Ireland arrive in Sri Lanka for two Tests

by Rex Clementine

There will be a historic game later this week in Galle as the first-ever Test between Sri Lanka and Ireland gets underway on Sunday. The Irish arrived in Colombo on Easter Sunday and were transferred to the coastal town of Galle and are putting up at Lighthouse resort, the most popular hotel in the south for visiting cricket teams over the years.

The Irish have an opportunity to get a first-hand experience of Sri Lankan culture and traditions as they spend the avurudu week down south. They will soon be joined by their Sri Lankan counterparts who will miss being with their loved ones for the festive season.

Eoin Morgan is the most famous Irish cricketer and later he went on to represent England and win their first-ever World Cup in 2019. Ed Joyce and Kevin O’Brien are other famous Irish cricketers, both now retired.

Ireland were granted Test status in 2018 along with Afghanistan but the country has made little progress over the last five years having played only four Test matches. If you take Sri Lanka by the way, in their first five years of Test cricket, they had played 25 Tests and had already beaten sport’s powerhouses like India and Pakistan.

Sri Lanka had to be thankful for their generous hosts who gave them frequent opportunities. In their first five years of Test cricket, Sri Lanka had played all Test-playing nations except West Indies.

Ireland’s four games have been all one Tests, and this is the first time they’d be engaging in more than one Test. There was only one Test scheduled on this tour as well but both boards mutually agreed to scrap couple of one-day games and add an extra Test match.

Ireland arrived straight from Dhaka where they played a Test against Bangladesh last week and suffered a seven-wicket loss. So, there’s some momentum behind them having played competitive cricket.

Wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker was in the headlines after making a hundred in Dhaka. The 26-year-old has already got breaks in franchise cricket and is one of the players to watch out for.

Captain Andrew Balbirnie is also one of their key players having featured in international cricket for over 13 years now in which he has played in close to 100 ODIs. He has also got experience playing County Cricket.

Both Test matches will take place in Galle and in helpful conditions Sri Lanka will be looking to breathe easy after being hammered in New Zealand.