Capacity 10300
Floodlights No
End names Hunnasgiriya End, Hanthana End
Home team Kandy Cricket Club
Other sports Hockey

The Asgiriya International Stadium, located in the heart of Sri Lanka's rolling hill-country, is the home ground of Trinity College, one of the most prestigious schools in Sri Lanka. Given the lack of flat space in central Sri Lanka, the ground was carved straight out of the hill behind the pavilion before being levelled by ten feet, and so the end result is one of the most beautiful venues on earth. Access is from the main town, which lies below, where the road takes a sharp jink across the Kandy to Colombo main railway line, before rising viciously and twisting to its left towards the Buddhist Research Institute that neighbours the ground. On a match-day, the outside of the ground is an incongruous mix of monks and machine-guns, as the ever-zealous police force keep an eye out for troublemakers. But once you step through the huge green gates and into the ground, tranquillity abounds. Ironically, one of the most memorable matches at Kandy was also one of the feistiest in history, as England beat Sri Lanka in March 2001 in a game that descended into near-anarchy. The pitch, with its extra bounce, can offer more assistance to the pace bowlers than any other in Sri Lanka, especially when clouds hug the surrounding hills.
Andrew Miller
May 2005