‘Only 4 Tests in 2025’: Angelo Mathews ‘absolutely shocked’ Sri Lanka’s 2025 cricket schedule | Cricket News
Veteran Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews is disappointed at the number of Test matches his side will play in the 2025 calendar year.
Having last featured in Sri Lanka’s tour to South Africa last December, Mathews on Monday said he was shocked that the team will be playing only four Tests this year, two of which will be completed before mid-February against Australia at home.
Besides the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup T20s, Sri Lanka are slated to play 13 ODIs and 12 T20Is November 2025 before resuming action in January 2026. The scheduled Future Tours Program will mean that Sri Lanka’s representation in whites this year will be wrapped up June when they host Bangladesh in two Tests in the new 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
Tagging the International Cricket Council in his post on X, Mathews wrote: “Absolutely shocking to hear that Sri Lanka is only playing 4 test matches this entire year including the Aus Tests this month.”
Absolutely shocking to hear that srilanka is only playing 4 test matches this entire year including the aus tests this month @ICC .
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) January 6, 2025
Having last represented Sri Lanka in ODIs at the World Cup in 2023 and T20Is at the T20 World Cup last year, the 37-year-old Mathews is limited to Test appearances and recently became only the fourth Lankan batter to cross 8000 Test runs.
In the ongoing 2023-25 edition of the WTC, Sri Lanka have been marked 13 Tests. From 11 completed games, Sri Lanka won five matches and remain fifth in the standings. Only Bangladesh (12) and South Africa (12) have played fewer Tests, with England (22), Australia (19) and India (19) topping the charts. Mathews’ comments come on a day when reports have suggested that cricket’s Big 3 and the ICC are mulling for a two-tier Test system after the conclusion of the next World Test Championship cycle.
According to reports from The Age, ICC chairman Jay Shah is expected to meet the chiefs of Cricket Australia, and England Cricket Board (ECB) to discuss the initiative where a larger share of matches are played between India, Australia and England. While the idea has been floating around since 2016, the two-tier system has received severe resance in the past from smaller international boards and the BCCI.
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