Cricket is more than a sport in Sri Lanka. It is woven into the country’s postindependence identity, a unifying passion that cuts across class, ethnicity and geography. Yet in recent years, the push to expand cricket infrastructure has increasingly collided with fragile ecosystems, triggering uncomfortable questions about development priorities, environmental governance and climate resilience.

The latest controversy centers around plans to build an international cricket stadium on Mandaitivu, a small island off the Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka’s Northern province. Environmentalists warn that the proposal threatens a sensitive coastal ecosystem already under pressure from sea-level rise, flooding and postwar development.

To read the full story visit https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/

Photo credits: Muhunthan Balachandiran