Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently announced a schedule for their upcoming Test series against New Zealand. Interestingly the schedule includes a tradition from the past, a rest day during the Test match. Sri Lanka’s two-match Test series against New Zealand is set to begin in September. The inclusion of a rest day during the first Test in Galle, scheduled from September 18 to 23 caught everyone’s attention as soon as the dates were announced. The rest day, on September 21 is due to the Presidential Election in Sri Lanka.
Presidential elections
The second and final match of the series will also be played at Galle on September 26. New Zealand’s last tour of Sri Lanka was in August 2019, when it drew a two-match Test series with the hosts. In the wake of Rajapaksa's departure, his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, took office and implemented tough measures as part of an IMF rescue package negotiated in the previous year. Wickremesinghe's policies aimed to stabilize the economy and address the fiscal challenges facing the nation. The upcoming election will be a critical moment for Sri Lanka, as it is the country’s first poll since it was declared a sovereign in 2022 during an unprecedented economic crisis.
When was the last test played featuring rest day?
The last time Sri Lanka played a Test match featuring a rest day at home against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2001, as the Poya (referring to full moon) holiday arrived during the scheduled matchdays. The first three days were played on December 27, 28 and 29 before December 30 was a rest day. The last rest day in Test cricket overall came in 2008, and Sri Lanka was involved in that as well, this time as the visitors. The instance last happened when Sri Lanka was touring Bangladesh, the first Test in Mirpur was scheduled from December 26-31, with December 29 allocated as a rest day owing to a parliamentary election in Bangladesh.
New Zealand are currently placed third and Sri Lanka is in fourth place in the standings for the World Test Championship 2023-25. New Zealand will start their red ball tour of Asia with a one-off Test against Afghanistan. Later, a three-Test series was played against India before touring the island nation. New Zealand will face Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series in September starting from 18th September.
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