The chairman, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and former national captain D. S. De Silva bowled the first delivery to a yet another legendary cricketer, Arvinda De Silva, also former Sri Lanka captain, to mark the opening of the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy on Friday (27).

A simple opening ceremony of the ground, that will also serve as a venue of the next cricket World Cup, was held under the patronage of the Governor of the Central Province, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa and Chief Minister of the Central Province, Sarath Ekanayake. The proceedings on the occasion commenced after religious observations made by Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic and Islamic clergy.

The stadium complex, that has been set up on the property that was partly owned by the Mahaweli Authority and the Board of Investment (BOI) placed in the charming Dumbara Valley 12 kilometers off Kandy City, is surrounded by enchanting mountain ranges and soon become the eighth Test venue in Sri Lanka.

It was a long felt need to have another international Test venue in Kandy fully owned by SLC apart from the Asgiriya International Stadium in Kandy, which is owned by Trinity College. The opening of the Pallekele was to get a rousing start under former Minister of Sports S. B. Dissanayake during the tenure of Thilanga Sumathipala as former chairman of SLC, but such organisation didn’t materialise due to a number of impediments.

A second attempt to see the completion of the stadium got underway a few years later when Lakshman Kiriella was the Minister of Sports and the SLC and a private company handled the affairs. But halfway through, the proceedings ran into problems until the present administration of SLC in a timely move eventually gave birth to the venue situated in a splendid setting which one may not find anywhere in the country, or may be for that matter in most parts of Asia.

Skirted by hazel blue mountains the main pavilion faces the Hunasgiriya and Knuckles mountain range. On the opposite side are the Hewaheta and the Hantana ranges making this one of the most picturesque Test venues in the world.

The ground itself is good as any international Test venue in Sri Lanka, which could be made ready to hold matches at a very short notice.

The mission of SLC in respect to this project is not fully accomplished yet. Moreover, it is expected that the infrastructure will commence soon to stage international matches and of course the eagerly anticipated World Cup matches in the future.

Thus far Sri Lanka has seen only a few World Cup matches which were in 1996 during the Willis World Cup and of which one match against Kenya was played in Kandy at a fully packed Asgiriya Stadium.

Now the sport loving public in the Central province could breathe a sigh of relief as they have a hope of witnessing international fixtures including limited-over matches in the comforts of this magnificent venue that could accommodate a crowd of up to thirty thousand once the construction work is complete in this complex which spreads across approximately 25 acres in the dry zone of the Kandy district.

D. S. De Silva was hopeful that the work in this venue could be completed soon and it could be made available for an international fixture soon.