December usually arrives like a well-pitched half-volley for cricket lovers — ripe to be driven through the covers with a festive flourish. Across the southern hemisphere, the fans are feasting on gripping Test contests: The Ashes simmering in Australia, the West Indies digging in at Christchurch and Temba Bavuma’s South Africans handing India a 2-0 hiding in India.
Sri Lanka, however, have been left in the cold this summer or winter whatever people would want to call the weather at this time of the year. It is unusual — almost against the grain — for the national team to sit out Test cricket in December. Last year they were in Port Elizabeth; next year they will be in Christchurch.
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But 2025 has been a lean year, yielding just four Test matches — a schedule so threadbare that the next red-ball outing only arrives in June. That’s an awfully long time to be padded up with nowhere to bat.
To their credit, Sri Lanka Cricket in recent years have tried to bowl more overs in the longest format outside the World Test Championship. Afghanistan were brought down in 2024 and Ireland in 2023 to give players more opportunities in Test cricket. Zimbabwe remain a viable third opponent from outside the WTC’s nine. Last year’s tally of ten Tests was more like the volume Sri Lanka should be clocking annually — enough cricket to keep rhythm, form and fan interest intact.
But Test cricket is no golden goose. It brings little revenue to smaller boards; SLC often struggle merely to break even. Only India and England tours tip the scales into profit, leaving administrators tempted to play the shorter formats where the cash registers ring louder. Yet sport cannot be run purely on balance sheets — the well-being of the game remains the straight bat with which cricket must be played. The challenge is finding the right line and length between sustainability and duty.
Talk of a dedicated Test fund — once floated by the ICC to keep the format alive in struggling nations — has fizzled out. Administrators must again think outside the box to ensure the longest format thrives beyond the so-called big three.
It beggars belief, for instance, that the reigning World Test Champions, South Africa, visit India for just two Tests.
Under the WTC cycle, each nation plays six series — three home, three away — but unless at least two of those are mandated to be three-match affairs, smaller countries will continue to be served two-Test scraps. The ECB, to their credit, remain the only board consistently offering full-bodied schedules to all comers.
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The imbalance shows starkly in player careers. India’s Shubman Gill, less than five years into his journey, already has 40 Tests under his belt. His Sri Lankan counterpart Dhananjaya de Silva with nearly a decade in the system is stuck at 65. Dinesh Chandimal, 14 years a Test cricketer, is still to bring up his hundredth Test.
All this comes at a time when franchise cricket is padding up ever more aggressively, threatening to push Test cricket further down the order. Those players who have kept faith with the white flannels deserve better — proper opportunities, proper calendars, and proper respect. Four Tests a year is barely enough to find your timing, let alone build a legacy.
