Asgiriya Stadium
|
|||
| 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 | 15 January 1915 (Broke ground 1909) | ||
| Capacity | 10,300 | ||
| Owner | Trinity College | ||
| Operator | Trinity College | ||
| Tenants |
Sri Lanka Cricket Kandy Cricket Club |
||
| End names | |||
| Hunnasgiriya End Hanthana End |
|||
| International information | |||
| First Test | 22–26 April 1983: Sri Lanka v  Australia |
||
| Last Test | 1–5 December 2007: Sri Lanka v  England |
||
| First ODI | 2 March 1986: Sri Lanka v  Pakistan |
||
| Last ODI | 16 December 2001: West Indies v  Zimbabwe |
||
| Team information | |||
|
|||
| As of 28 April 2009 Source: CricketArchive Cricinfo |
|||
Asgiriya Stadium, (Sinhalese: අස්ගිරිය ක්රීඩාංගනය) 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. 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.
Prior to Asgiriya being built, Trinity College played their cricket at the Bogambara Stadium. In 1904 Rev. Alec Garden Fraser assumed office as Principal, he was conscious about the lack of a suitable playing space for the school and the lack of a cricket pitch. Fraser acquired an abandoned wasteland owned by the War Department, the site being at Asgiriya, 270 meters away from the school. The lease rental of the land at the time was Rs. 30 per year. In 1910 Trinity was given permission to build their own ground. The stadium broke ground in 1909 and was built until 1915.
The ground was opened ceremonially by the Governor, Sir Robert Chalmers, on 15 January 1915. The first inter-school match was between Trinity and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia on 24 and 25 February 1915.
Before gaining Test status, one of the ICC requirements for Sri Lanka was to improve the infrastructure of its international venues. In 1981 the former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, Gamini Dissanayake, an old Trinitian, took charge of upgrading Asgiriya into an international cricket stadium, which he did in a period of 150 days. On 5 January 1982 President J. R. Jayewardene ceremonially opened the stadium. Jayewardene also opened the pavilion in 1982.
...
Wikipedia