# Major League Tournament (Sri Lanka)

The Major League Tournament (formerly known as the Premier Trophy) is the main domestic first-class cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1938 and has existed under a number of different names. Matches before the 1988–89 season are not considered first-class. Relaunched as the Lakspray Trophy in 1988–89, it was renamed as the P. Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1990–91 and as the Premier Championship in 1998–99. There was a change of format in 2015–16 when it became the Premier League Tournament which was split into Tiers A and B the following year.
The league was cancelled in 2020–21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then a new temporary tournament was introduced in 2021–22 called the National Super Provincial 4-Day Tournament. This was contested by five provincial teams: Colombo District, Dambulla District, Galle District, Jaffna District and Kandy District. They played each other once each and then the top four went into a knockout semi-final round followed by a championship final in which Kandy District defeated Jaffna District, 7–10 April 2022.
Ahead of the 2022–23 season, the competition was relaunched with a rebranding as the Major League Tournament. The 26 first-class clubs are split into Groups A and B, each team playing the others in its group once each, and the two group winners meeting in a championship final.

## Teams

The Major League Tournament in 2023–24 was split into Group A and Group B leagues. The following teams were involved:

### Group A

* Burgher Recreation Club
* Colombo Cricket Club
* Colts Cricket Club
* Galle Cricket Club
* Kandy Customs Cricket Club
* Negombo Cricket Club
* Nugegoda Sports and Welfare Club
* Panadura Sports Club
* Ragama Cricket Club
* Sinhalese Sports Club
* Sri Lanka Army Sports Club

### Group B

* Ace Capital Cricket Club
* Badureliya Sports Club
* Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club
* Chilaw Marians Cricket Club
* Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club
* Moors Sports Club
* Nondescripts Cricket Club
* Police Sports Club
* Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club
* Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club
* Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club
* Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club

### Former Team

* Kalutara Town Club
* Lankan Cricket Club
* Saracens Sports Club

### Final

The group winners were Colombo Cricket Club and Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club who contested the MLT Final at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, starting on 17 November 2022. The match was drawn after four days play (extended from the scheduled three) and Colombo were declared the winners as they had the larger first innings total. Tamil Union won the toss and batted first. At the end of the first day, they had reached 356/5 after their captain Sadeera Samarawickrama had scored 188. They were all out on day two for 558. Colombo had scored 149/2 at close of play that day and went on to 411/5 at close of play on the third day. At this point, the match should have ended but it was extended by another day so that the question of first innings lead could be settled. Colombo were eventually all out for 669 on day four, their innings including three centuries by Kamindu Mendis (105), captain Ashan Priyanjan (100) and Chamindu Wijesinghe (139). There was only time for another sixteen overs before the close but the match was played out and Tamil Union scored 145/4 in their second innings. Wijesinghe was voted "Player of the Match". The "Player of the Series" award went to Ragama batsman Nishan Madushka, who scored 1,229 runs.

## List of winners

The champion team in each season since 1938 has been:

### Daily News Trophy

    1938 Kalutara Town Club
    1938–39 Singhalese Sports Club
    1939–40 Singhalese Sports Club
    1940–41 Saracens Sports Club
    1941–42 No competition
    1942–43 No competition
    1943–44 Singhalese Sports Club
    1944–45 Singhalese Sports Club
    1945–46 Tamil Union C & A Club
    1946–47 Singhalese Sports Club
    1947–48 Singhalese Sports Club
    1948–49 Singhalese Sports Club
    1949–50 Singhalese Sports Club

### P. Saravanamuttu Trophy

    1950–51 Tamil Union C & A Club
    1951–52 Singhalese Sports Club
    1952–53 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1953–54 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1954–55 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1955–56 Burgher Recreation Club
    1956–57 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1957–58 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1958–59 Singhalese Sports Club
    1959–60 Singhalese Sports Club
    1960–61 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1961–62 Singhalese Sports Club
    1962–63 University
    1963–64 Bloomfield C & AC
    1964–65 Nomads Sports Club
    1965–66 No competition
    1966–67 Singhalese Sports Club
    1967–68 Nomads Sports Club
    1968–69 Singhalese Sports Club
    1969–70 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1970–71 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1971–72 Singhalese Sports Club
    1972–73 Singhalese Sports Club
    1973–74 Singhalese Sports Club
    1974–75 Singhalese Sports Club
    1975–76 Nondescripts Cricket Club

### Robert Senanayake Trophy

    1976–77 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1977–78 Singhalese Sports Club
    1978–79 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1979–80 Colombo Cricket Club
    1980–81 Bloomfield C & AC
    1981–82 Bloomfield C & AC

### Lakspray Trophy

    1982–83 Bloomfield C & AC
    1983–84 Singhalese Sports Club
    1984–85 Colombo Cricket Club
    1985–86 Singhalese Sports Club & Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1986–87 Singhalese Sports Club
    1987–88 Colombo Cricket Club
    1988–89 Nondescripts Cricket Club & Singhalese Sports Club (inaugural first-class season)
    1989–90 Singhalese Sports Club
    1990–91 Singhalese Sports Club

### P. Saravanamuttu Trophy

    1991–92 Colts Cricket Club
    1992–93 Singhalese Sports Club
    1993–94 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    1994–95 Singhalese Sports Club and Bloomfield C & AC
    1995–96 Colombo Cricket Club
    1996–97 Bloomfield C & AC
    1997–98 Singhalese Sports Club

### Premier Championship

    1998–99 Bloomfield C & AC
    1999–00 Colts Cricket Club
    2000–01 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    2001–02 Colts Cricket Club
    2002–03 Moors Sports Club
    2003–04 Bloomfield C & AC
    2004–05 Colts Cricket Club
    2005–06 Singhalese Sports Club
    2006–07 Colombo Cricket Club
    2007–08 Singhalese Sports Club
    2008–09 Colts Cricket Club
    2009–10 Chilaw Marians Cricket Club
    2010–11 Bloomfield C & AC
    2011–12 Colts Cricket Club
    2012–13 Singhalese Sports Club
    2013–14 Nondescripts Cricket Club
    2014–15 Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club

### Premier League Tournament

    2015–16 Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club
    2016–17 Singhalese Sports Club
    2017–18 Chilaw Marians Cricket Club
    2018–19 Colombo Cricket Club
    2019–20 Colombo Cricket Club
    2020–21 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
    2021–22 replaced by temporary regional competition

### Major League Tournament

    2022–23 Colombo Cricket Club
    2023 Sinhalese Sports Club and Police Sports Club

#### 2024–25
## Wins by Clubs

* † Extinct Clubs * Shared title
| Club | Wins | Winning years |
| Singhalese Sports Club | 32 | 1938–39, 1939–40, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1985–86*, 1986–87, 1988–89*, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1994–95*, 1997–98, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2016–17 |
| Nondescripts Cricket Club | 16 | 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1960–61, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1988–89*, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2013–14 |
| Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club | 9 | 1963–64, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1994–95*, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2010–11 |
| Colombo Cricket Club | 8 | 1979–80, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1995–96, 2006–07, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23 |
| Colts Cricket Club | 6 | 1991–92, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2011–12 |
| Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club | 3 | 1945–46, 1950–51, 2015–16 |
| †Nomads Sports Club | 2 | 1964–65, 1967–68 |
| Chilaw Marians Cricket Club | 2 | 2009–10, 2017–18 |
| Kalutara Town Club | 1 | 1938 |
| Saracens Sports Club | 1 | 1940–41 |
| Burgher Recreation Club | 1 | 1955–56 |
| †University | 1 | 1962–63 |
| Moors Sports Club | 1 | 2002–03 |
| Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club | 1 | 2014–15 |