After the culmination of the World Test Championship (WTC 2023-25) cycle with South Africa winning the summit clash against Australia, the new cycle (2025-27) is slated to kickstart tomorrow (June 17) with a two-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Notably, the first match at Galle will also be the final game for Sri Lankan legend Angelo Mathews in the longest format, who has announced his decision to retire from Tests back in May.
However, ahead of his last Test match, the 38-year-old has voiced concerns about the lack of numbers of Tests Sri Lanka has in the new cycle. The Island Nation will be playing just four Tests in 2025 – their lowest number of Tests in a calendar year since 2013, barring a Covid-curtailed 2020. In contrast, top cricketing nations like India, England and Australia play 18, 21 and 22 Tests respectively.
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The timing of his retirement was influenced, at least partially, by Sri Lanka’s sparse Test schedule. Though retirement might have been on the cards for the 38-year-old, especially with a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle beginning but his choice to play only the first Test was circumstantial.
Highlighting the lack of Tests for Sri Lanka, Mathews was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo, “I feel there has to be a minimum of 10 matches at least [in a year]. Teams like England, India or Australia are playing 15-plus games a year. Why can’t we play? We can. If we keep pushing, I mean, we have to. We have won World Cups. We have done so much for cricket as a nation, and we deserve to play Test cricket, just like Australia, India and England.”
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