The history of the P Sara Oval

The Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club was one of Colombo's community-based sports clubs, founded in the colonial era. The club developed its ground in Borella, east of the city centre, and it became one of the city's leading venues for first-class and touring matches.

The ground was named after P Saravanamuttu, a long-serving club president who led its development and was a major figure in Ceylon cricket administration. Most people simply call it the P Sara Oval or the Oval.

Touring teams stopping in Colombo on the long sea voyage to England or Australia sometimes played one-day matches in the city, and these games helped build local interest in the game long before Test status.

Sri Lanka was granted Test status in 1981, and its first Test was played at the P Sara Oval in February 1982, against England. England won, but the match was a landmark for the country, and photographs of the day show a packed, joyful ground.

The players of that first Test, led by Bandula Warnapura, are still remembered in Sri Lanka, and the ground's place in history was secured. Over the following decades the Oval hosted Tests less often than the SSC or the Premadasa, but it never lost its status.

For anyone tracing the story of Sri Lankan Test cricket, this is the first stop, ahead of the bigger grounds.

The Oval has continued to host Tests occasionally, along with domestic first-class cricket and some white-ball internationals. Its small size gives a close view of the play, and its pitches have varied from good batting surfaces to ones that help spin.

In March 2017, Bangladesh played its 100th Test at the P Sara Oval and won it, beating Sri Lanka in a match that is still celebrated in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi visitors to Colombo often seek out the ground for that reason.

Murali and other Sri Lankan greats played here regularly in domestic cricket, and the club's pavilion holds many memories for local cricket lovers.

The P Sara Oval is a short tuk-tuk ride from central Colombo, in the Borella district near the large Kanatte cemetery and busy junction. The ground is enclosed, so outside match days you may only glimpse it from the gates, and entry is at the discretion of the club.

On match days, crowds are usually modest compared with the Premadasa, which makes the Oval a relaxed place to watch Test cricket. Shade is limited, so bring a hat and plenty of water.

Lankan Stays & Trails can include the Oval in a Colombo cricket day with the SSC and the Premadasa, and the companion pages cover where to sit and how it compares with the SSC.

Sri Lanka's cricket story is often told through Galle and the Premadasa, but it began at the Oval. The ground represents the community clubs that built the game in Ceylon and the moment the country joined Test cricket.

For Bangladeshi fans, it is also the scene of one of their team's proudest days, and for Sri Lankans it is a reminder of the first steps of a team that went on to win the World Cup in 1996.

A short visit, even just to stand at the gate and look across the field, connects the island's cricket past with its present.

Borella is a working district rather than a tourist area, but it is close to Cinnamon Gardens, where the SSC and other club grounds sit, and to the National Museum and Viharamahadevi Park. A morning at the Oval and the SSC fits easily with an afternoon at the museum.

Food in the area is local and inexpensive, with short-eats shops and rice and curry places near the junction.

Evening traffic in Borella can be slow, so plan to leave before rush hour if you have dinner plans elsewhere in the city.