In 2007, Australia and Sri Lanka celebrated 25 years of their cricket rivalry. As a result, in 2007, the two nations announced the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy. The names are derived from the leading wicket takers of test cricket – Australia’s Shane Warne, and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (Romanised to Muralidaran). The tournament is organized by Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket.
The first two series between the two nations in 1982 and 1987 were contested as a one-off test match. Since then, every series held till 2024 have been contested as two or three match test series. The competition is held in both Australia and Sri Lanka, with the venues alternating between the two nations each year.
Before 2007, the two nations had faced each other in a test series eight times. Sri Lanka could manage only one test series win. The eight test series features 18 matches with Australia winning 11 matches, Sri Lanka winning one match, and the rest of the matches ended in a draw.
The Warne-Muralidaran Trophy has been won by Australia four times till 2024. Sri Lanka has won it once, and one series ended in a draw. Michael Hussey is the leading run-scorer with 994 runs. He was also awarded the man of the match in all three test matches of the 2011 series. Rangana Herath is the leading wicket-taker of the competition with 56 wickets to his name.
The trophy awarded to the winning side features casts of both Warne and Murali’s right-hand with a bowl that they gripped in their career.
