Though the entire infrastructure work is still to be completed, Sri Lanka Cricket will host an International triangular at the Pallekelle Cricket Stadium end November.
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| The Pallekelle complex in its present status. (Pic Shane Seneviratne) |
The Pallekelle Stadium which will host the matches between Pakistan v New Zealand, Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe and Pakistan v Zimbabwe at the 2011 Cricket World Cup will christen the venue with an under 19 Triangular between Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.Explaining the matter SLC Interim Committee Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga took pride in saying “Though we initially said that we could start playing cricket on the venue by January 2010 that we would have a tri-nation practice tournament at Pallekelle with a launch in November. We may not have the ideal facilities there, but the important thing is the wicket to be identified and to see what sorts of improvements are required. Right now the relevant committees are working hard at making this move a reality and they have had several meetings in this regard.”
Talking of the other facility in Hambantota, Ranatunga said, “In Hambantota we are hoping to launch a ground for playing in February 2010. I am sure that we are on right track.”
Elaborating further on the matter he reiterated, “We are at it, by August 2010 we are hoping to have all three venues ready for the 2011 World Cup. The ICC has already started visiting the locations regarding the improvements required, for the television people to know about the locations and what facilities they would require, for the security people to see if things are being done according to specification and for the required information for the major ICC sponsors of the tournament etc.”
SLC for equal opportunities
The other development brimming at the top of the cauldron is the proposed Test championship, which according ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat would come up for discussion when the respective CEOs of the full member countries meet on November 30 and December 1st.When asked as to what Sri Lanka’s official stand on the issue would be, Ranatunga said: “We feel that if there is a championship of sorts it should provide equal opportunities to all the nations.
In this scenario a championship may take 3-4 years and that would have its own implications”.
The SLC secretary also added besides the Test championship they also have short term and long term strategies to rekindle the public interest in Test cricket.
He then added “There are questions about Test cricket not being marketed as vehemently as the T20. What we feel is that if any merchandize is marketed properly it will get positive results. Even the ICC has recognised this fact and launched a programme to market Test cricket in a proper manner and our own head of marketing is a part of it”.
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