School cricket in Sri Lanka

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Cricket was introduced in Sri Lanka during the 19th century by the British.^[1] A Sri Lankan school was the first to play cricket in 1864, primarily against small clubs. With the arrival of English cricketer Ashley Walker and the founding of Royal College, Colombo, Sri Lanka's first inter-school match took place between S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and Royal College in 1880. An annual match, known as the Battle of the Blues, was held.^[2]

The sport became popular in British Empire colonies, including Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and Royal College, Colombo began to play cricket, and large schools in Kandy, Galle, Matara, and Jaffna have included cricket in their sports programs; it gradually became Sri Lanka's most popular sport. The Sri Lankan government recognized cricket as a national sport and enacted infrastructure projects for it. Schools were financially encouraged to offer cricket programs, helping to provide national teams to represent Sri Lanka at the international level.^[3]