Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has instructed Sri Lanka Cricket to apologise to the ICC, after the World's Cricket authority gave SLC an official warning following its endorsement of match referee Chris Broad's assessment that the pitch used in the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia at Galle was "poor".
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| Match umpires Richard Kettleborough (L) and Aleem Dar (R) inspect the pitch during the third day of the Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium. (AFP) |
The Minister said, "I have instructed the SLC to promptly send a letter to the ICC stating that an incident of this nature will not recur in Sri Lanka and we are sorry about the incident that transpired during the first Test against Australia last month."
When inquired from the Minister as to why Jayananda Warnaweera, a person who is not professionally qualified as a curator, was entrusted with the task of preparing a Test wicket of importance, the Minister admitted that there had been a slip at that point.
The Minister added, "At the moment we are decentralizing the process of curators with Mr. Anuruddha Polonnowita, the SLC's chief curator, at the helm. We already have a good curator at Pallekelle - a product of Polonnowita and we must see it is done at ever important venue."
The Test match finished inside four days and deemed to have taken "excessive" turn at too early a stage by ICC general manager David Richardson and the ICC's chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle after they studied Broad's report, the SLC's response as well as video evidence.
"We have come to a decision that the pitch prepared for the match should be rated as 'poor'," Richardson said in a statement. "It was clear from the video footage of the match that the amount of turn, especially early in the match, was excessive and there were occasions (even on the first day) where the ball went through the surface of the pitch, bouncing unusually steeply from a good length.
"Whilst it is understandable and acceptable for a pitch to deteriorate over the course of the match, for a pitch to exhibit this type of behaviour at relatively early stages of the match was not acceptable.
"Whilst we do not wish to see a pitch that is too heavily weighted in favour of the batsmen, in this instance, the balance was just too much in favour of the bowler.
"Taking into account that it was the first time that a pitch at Galle has been rated as "poor" and given the intention of the curator to prepare a pitch that provided a fair balance between bat and ball, we have decided to impose a warning as the sanction.
"We have also directed that ICC's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson carry out an inspection of the square with a view to making recommendations to ensure that in future the manner of preparation is in line with what is required to ensure that a better balance between bat and ball is achieved."
The entire women's T-20 World Championship matches in 2012 are scheduled to be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, and it is interesting to see as to who the SLC would entrust the curator's job during this tournament. |
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