Moors Sports Club Ground

The Moors Sports Club Ground sits at the edge of Beira Lake. It is not a place for show, though it has seen the game played at its highest level: five Women's One Day Internationals against Pakistan and a single Twenty20 International when Pakistan beat South Africa by a run. The boundary is tight, the grass is natural, and the pavilion dates back to 1937, when Governor Sir Edward Stubbs opened its doors.

What there is, is history. Twenty-seven first-class matches per season have been played here since the domestic game was granted that status in the late 1980s. The ground has hosted World Cup qualifiers and warm-up matches, but mostly it hosts local derbies where the players know each other's names and the crowds know the players' fathers.

Where the ground is different from the others in Colombo is in its quietness. It does not demand attention. It does not broadcast its importance. You walk past it on Muttaiah Road and you might not notice the gates. But inside, the game is played the same way it was played when the foundation stone was laid. The wind comes off the lake and carries the sound of the crowd across the pitch. The grass is cut short, but not too short. The stumps are wooden. The players wear whites. It is not a temple of football, or even of cricket, but it is a place where the game is still played for the love of it.