Do you remember December 26, 2004? It was Tsunami hurting even Cricket with lives of millions? Well it’s Sri Lanka and its Galle Cricket Stadium.

Now the good cricket news is that the cricket stadium has got new life and it’s ready for upcoming and live cricket. Before destructed by the tsunami, Galle International Stadium, also known as The Esplanade, was one of the most scenic venues for international cricket in the world. You can see the Indian Ocean from both sides of the ground. The famous clock tower of the Dutch fort built in 16th century which is also one of the UNESCO world heritage sites, was also the visible site.

This venue is located 116 km south from Colombo. It has very interesting history. In 1984 the Galle Stadium hosted its first first-class cricket match. After 14 years, in 1998 the stadium hosted its first Test match, between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Sri Lanka won that test match by an innings and 16 runs. The first one-day international cricket match was also played in 1998 between Sri Lanka and India. This ground is considered to be a lucky one for the Sri Lanka Cricket Team. They have won 7 out of 11 test matches played here since 1998 with 2 loses and 2 draws with 63.63% success ratio.

Galle International Cricket stadium has some remarkable memories in terms of international cricket performances. The Australian Leg Spinner Shane Warne has took his 500th test wicket on this vary ground. While Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka’s maestro cricketer took his 400th test wicket here. He also took 87 test wickets in the 11 tests he played on this venue!

After the disastrous Tsunami attack the future of this ground was in dark clouds at that point of time because of Sri Lankan politicians and Sri Lanka’s Cricket Administration. But with support of international cricket players like Ian Botham of England and Shane Warne of Australia, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board has succeed in rebuilding this beautiful cricket venue. Both Shane Warne and Muralitharan have helped in raising funds. Muralitharan also worked as an ambassador for the UN World Food Program.  

With a huge amount of $ 5,00,000 USD and a nearly three years time duration, the Galle Cricket Stadium is ready for action! The first match of test cricket on this new ground has been played between Sri Lanka and England. The fever of test cricket is to begun once again as the second match of test cricket between Sri Lanka and India for the 2008 series will be played on Galle International Cricket Stadium.

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