COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will play an all-format series at home against Australia from early June, the first in six years, the cricket board announced on Friday.

The Australians will play two Tests, five ODIs and three T20 matches in the series starting on June 7, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.

On Australia’s last tour in July 2016, the tourists won all but one of the five ODIs and both T20s, but in the Warne-Muralitharan trophy lost the two Tests.

It was named after the world’s two top Test wicket takers -- Australia’s late Shane Warne and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.

The upcoming series will be played in Colombo, Kandy and Galle.

“The T20 series will help our preparations for the T20 World Cup, whilst the Test and ODI segments are also competitions of immense value for us,” SLC chief executive Ashley de Silva said.

Schedule:

June 7: First T20, Colombo

June 8: Second T20, Colombo

June 11: Third T20, Kandy

June 14: First ODI, Kandy

June 16: Second ODI, Kandy

June 19: Third ODI, Colombo

June 21: Fourth ODI, Colombo

June 24: Fifth ODI, Colombo

June 29-July 3: First Test, Galle

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2022