Sri Lanka-New Zealand Test to contain first scheduled rest day for 16 years

The first Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Test, starting September 18 in Galle, has six days allocated to it, with a rest day thrown in to accommodate the country's presidential elections on September 21. The series is of two Tests, which are part of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

This will be the first instance of a rest day in a Test match since the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Test in Dhaka in 2008, which accommodated a rest day because of the parliamentary elections.

The last rest day to occur in Sri Lanka, meanwhile, was back in December 2001, in a Test against Zimbabwe. This was down to the occurrence of a full moon, a day being a public holiday in the largely Buddhist nation. Before gradually fading into oblivion, for all practical purposes, Sundays were rest days in Tests in England, well into the 1990s.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka last faced each other in a Test series at the start of 2023, which New Zealand won 2-0 at home. New Zealand last toured Sri Lanka in 2019, drawing the Test series 1-1 and winning 2-1 in the T20Is.

New Zealand will tour Sri Lanka after playing a one-off Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida in what is busy summer of cricket for them. Before the end of the year, New Zealand will also have Test series against India and England, before Sri Lanka make a return tour to New Zealand towards the end of December for three T20Is and three ODIs.