England to open stadium that will be a monument to 30,000 tsunami victims

'We are about to give cricket back its most beautiful Test match ground and it is an honour that England will be the first team to play here,' declares the 46-year-old former Sri Lanka off-spinner.

His confidence is remarkable, given that three stands and the pavilion are still concrete shells surrounded by scaffolding and parts of the outfield are parched dirt waiting for grass just 30 days before Michael Vaughan leads out his side for the Third Test.

On Boxing Day 2004, two giant Indian Ocean waves broke on the Dutch Fort which overlooks the stadium and came together in an irresistible wall of water, engulfing the ground and killing dozens of people.

But as he surveyed the devastation in the aftermath, Warnaweera, the ground's manager, made a promise to himself and to the people of the tsunami-ravaged southern city of Galle — to return Test cricket to the stadium.

'It is a promise I will keep, we will be ready,' he insists, adding hesitantly, 'But I do worry, especially about the pavilion.'

One of the enduring images of the disaster that killed more than 30,000 Sri Lankans was of a bus, two cars, three vans and four boats floating across the ground before being deposited on the pitch.

In the days that followed, the wicket became a temporary helipad for aid workers while the homeless found shelter in tents on the debris-strewn outfield.

Harrow School Under 15s were preparing for a game with a local side when the tsunami struck and the players had to scramble for their lives. Julian Ayer, the stepfather of one of the boys, was travelling by bus to watch him play when the vehicle was submerged.

He was unable to escape. His wife Harriet Crawley, whom he is believed to have helped escape, donated £50,000 to the Galle Cricket Club to help youngsters.

Some of the money has been used to rebuild the indoor cricket school beneath one of the main stands. It is one of the few parts of the ground ready and in use.

Black clay has been laid on top of the local red earth to make the Test pitch, while grass seed from Australia and the Far East were tried on the outfield where holes are still being filled with sand taken from old sugar bags.

The pitch is expected to be much the way it was for the previous 11 Tests played here since 1998 and to have little bounce while taking spin. Muttiah Muralitharan has taken 87 wickets in those 11 Tests.

Galle was where he took his 400th Test wicket and Shane Warne took his 500th. From the wreckage of the old pavilion, Warnaweera has salvaged signed photographs of the two men together, taken to mark their achievements.

In the aftermath of the tsunami and in his desperation to fund the reconstruction, he had offered to sell all that remained of the club's memorabilia.

The £2million-plus bill is mainly being funded by Sri Lanka's Cricket Board but at one stage that had appeared unlikely, with the government demanding a new ground be built inland away from the threat of tidal waves.

Disturbingly, the new ground has no protection from any future tsunami.

For Warnaweera, there have been many other obstacles to clear, including objections from the Galle Heritage Foundation who feared new stands would partly obscure the 16th century Dutch Fort, a World Heritage site from where Jonathan Agnew memorably provided listeners of Test Match Special with commentary of the 2001 Test after the BBC team were refused entry in a row over money.

Next month's third Test is sure to be an emotional occasion, not least for the Sri Lankan players. The mother of former captain Sanath Jayasuriya was saved after being swept into the branches of a tree, Dilhara Fernando's wife lost three relatives — drowned when a train en route to Galle was derailed — and Upal Chandana's mother was saved but her young rescuer died.

'Much heartbreak came out of the tsunami,' says Warnaweera, 'but this new ground will be one of the good things to emerge from it.'