Of all cricket venues in England, Old Trafford holds a special place for Sri Lankans. It was here they made their first ever appearance in international cricket.
Invited to play the inaugural ICC World Cup in 1975, Sri Lanka were pitted against West Indies in their opening game. It indeed was a baptism by fire as Sri Lanka were blown away for 86 runs by the West Indies quicks. West Indies went on to win the inaugural edition of the World Cup.
The return trip four years later in the second edition of the World Cup brought the Sri Lankans happy memories as they went on to beat a star-studded India. With Anura Tennakoon injured, Sri Lanka were skippered by late Bandula Warnapura and secured a 47-run win in a game played across three days due to rain. It was this win that ensured Sri Lanka were granted Test status in 1981.
Sri Lankan Gehan Mendis, a highly rated top order batsman who fell short of playing for England played over 350 First Class games and most of that came for Lancashire, the county that owns Old Trafford.
There are other Sri Lankans who have gone on to represent Lancashire in County Cricket most notably Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Farveez Maharoof. In fact, Maharoof was part of the Lancashire side that won the County Championship in 2011. That was Lancashire’s first County Championship in 74 years. Since then, they have yet to win a Championship.
A lot of Sri Lankan fans support English Premier League football team Manchester United and the football club is just across the road of the Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
The cricket ground of course has gone through lot of refurbishments in order to keep up with the modern demands of the game. The press box used to be across the square leg boundary while the dressing rooms were in the main pavilion. Both entities now are in one building right opposite the main pavilion.
In a bid to be self-sufficient, many English grounds are renting out space for accommodation for hotels and Old Trafford too has gone that way with Hilton running a hotel there. There are 250 rooms in the hotel and 130 of them have balcony views overlooking the ground. But it costs you a fortune with a night costing 220 British Pounds.
