History of cricket in Sri Lanka

Premier Trophy

In 1938, the first domestic competition was established when 12 teams competed for the Daily News Trophy^[3]. The tournament's title was changed to the P Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1950-51 and then the Robert Senanayake Trophy in 1976-77. After Sri Lanka began playing Test cricket in 1982, the inevitable sponsors came on board and the tournament was rebranded as the Lakspray Trophy for the 1988-89 season when, for the first time, it was designated first-class.

Subsequently, the title of P Saravanamuttu Trophy was resurrected from 1990 and since 1998 it has been called the Premier Trophy.

The Sinhalese Sports Club has won the tournament a record 29 times to 2006.

For a full list of winners from 1938, see : Premier Trophy.

Premier Limited Overs Tournament

The first limited overs cricket tournament in Sri Lanka was the Brown's Trophy in 1988-89^[4]. Only four teams competed in the inaugural competition: Sinhalese Sports Club (winners); Nondescripts Cricket Club (runners-up); Galle Cricket Club; Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club. The tournament was renamed the Hatna Trophy in 1990-91 and then given its current name Premier Limited Overs Tournament in 1998-99.

The competition to date has been dominated by three teams: Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club has won five times; Sinhalese Sports Club and Nondescripts Cricket Club have won four times each.

For a full list of winners from 1988, see : Premier Limited Overs Tournament.

Leading players by season

The lists below give the leading runscorers and wicket-takers in each domestic season.

Batsmen

• 1988-89 – DSBP Kuruppu – 339 @ 113.00 (HS 126)
• 1989-90 – WAA Wasantha – 519 @ 57.66 (HS 134)
• 1990-91 – UNK Fernando – 656 @ 65.60 (HS 160)
• 1991-92 – MC Mendis – 551 @ 78.71 (HS 177*)
• 1992-93 – PA de Silva – 591 @ 53.72 (HS 143)
• 1993-94 – MAR Samarasekera – 701 @ 50.07 (HS 191)
• 1994-95 – MS Atapattu – 1302 @ 93.00 (HS 181)
• 1995-96 – RP Arnold – 1430 @ 79.44 (HS 217*)
• 1996-97 – RS Kaluwitharana – 1172 @ 73.25 (HS 179)
• 1997-98 – MS Atapattu – 868 @ 96.44 (HS 223)
• 1998-99 – TM Dilshan – 1027 @ 51.35 (HS 194)
• 1999-00 – DA Gunawardene – 711 @ 41.82 (HS 140)
• 2000-01 – RPAH Wickramaratne – 830 @ 51.87 (HS 139)
• 2001-02 – DPMD Jayawardene – 1426 @ 89.12 (HS 274)
• 2002-03 – SKL de Silva – 938 @ 42.63 (HS 133)
• 2003-04 – TM Dilshan – 1284 @ 51.36 (HS 151)
• 2004-05 – S Kalavitigoda – 885 @ 49.16 (HS 152)
• 2005-06 – WMG Ramyakumara – 993 @ 62.06 (HS 150*)

Bowlers

• 1988-89 – SD Anurasiri – 24 @ 13.12 (BB 8-53)
• 1989-90 – KPJ Warnaweera – 71 @ 13.47 (BB 7-16)
• 1990-91 – FS Ahangama – 39 @ 14.89 (BB 5-44)
• 1991-92 – GP Wickramasinghe – 38 @ 13.10 (BB 10-41)
• 1992-93 – CM Hathurusingha – 35 @ 16.65 (BB 8-40)
• 1993-94 – AMN Munasinghe – 46 @ 16.43 (BB 9-38)
• 1994-95 – SD Anurasiri – 78 @ 15.67 (BB 8-90)
• 1995-96 – M Jayasena – 67 @ 21.41 (BB 5-72)
• 1996-97 – ADB Ranjith – 70 @ 16.40 (BB 9-29)
• 1997-98 – UC Hathurusingha – 35 @ 16.17 (BB 7-55)
• 1998-99 – PP Wickramasinghe – 76 @ 13.01 (BB 8-47)
• 1999-00 – D Hettiarachchi – 55 @ 15.09 (BB 5-20)
• 2000-01 – S Weerakoon – 80 @ 12.97 (BB 7-51)
• 2001-02 – M Muralitharan – 87 @ 13.47 (BB 9-51)
• 2002-03 – PN Ranjith – 69 @ 17.10 (BB 6-27)
• 2003-04 – M Muralitharan – 96 @ 14.40 (BB 7-46)
• 2004-05 – S Weerakoon – 52 @ 20.80 (BB 7-81)
• 2005-06 – SADU Indrasiri – 60 @ 13.55 (BB 7-61)