Sri Lanka Cricket issued a communique today about a news item in a certain newspaper stating the “Sri Lanka unhappy with World Cup Scheduling”
The Sri Lanka Cricket statement is as follows :
SLC has sought the views from the Team Manager who stated that the writer has quoted him accurately when he has said “It would have been nice to have finished New Zealand before coming to Australia” “It certainly is inconvenient. It’s tiring for the boys too. We’ve got to get up 7:00 in the morning tomorrow and be at the airport by 8:00. So it’s a long day for them tomorrow, and then we just have the day between, and probably we won’t practice (before the England game)”.
“The words and thoughts in the rest of the article is entirely the writers” stated the Team Manager.
Sri Lanka Cricket has never complained at any stage or has envied the schedule of other teams. All teams have similar busy weeks. The World Cup Schedule was announced months ago and SLC and its management team were very much aware of it.
The original article is as follows
Sri Lanka unhappy with World Cup scheduling – Rex Clementine reporting from Melbourne
Sri Lankans are envying the World Cup schedule of some of the powerful cricket nations like India, Australia and England as their own schedule is hectic. Angelo Mathews’ side was in New Zealand on Sunday playing Afghanistan and flew to Australia on Monday. They trained on Tuesday and Wednesday in Melbourne before taking on Bangladesh on Thursday and again will fly back to New Zealand on Friday where England are waiting them to play on Sunday.
The flights between the two countries and three games sandwiched inside eight days has left a bad taste among Sri Lankans.
Sri Lanka’s Team Manager Michael De Zoysa explained some of the difficulties of the team. “It would have been nice to have finished New Zealand before coming to Australia,” De Zoysa told journalists after the team’s big win over Bangladesh at the MCG.
“It certainly is inconvenient. It’s tiring for the boys too. We’ve got to get up 7:00 in the morning tomorrow and be at the airport by 8:00. So it’s a long day for them tomorrow, and then we just have the day between, and probably we won’t practice (before the England game).”
Due to the strict quarantine laws followed by both New Zealand and Australia, the players have to frequently clean their boots prior to travelling between the countries. That’s just one of the several difficulties the players have to go through.
After the game against England on Sunday, the Sri Lankans will again travel back Australia for their next clash against Australia in Sydney followed by their last Group ‘A’ fixture against Scotland in Hobart.
