Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka is the historic ground where Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara learned how to play as a local student. It is also the stadium at which Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed England’s Paul Collingwood at Asgiriya to break Shane Warne’s record of 708 test wickets in December 2007. It is also the place where a cricket team from Belridge Secondary College faced off against a group of Sri Lankan villagers in a high-stakes T5 international in July 2018.

11 Boys from Belridge Secondary College traveled to Sri Lanka for official tour matches at Asgiriya Cricket ground. The Year 11 and 12 Belridge boys played nine official tour games across 12 stiflingly humid days. Formerly known as Belridge Senior High School, Belridge Secondary College is a comprehensive co-educational state high school located in Beldon in Western Australia.

“As the day went on we noticed there were kids playing a game of backyard cricket in the far corner,” cricket specialist teacher Brent Jarvis-Spinks said. “All the guys who weren’t out in the middle walked over there and started playing with them. “They decided it would be a little five-over game – Sri Lanka vs Australia. The kids were absolutely loving it.” The boys returned to their hotel with a new perspective on the passion Sri Lankan kids have for the game.

Courtesy of https://thewest.com.au