Welagedara Stadium is a multi-use stadium

Stadium

A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 in Kurunegala

Kurunegala

Kurunegala , is the capital of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was also an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th century to the start of the 13th century. The town itself is a busy commercial and a transport hub...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. The stadium was officially declared open by the then Minister of Home Affairs, Justice Felix Dias Bandaranaike

Felix Dias Bandaranaike

Felix Reginald Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Cabinet Minister of Finance, Parliamentary Secretary for the Prime Minister and Defence and External Affairs and Cabinet Minister of Justice in the cabinet of Prime Minister...

 in 1972. It is currently used mostly for cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 matches and hosts the Wayamba Cricket Team

Wayamba cricket team

Wayamba cricket team is a Sri Lankan first class cricket team based in Kurunegala, that represents North Western Province. It draws cricketers from Sri Lanka Premier Trophy. The team competes in two provincial tournaments: the first class cricket competition known as the Inter-Provincial...

. The stadium can hold at least 10,000 spectators. Welagedara stadium hosted its first international match when Pakistan played there in 1985. In recent times it has regularly hosted international tour matches, unofficial test matches and U19 one-day games.

The giant Elephant Rock

Ethagala

Ethagala is one of seven rocks that overlook the town of Kurunegala, in Sri Lanka. The rock face reaches 316 metres over the town and is shaped to resembele a crouching Elephant, which explains its name. Kurunegala is also called Hasthishilapura and Ethugalpura....

forms a dramatic back-drop to the ground.

External links

• Stadium information