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Sri Lanka will play Australia in the two-match Test series at home starting on Wednesday. After the series, the only other series Sri Lanka is scheduled for is a two-match Test series in June against Bangladesh after which they play their next series in 2026 against West Indies a year later.
“It’s disappointing, as a good Test cricketing country, to have only four Tests,” said Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva ahead of the Test series against Australia. “Honestly, it is a big disadvantage, especially considering ours is a good side, as well,” he added.
“I’m hoping we can get more fixtures than we have. We’re hoping to discuss the opportunity to play more Test series and hopefully, we get an open window for that. Hopefully, Sri Lanka Cricket can organize something. But all we can do is control what we can, and play good cricket in the matches that we do get.”
In the ongoing 2023-25 edition of the WTC, Sri Lanka has been marked 13 Tests. From 11 completed games, Sri Lanka won five matches and remains fifth in the standings. Only Bangladesh (12) and South Africa (12) have played fewer Tests, with England (22), Australia (19) and India (19) topping the charts.
Earlier Angelo Mathews took to X(formerly known as Twitter) to express his displeasure on the matter. “Absolutely shocking to hear that Sri Lanka is only playing 4 test matches this entire year including the Aus Tests this month,” Mathews wrote.
Sri Lanka where not too far away from making it into the World Test Championship final. Their 2-0 loss to South Africa in December and Australia’s 3-1 win against India ended their chances to make it to the showpiece event.
Earlier, According to reports from The Age, ICC chairman Jay Shah is expected to meet the chiefs of Cricket Australia, and the England Cricket Board (ECB) to discuss the initiative where a larger share of matches are played between India, Australia, and England.
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While the idea has been floating around since 2016, the two-tier system has received severe resistance in the past from smaller international boards and the BCCI.
