There have been some outstanding Test matches played at the P. Sara Oval and perhaps the best of them all didn’t involve Sri Lanka.
Pakistan took on Australia as Colombo was chosen as one of the neutral venues for the three-match series in 2002 and after the teams had fought tooth and nail, the Aussies prevailed by a small margin of 41 runs.
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The game had many highlights, most notably Shoaib Akthar narrowly missing a hat-trick and sending stumps cartwheeling. He dismissed three batsmen for no runs in the space of four deliveries. Not just any batsmen but legends of Australian cricket such as Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh, with the twins falling for ducks.
This was Shane Warne at his prime too – before the drug ban – and he walked away with 11 wickets and the Man of the Match award.
With COVID-19 pandemic bringing sporting activities and day to day life in certain parts of the world to a standstill, options have been sought to move sporting events to destinations that have managed to keep the virus at bay.
The nation’s health sector and armed forces have done a fine job in managing the pandemic and the island could become an alternate location to host sporting events.
Sri Lanka’s bid to host this year’s Indian Premier League fell short but the board has expressed interest to host England’s tour of India next year. England have already cancelled their limited overs tour to India later this year and the five match Test series between the countries scheduled from late January to March is in danger as well.
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There have been over 2.4 million confirmed COVID 19 cases in India which is third highest in the world behind US and Brazil. India has already put off several cricket series and unless the situation improves drastically, it is unlikely that the England series will take place in India.
With this in mind, SLC has indicated their willingness to play host as a neutral venue. The move would sound sensible as well as England are already in Sri Lanka in January and they just need to extend the tour.
The economy will certainly receive a shot in the arm particularly the hotel trade that is struggling to survive. Tourism was booming after the end of the war but the Easter bombings saw the industry suffering setbacks and now the pandemic has caused a major crisis in the trade. While the hotels outstations have managed to book in locals with attractive packages, the ones that are severely hit are Colombo hotels. With three Test venues in the capital, a five-match series between two visiting teams would be a godsend.
Sri Lanka did miss out on an opportunity in 2009 when Pakistan was forced to move their cricket overseas due to security reasons. The first country that Pakistan Cricket Board approached asking whether they were interested in hosting neutral games was Sri Lanka. But authorities at that time failed to see the potential it presented. They were more worried that they will not be able to cope up with the volume of cricket. As a result, PCB initially opted for England as their neutral venue and then moved out to UAE which is more cost effective than Europe.
A few months later, there was a change in thought process at SLC. Local officials did try to convince PCB that with Sri Lanka being the cheapest of all cricketing destinations along with our world class facilities at our centers we were a better option than UAE. But by then PCB had invested in their ‘adopted home’ and it was too late to reverse the decision. Before COVID-19, when teams like England travel, along come some 5000 cricket fans and that is an opportunity to cash in. We missed out.
Not just being a boost to the economy but measures such as hosting neutral games help all and sundry be it net bowlers or local umpires.
Life is returning to normal in the country and so is cricket. Earlier this week we resumed First Class cricket and there is confirmation that Bangladesh will bring along around 30 players next month to prepare for their bilateral series. The Bangladesh Cricket Board will bear the cost for three extra weeks in Colombo. The first Test is expected to start on the 24th October. That is a huge relief for everyone who is involved in the game.
We could have been looking at starting the inaugural Lanka Premier League later this month and SLC had even got the go ahead from Health Ministry to conduct 72-hour PCR tests for overseas players. However, Government Medical Officers’ Association raised concerns insisting on mandatory two-week quarantine period for all those who arrive in the country. Hence, we are playing the waiting game.
All in all, it seems a blessing in disguise as the tournament that has now been pushed back to November provides an opportunity to prepare better rather than rushing through. More importantly, the lesson that pandemic has given us all is that we cannot simply take any chances.
Bringing active COVID-19 cases – which is below 250 at the moment – to zero must be the priority of health officials and once that is done taking measures to avoid a second wave is paramount. Cricket can wait until then. But to have games against Bangladesh in October, LPL in November and England in January is exciting indeed. Probably the cricketing carnival will be extended till March when neutral games are played in our backyard.
