 The Warne–Muralidaran Trophy | |
| Countries |  Australia Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Cricket Australia Sri Lanka Cricket |
| Format | Test cricket |
| First edition | 2007–08(Australia) |
| Latest edition | 2025(Sri Lanka) |
| Tournament format | Test Series |
| Number of teams | 2 |
| Current trophy holder | Australia (2025) |
| Most successful | Australia (5 series wins) |
| Most runs | Michael Hussey (994) |
| Most wickets | Rangana Herath (56)[1] |
| ||
|---|---|---|
In Media Honours and Achievements Controversies | ||
| Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video | ||
TheWarne–Muralidaran Trophy is awarded to the winner of theAustralia–Sri LankaTest cricket series from 2007–08 season onwards. The trophy is named after the two leadingwicket takers in Test cricket, Sri Lanka'sMuttiah Muralitharan (who prefers toromanise his name as "Muralidaran"[2]) and Australia'sShane Warne.[3] The trophy celebrates the 25th anniversary of Australia–Sri Lanka Test cricket.[4] The trophy features casts of the twobowlers'right hands and match-usedcricket balls bowled by them during their careers.[5]Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body ofcricket in Sri Lanka had written to its Australian counterpart,Cricket Australia, that the winner of the series should be awarded a trophy named after the two bowlers.[6] Cricket Australia had responded positively to the Sri Lankans' proposal. In unveiling the trophy, Cricket Australia said in a statement,
...The two greatest bowlers in world cricket history have lent their names to a perpetual prize that will be played for in the Test series between Australia and Sri Lanka.[4]
The Warne–Muralidaran trophy became the latest addition to the series of trophies named after former players such as theBorder–Gavaskar Trophy, for Test series between Australia and India and theChappell–Hadlee Trophy which is contested between Australia and New Zealand inODI format.[7]
| Year | Host | Winning team |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Australia | Australia |
| 2011 | Sri Lanka | Australia |
| 2012–13 | Australia | Australia |
| 2016 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
| 2018–19 | Australia | Australia |
| 2022 | Sri Lanka | Drawn |
| 2024–25 | Sri Lanka | Australia |
| Total Series | Australia | Sri Lanka | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Before the Warne–Muralidaran Trophy, (1983–2004), Australia and Sri Lanka had played each other 18 times in the 21-year period, there had been four tours each in each country. Out of the 18 tests, Australia had won 11 times while Sri Lanka had won only once, in 1999, and 6 Tests had been drawn.[8] The following were all regular, not Warne–Muralidaran Tests between the two countries:
| Season | Host | Tests | Australia | Sri Lanka | Drawn | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–83 | Sri Lanka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Australia |
| 1987–88 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Australia |
| 1989–90 | Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Australia |
| 1992 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Australia |
| 1995–96 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Australia |
| 1999 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Sri Lanka |
| 2003–04 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Australia |
| 2004 | Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Australia |
Shane Warne retired from cricket in 2007 with 708 wickets against his name andMuttiah Muralitharan played the 2007–2008 series eight wickets short of Warne's tally at the start of the series.[9]Ricky Ponting stated that he was determined to deny Murali from getting the nine wickets required to surpass Warne as the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket while in Australia.[10] At the end of the series Muralitharan had bagged only four wickets. Australia won the test series and the trophy 2–0.[11] In the second Test,Kumar Sangakkara was given out when the ball actually hit his shoulder on 192 by umpireRudi Koertzen.[12] After the match Koertzen apologised to Sangakkara. During the seriesMarvan Atapattu, formerSri Lankan cricket captain criticised the selecting board of Sri Lanka Cricket saying the selectors were a group of "Muppets headed by a joker" referring to the chairman of selectors,Ashantha de Mel.[10] Atapattu retired from cricket at the end of the series.
On the second day of the first Test,Nathan Lyon took his first wicket in tests with his first ball, his victim wasKumar Sangakkara; he is the 14th international player and 2nd Australian to do so. He finished with figures of 5/34, becoming the 131st player to take five wickets on debut in a Test match.[13] Also,Trent Copeland took his first wicket in tests with his second ball; his victim wasTillakaratne Dilshan. Also in the first test, theICC admitted that the hawk-eye or eagle-eye made an error.
On the first day of the third TestShaminda Eranga got his first wicket in Tests with his first ball (repeatingNathan Lyon's feat in the first Test); his victim wasShane Watson. Also on the first dayShaun Marsh achieved an average of 209, the highest ever by an Australian.Michael Hussey was Man of the Match for all three test matches and was also awarded Man of the Series.
Australia completed a clean sweep of the series, winning 3–0.
Sri Lanka had a poor run leading up to this series, where they lost across all forms in England. The first match at Pallekele was a memorable one forKusal Mendis who scored his maiden test century (176) and bowling ofRangana Herath lead Sri Lanka to a 106-run victory, their first test victory over the visitors in 17 years. The win boosted the confidence of the home team leading to the second test in Galle. Performances by Herath andDilruwan Perera sealed the series with a 229-run victory. The spin duo took 18 wickets out of the possible 20 in the game. The third test was at SSC,Dinesh Chandimal andDhananjaya de Silva scored centuries in the first innings. In reply,Shaun Marsh andSteven Smith scored centuries for the visitors. In the third and crucial innings,Kaushal Silva scored a century setting a target of over 300 for the Aussies. On the final day the Australians started to crumble, onlyDavid Warner scored a half-century and no other batsman scored more than 30. Herath took 13 wickets in the match and Sri Lanka managed to win by 163 runs, whitewashing Australia for the first time in their history. Herath won both Man of the match award and Player of the Series awards. With this win, Sri Lanka moved above South Africa in the Test rankings, and Australia lost the top spot in the rankings.
Australia completed a clean sweep of the series, winning 2–0.
| Series | Years | Host | Tests | Australia | Sri Lanka | Drawn | Result | Holder | Player of the Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2007–08 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Australia | Australia | Brett Lee |
| 2 | 2011 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Australia | Australia | Michael Hussey |
| 3 | 2012–13 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Australia | Australia | Michael Clarke |
| 4 | 2016 | Sri Lanka | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | Rangana Herath |
| 5 | 2018–19 | Australia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Australia | Australia | Pat Cummins |
| 6 | 2022 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Drawn | Australia | Dinesh Chandimal |
| 7 | 2024–25 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Australia | Australia | Steve Smith |
| Total | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Total Series | Australia | Sri Lanka | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
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