played between clubs recognised by the Sri Lankan cricket board. First-class cricket in Ceylon, as it was known before 1972, was initially restricted to matches played by combined Ceylon teams overseas or against touring international sides. England and Australia would often stop over in Colombo en route to their respective destinations and play matches. The first such match dates back to 1882, against the touring England side. It was only in 1937 when a structured inter-club first-class tournament came into being, known as the Daily News Trophy. The title was changed to P Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1950-51 and then the Robert Senanayake Trophy in 1976-77. Sponsors came into the picture in 1982-83, and it was renamed the Lakspray Trophy, and was later renamed the Sara Trophy eight seasons later. The tournament changed its title again in 1998-99 to the Premier Trophy. The Sinhalese Sports Club has won the tournament a record 29 times. Another popular trophy, the Gopalan Trophy - named after MJ Gopalan, the legendary Madras allrounder - was instituted in 1952-53. Madras and Ceylon were the teams, playing matches on a home and away basis.

Winners

Daily News Trophy

Daily News Trophy

Robert Senanayaka Trophy

Lakspray Trophy

P Saravanamuttu Trophy

Premier Trophy

No tournaments were held during 1941-42 and 1942-43 as all grounds in Colombo were requisitioned

Kanishkaa Balachandran is editorial assistant of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

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