Dear Sir,
We wish to clarify our views on the article written under the above heading which appeared in the Sunday Times of 18th October 2009.
After the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan team in March, the ICC spelt out enhanced security arrangements to be adopted by all Cricket Boards when hosting international tours.
Under the ICC guidelines, Sri Lanka Cricket was required to provide maximum security to Players, Officials and Spectators and therefore, we took all necessary steps to provide the enhanced security that was expected of us.
Pakistan lost the opportunity to co-host the 2011 World Cup due to security lapses during Sri Lanka’s tour of Pakistan. Sri Lanka Cricket was very supportive of ICC’s faith in Sri Lanka to host 12 World Cup matches including a Semi final. This showcase event would be a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to build her image as a safe destination for people to visit. Thousands of tourists and fans are expected to witness the World Cup in 2011 and the slightest security lapse during the recently concluded tours would have put Sri Lanka’s chances of co-hosting the tournament in jeopardy.
We therefore took all these factors into consideration to provide the highest level of security possible, to meet the aims of the ICC and to safeguard the image of the country and of Sri Lanka Cricket. The fact that there were no security related incidents during the 3-month long tours, justifies the actions taken.
Brian Thomas
Media Manager
Sports Editor notes: When the English team came over to Sri Lanka in 2007, the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka was for real. If the ICC had requested for tough security measures or not, it was the bounden duty of the Sri Lankan cricket authorities to give maximum security cover to the tour as had anything gone wrong at that time Sri Lanka would never have been even considered for any future foreign tours leave alone the 2011 World Cup. But, in spite of that risk the cost had been only Rs.2.3 million. |
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