Cricket was introduced to the island by the British as a result of the colonization and the first recorded match dates back to 1832 as reported in The Colombo Journal.

[17] Sri Lanka won their first Test match under the leadership of Duleep Mendis on 11 September 1985 against India, winning by 149 runs at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.

[21] Two years later, on 15 March 1995, Sri Lanka won their first overseas Test match under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga against New Zealand, when they beat them by 241 runs at Napier.

On 11 September 1999, under the leadership of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka won their first Test match against Australia, when they beat them by six wickets at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy.

On 17 August 2016, under the leadership of Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka whitewashed Australia 3-0 for the first time in Test cricket.

[citation needed] Sri Lanka played their first day-night Test match on 6 October 2017 against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

[32][33][34] Under the captaincy of Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka convincingly won the match by 68 runs and sweep the series 2–0.

In the match, Dimuth Karunaratne became the first Sri Lankan to score a fifty, a century and a 150 in a day-night Test.

[44][45] In the meantime, Sri Lanka involved 5-0 whitewash in three times against South Africa, India and Pakistan in 2017.

[46] On 9 September 2019, Sri Lanka won the T20I series 3–0 against Pakistan in their home under Dasun Shanaka's captaincy.

[50] Amid political turmoil back home, Sri Lanka won the 2022 Asia Cup, defeating Pakistan in the final on 11 September 2022.

Most of the regions of Sri Lanka that are rural areas apart from the Capital could not produce successful cricketers to the national and international side yet due to the lack of resources and opportunities while only a few major areas such as Galle, Matara, Kandy, Kurunegala usually produce successful cricketers to the national and international side instead of the capital.

[citation needed][dubious – discuss] In Test matches, the team wears cricket whites, with an optional sweater or sweater-vest with a dark blue and blue V-neck for use in cold weather, such as on Australia, England, and New Zealand tours.

The Sri Lankan flag is found on the left side of the jersey's chest with the Test cap number usually below the flag; helmets are a deep blue and the fielder's hat (usually a baseball cap or a wide-brimmed sunhat) is coloured similarly.

In the World Series Cup in 1984–85, Sri Lanka wore yellow uniforms with blue stripes.

A remarkable change in the colour of the kit of Sri Lanka can be found during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 edition in South Africa.

Since then, the Sri Lankan kit has never changed from the usual brilliant blue colour and very fine yellow stripes.

[78] However, for non-ICC tournaments and bilateral and tri-nation matches, the sponsor logo features prominently on the front of the shirt.

Sri Lanka's cricket team's logo is a golden lion with a sword bearing on the right arm and the background is bright blue.

This is a list of active players who are centrally contracted with SLC or have played for Sri Lanka in the past 12 months or have been named in the recent Test, ODI or T20I squad.

Last updated: 8th February 2025 Niroshan Dickwella, Lasith Embuldeniya, Dushan Hemantha, Praveen Jayawickrama and Chamika Karunaratne are also contracted by Sri Lanka Cricket, but have not played a match for Sri Lanka cricket in the last 12 months.