Tri-series set for belated start
by Sa’adi Thawfeeq
DateLine: 16th August 2006
After much anxiety and a sense of helplessness at some stage Sri Lanka
Cricket (SLC) gained some breathing space when the South Africans
decided to stay back pending an independent security evaluation on
their security in Colombo.
The Unitech Cup tri-nations one-day series was in danger of being
cancelled and at one time being reduced to a two-way contest between
Sri Lanka and India when South Africa threatened to pull out following
Monday’s bomb blast in Colombo, only a few kilometers from where they
were staying.
But a lot of cajoling by SLC officials and beefing up of security to
both teams have made the South Africans think otherwise although part
of the team mainly some senior members have shown a keen desire to
return home.
SLC chief executive officer Duleep Mendis said: “The South African and
Indian cricket teams have been provided with maximum security,
subsequent to discussions the Management of Sri Lanka Cricket has had
with the Inspector General of Police and the Security Forces. The
arrangements pertaining to security at the Hotel/Ground
Security/Transport etc have been strengthened but we are not in a
position to provide more details of special arrangements made due to
reasons of security. All possible precautionary measures have been
taken with regard to security of the aforesaid teams and Sri Lanka
Cricket is confident that the matches could be continued without any
hindrance.”
It is quite understandable why SLC wants the tournament to go ahead.
Failure to see the series get off the ground would end in a financial
disaster for SLC because they stand to lose a good percentage of the
USD 11 million which they expect to receive by way of television
broadcasting rights from Taj Television. India’s presence was vital to
boost the coffers of SLC’s television deal with Ten Sports that amounts
to a staggering USD 52 million for four years from January 1, 2005.
The series has still not got off because of bad weather that washed out
the opening match between Sri Lanka and South Africa on Monday amidst
the mayhem created by the bomb blast. A decision was taken by SLC on
Tuesday to reschedule the series and it is now due to commence on
Wednesday with India taking on host Sri Lanka in a day-night game. The
Sri Lanka-South Africa match will now be played on August 29 and the
final on September 2. The rest of the matches in the series remain
unchanged.
The Sri Lankan and Indian teams practiced on Tuesday amidst heavy
security cover. While India have something to prove following their
stunning 4-1 loss in the Caribbean, hosts Sri Lanka are riding a crest
of a wave with a 5-0 thrashing of England followed by a 2-0 win over
lowly Netherlands against whom they established a new world record
one-day total of 443-9. The form displayed by the Lankan batsmen in the
recent past is mind boggling having passed the 300-run mark in their
last four one-day internationals.
India will welcome the return of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar who
last played for his country against Pakistan in February. Tendulkar has
displayed excellent form at the nets and India will hope he will carry
it onto the playing field tomorrow. The fickle weather holds the key to
the series getting off even to a belated start.
No matter what, once the cricket gets going, talk on security concerns
among other things will eventually die down and take a back seat. Let
the cricket begin.
